One Year Pray for the Persecuted Bible - Flipbook - Page 41
21
as a foreigner, to you and your descendants.
It will be their possession forever, and I will
be their God.”
9 Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant.
You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. 10 This is the covenant
that you and your descendants must keep:
Each male among you must be circumcised.
11 You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin
as a sign of the covenant between me and you.
12 From generation to generation, every male
child must be circumcised on the eighth day
after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants
born in your household and the foreign-born
servants whom you have purchased. 13 All
must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear
the mark of my everlasting covenant. 14 Any
male who fails to be circumcised will be cut
off from the covenant family for breaking the
covenant.”
15 Then God said to Abraham, “Regarding
Sarai, your wife—her name will no longer be
Sarai. From now on her name will be Sarah.*
16 And I will bless her and give you a son from
her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will
become the mother of many nations. Kings of
nations will be among her descendants.”
17 Then Abra
ham bowed down to the
ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief.
“How could I become a father at the age of
100?” he thought. “And how can Sarah have a
baby when she is ninety years old?” 18 So Abra
ham said to God, “May Ishmael live under your
special blessing!”
19 But God replied, “No—Sarah, your wife,
will give birth to a son for you. You will name
him Isaac,* and I will confirm my covenant
with him and his descendants as an ever
lasting covenant. 20 As for Ishmael, I will bless
him also, just as you have asked. I will make
him extremely fruitful and multiply his descendants. He will become the father of twelve
princes, and I will make him a great nation.
21 But my cov
enant will be confirmed with
Isaac, who will be born to you and Sarah about
this time next year.” 22 When God had finished
speaking, he left Abraham.
23 On that very day Abraham took his son,
Ishmael, and every male in his household,
including those born there and those he had
bought. Then he circumcised them, cutting
off their foreskins, just as God had told him.
24 Abraham was n
inety-nine years old when
he was circumcised, 25 and Ishmael, his son,
was thirteen. 26 Both Abraham and his son,
January 7
Ishmael, were circumcised on that same day,
with all the other men and boys of
the household, whether they were born there
or bought as servants. All were circumcised
with him.
27 along
18:1 The
Lord appeared again to Abraham
near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One
day Abraham was sitting at the entrance to
his tent during the hottest part of the day. 2 He
looked up and noticed three men standing
nearby. When he saw them, he ran to meet
them and welcomed them, bowing low to the
ground.
3 “My lord,” he said, “if it pleases you, stop
here for a while. 4 Rest in the shade of this tree
while water is brought to wash your feet. 5 And
since you’ve honored your servant with this
visit, let me prepare some food to refresh you
before you continue on your journey.”
“All right,” they said. “Do as you have said.”
6 So Abraham ran back to the tent and said
to Sarah, “Hurry! Get three large measures* of
your best flour, knead it into dough, and bake
some bread.” 7 Then Abraham ran out to the
herd and chose a tender calf and gave it to his
servant, who quickly prepared it. 8 When the
food was ready, Abraham took some yogurt
and milk and the roasted meat, and he served
it to the men. As they ate, Abraham waited on
them in the shade of the trees.
9 “Where is Sarah, your wife?” the visitors
asked.
“She’s inside the tent,” Abraham replied.
10 Then one of them said, “I will return to you
about this time next year, and your wife, Sar
ah, will have a son!”
Sarah was listening to this conversation
from the tent. 11 Abraham and Sarah were both
very old by this time, and Sarah was long past
the age of having children. 12 So she laughed
silently to herself and said, “How could a
worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure,
especially when my master—my husband—
is also so old?”
13 Then the Lord said to Abra
ham, “Why
did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old
woman like me have a baby?’ 14 Is anything too
hard for the Lord? I will return about this time
next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
15 Sarah was afraid, so she denied it, saying,
“I d
idn’t laugh.”
But the Lord said, “No, you did laugh.”
16:13 Hebrew El-roi.
17:5 Abram means “exalted father”;
Abraham sounds like a Hebrew term that means “father of
17:7 Hebrew seed; also in 17:7b, 8, 9, 10, 19. 17:15 Sarai
many.”
and Sarah both mean “princess”; the change in spelling may
reflect the difference in dialect between Ur and Canaan.
17:19 Isaac means “he laughs.” 18:6 Hebrew 3 seahs, about half
a bushel or 22 liters.
