Genesis 17

1 And Abram was ninety-nine years old, and the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am your God, be well-pleasing before me, and be blameless.

When Abram was 99 years old, Yahweh appeared to him again and said to him, “I am God Almighty. I want you to live in a way that I will regard you as someone that cannot be criticized.

2 And I will establish my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.

If you do that, I will make an agreement with you in which I will promise to enable you to have very many descendants.” [MTY]

3 And Abram fell upon his face, and God spoke to him, saying,

Abram prostrated himself with his face on the ground. Then God said to him,

4 And I, behold! my covenant [is] with you, and you shall be a father of a multitude of nations.

“Listen to this agreement that I am making with you: People of many nations will be your descendants.

5 And your name shall no more be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraam, for I have made you a father of many nations.

And no longer will your name be Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham, [which means ‘father of many nations,’] because the people of many nations will descend from you.

6 And I will increase you very exceedingly, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come out of you.

I will enable you to have very many descendants, and I will cause them to become great nations/people-groups, and some of your descendants will become kings.

7 And I will establish my covenant between you and your seed after you, to their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be your God, and [the God] of your seed after you.

I will make this agreement between me and you and your descendants. It will be an everlasting agreement to be in effect for many generations. This agreement is that I will be your God, and the God of your descendants.

8 And I will give to you and to your seed after you the land wherein you sojourn, even all the land of Chanaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be to them a God.

I will give to you and to your descendants the land through which you are now traveling, all of the Canaan region. It will be an everlasting possession for your descendants, and I will be the God that they [will worship].”

9 And God said to Abraam, You also shall fully keep my covenant, you and your seed after you for their generations.

Then God said to Abraham, “Now you must obey [your part of] the agreement that I am making with you, and your descendants must also obey it, for all generations.

10 And this [is] the covenant which you shall fully keep between me and you, and between your seed after you for their generations; every male of you shall be circumcised.

This is the agreement that I am making, between myself and you and all your descendants: Every male among you must be circumcised.

11 And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between me and you.

(Cutting the foreskins of/Circumcising) them will be the sign [that you have accepted] the agreement I am making with you.

12 And the child of eight days [old] shall be circumcised by you, every male throughout your generations, and [the servant] born in the house and he that is bought with money, of every son of a stranger, who is not of your seed.

Every male child among you must be circumcised when he is eight days old, in all future generations. That includes baby boys in your household or those born from slaves that have been bought, and baby boys of foreigners who live among you but do not belong to your household.

13 He that is born in your house, and he that is bought with money shall be surely circumcised, and my covenant shall be on your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

It does not matter whether their parents are members of your household or slaves that have been bought; they must all be circumcised. Your bodies will have this mark to show [you have accepted] this everlasting agreement I am making.

14 And the uncircumcised male, who shall not be circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin on the eighth day, that soul shall be utterly destroyed from its family, for he has broken my covenant.

You must expel from your community any male who has not been circumcised, because [by not being circumcised] that person has disobeyed my agreement.”

15 And God said to Abraam, Sara your wife—her name shall not be called Sara, Sarrha shall be her name.

God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai, your wife, you must not call her Sarai any longer. [Since I changed your name, I will change her name also]. Her name will now be Sarah.

16 And I will bless her, and give you a son of her, and I will bless him, and he shall become nations, and kings of nations shall be of him.

I will bless her, and she will surely give birth to a son for you. And I will bless her so much that she will be the ancestor of people of many nations. Kings of some people-groups will be descended from her.”

17 And Abraam fell upon his face, and laughed; and spoke in his heart, saying, Shall there be a child to one who is a hundred years old, and shall Sarrha who is ninety years old, bear?

Abraham prostrated himself with his face on the ground [to show respect to God]. But then he laughed as he said to himself, “Can a man who is a 100 years old become a father of a son? And since Sarah is 90 years old, how can she bear a child?”

18 And Abraam said to God, Let this Ismael live before you.

Then Abraham said to God, “Perhaps you will let Ishmael receive your blessing [and inherit all I possess].”

19 And God said to Abraam, Yes, behold, Sarrha your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish my covenant with him, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to him and to his seed after him.

Then God replied, “[No!] Your wife Sarah will bear a son for you. You must name him Isaac. I will establish my agreement with him, one which will be an everlasting agreement for him and his descendants.

20 And concerning Ismael, behold, I have heard you, and, behold, I have blessed him, and will increase him and multiply him exceedingly; twelve nations shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

As for Ishmael, I have heard what you asked me to do for him. I will bless him so that he also will have many descendants. Among his descendants will be rulers of twelve nations. And I will cause his [descendants] [MTY] to also become a great nation.

21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarrha shall bear to you at this time, in the next year.

But Isaac, the son whom Sarah will give birth to at this time next year, is the one with whom I will establish my agreement.”

22 And he left off speaking with him, and God went up from Abraam.

When God finished talking to Abraham, God disappeared from his sight.

23 And Abraam took Ismael his son, and all his home-born [servants], and all those bought with money, and every male of the men in the house of Abraam, and he circumcised their foreskins in the time of that day, according as God spoke to him.

On that same day, Abraham took his son Ishmael and all the males that were in his household, including the sons of all the slaves he had bought, and circumcised them. He cut off their foreskins, just as God told him to do.

24 And Abraam was ninety-nine years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

Abraham was 99 years old when (he was circumcised/someone circumcised him),

25 And Ismael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

and Ishmael was thirteen years old when Abraham circumcised him.

26 And at the period of that day, Abraam was circumcised, and Ismael his son,

On that very day Abraham and his son, Ishmael were circumcised.

27 and all the men of his house, both those born in the house, and those bought with money of foreign nations.

And all the males in his household, the ones who had been born there and those who had been bought from foreigners, were also circumcised.