Genesis 17

1 And when Abram was ninety and nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and be thou perfect.

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 make my covenant between me and thee, and I will multiply thee 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 on his face, and God spoke with him, saying,

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

4 As for me, behold my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt become the 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 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee.

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 make thee exceedingly fruitful, and I will cause thee to become nations; and kings shall come out of thee.

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 me and thee and between thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant: to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

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 unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou sojournest, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their 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 unto Abraham, But thou, for thy part, shalt keep my covenant, thou and thy seed after thee, in 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 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and between you, and between thy seed after thee: Every man-child among 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 ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and this shall serve as the token of the 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 at eight days old shall every man-child in your generations be circumcised among you, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, who is not of thy 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 thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised; and my covenant shall be in 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 any uncircumcised male, who circumciseth not the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath 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 unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.

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 thee also a son of her; yea I will bless her, and she shall become a mother of nations; kings of people shall spring from her.

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 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed; and he said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, 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 Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

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

19 And God said, Truly, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, for 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 as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make of 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 my covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set 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 when he had left off talking with him, God went up from Abraham.

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

23 And Abraham now took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house; and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on the selfsame day, as God had spoken unto 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 Abraham was ninety and 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 Ishmael 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 On the self-same day was Abraham circumcised, with Ishmael his son.

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

27 And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.

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.