Genesis 17

1 And Abram is a son of ninety and nine years, and Jehovah appeareth unto Abram, and saith unto him, 'I [am] God Almighty, walk habitually 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 give My covenant between Me and thee, and multiply thee very 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 falleth upon his face, and God speaketh with him, saying,

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

4 'I — lo, My covenant [is] with thee, and thou hast become 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 thy name is no more called Abram, but thy name hath been Abraham, for 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 have made thee exceeding fruitful, and made thee become nations, and kings go out from 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 have established My covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee, to their generations, for a covenant age-during, to become God to 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 have given to thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, the whole land of Canaan, for a possession age-during, and I have become 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 saith unto Abraham, 'And thou dost keep My covenant, thou and thy seed after thee, to 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 keep between Me and you, and thy seed after thee: Every male of you [is] to 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 have circumcised the flesh of your foreskin, and it hath become a token 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 a son of eight days is circumcised by you; every male to your generations, born in the house, or bought with money from any son of a 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 is certainly circumcised who [is] born in thine house, or bought with thy money; and My covenant hath become in your flesh a covenant age-during;

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 an uncircumcised one, a male, the flesh of whose foreskin is not circumcised, even that person hath been cut off from his people; My covenant he hath broken.'

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 saith unto Abraham, 'Sarai thy wife — thou dost not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [is] 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 have blessed her, and have also given to thee a son from her; and I have blessed her, and she hath become nations — kings of peoples are 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 And Abraham falleth upon his face, and laugheth, and saith in his heart, 'To the son of an hundred years is one born? or doth Sarah — daughter of ninety years — 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 saith unto God, 'O that Ishmael may live before Thee;'

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

19 and God saith, 'Sarah thy wife is certainly bearing a son to thee, and thou hast called his name Isaac, and I have established My covenant with him, for a covenant age-during, 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 As to Ishmael, I have heard thee; lo, I have blessed him, and made him fruitful, and multiplied him, very exceedingly; twelve princes doth he beget, and I have made him become 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 and My covenant I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah doth bear to thee at this appointed 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 finisheth speaking with him, and God goeth up from Abraham.

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

23 And Abraham taketh Ishmael his son, and all those born in his house, and all those bought with his money — every male among the men of Abraham's house — and circumciseth the flesh of their foreskin, in this self-same day, as God hath spoken with 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 [is] a son of ninety and nine years in the flesh of his foreskin being circumcised;

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

25 and Ishmael his son [is] a son of thirteen years in the flesh of his foreskin being circumcised;

and Ishmael was thirteen years old when Abraham circumcised him.

26 in this self-same day hath Abraham been circumcised, and 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 from the son of a stranger — have been 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.