בראשית 17
| ויהי אברם בן תשעים שנה ותשע שנים וירא יהוה אל אברם ויאמר אליו אני אל שדי--התהלך לפני והיה תמים | 1 |
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.
| ואתנה בריתי ביני ובינך וארבה אותך במאד מאד | 2 |
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]
| ויפל אברם על פניו וידבר אתו אלהים לאמר | 3 |
Abram prostrated himself with his face on the ground. Then God said to him,
| אני הנה בריתי אתך והיית לאב המון גוים | 4 |
“Listen to this agreement that I am making with you: People of many nations will be your descendants.
| ולא יקרא עוד את שמך אברם והיה שמך אברהם כי אב המון גוים נתתיך | 5 |
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.
| והפרתי אתך במאד מאד ונתתיך לגוים ומלכים ממך יצאו | 6 |
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.
| והקמתי את בריתי ביני ובינך ובין זרעך אחריך לדרתם--לברית עולם להיות לך לאלהים ולזרעך אחריך | 7 |
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.
| ונתתי לך ולזרעך אחריך את ארץ מגריך את כל ארץ כנען לאחזת עולם והייתי להם לאלהים | 8 |
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].”
| ויאמר אלהים אל אברהם ואתה את בריתי תשמר--אתה וזרעך אחריך לדרתם | 9 |
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.
| זאת בריתי אשר תשמרו ביני וביניכם ובין זרעך אחריך המול לכם כל זכר | 10 |
This is the agreement that I am making, between myself and you and all your descendants: Every male among you must be circumcised.
| ונמלתם את בשר ערלתכם והיה לאות ברית ביני וביניכם | 11 |
(Cutting the foreskins of/Circumcising) them will be the sign [that you have accepted] the agreement I am making with you.
| ובן שמנת ימים ימול לכם כל זכר--לדרתיכם יליד בית--ומקנת כסף מכל בן נכר אשר לא מזרעך הוא | 12 |
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.
| המול ימול יליד ביתך ומקנת כספך והיתה בריתי בבשרכם לברית עולם | 13 |
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.
| וערל זכר אשר לא ימול את בשר ערלתו--ונכרתה הנפש ההוא מעמיה את בריתי הפר | 14 |
You must expel from your community any male who has not been circumcised, because [by not being circumcised] that person has disobeyed my agreement.”
| ויאמר אלהים אל אברהם שרי אשתך לא תקרא את שמה שרי כי שרה שמה | 15 |
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.
| וברכתי אתה וגם נתתי ממנה לך בן וברכתיה והיתה לגוים מלכי עמים ממנה יהיו | 16 |
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.”
| ויפל אברהם על פניו ויצחק ויאמר בלבו הלבן מאה שנה יולד ואם שרה הבת תשעים שנה תלד | 17 |
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?”
| ויאמר אברהם אל האלהים לו ישמעאל יחיה לפניך | 18 |
Then Abraham said to God, “Perhaps you will let Ishmael receive your blessing [and inherit all I possess].”
| ויאמר אלהים אבל שרה אשתך ילדת לך בן וקראת את שמו יצחק והקמתי את בריתי אתו לברית עולם לזרעו אחריו | 19 |
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.
| ולישמעאל שמעתיך--הנה ברכתי אתו והפריתי אתו והרביתי אתו במאד מאד שנים עשר נשיאם יוליד ונתתיו לגוי גדול | 20 |
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.
| ואת בריתי אקים את יצחק אשר תלד לך שרה למועד הזה בשנה האחרת | 21 |
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.”
| ויכל לדבר אתו ויעל אלהים מעל אברהם | 22 |
When God finished talking to Abraham, God disappeared from his sight.
| ויקח אברהם את ישמעאל בנו ואת כל ילידי ביתו ואת כל מקנת כספו--כל זכר באנשי בית אברהם וימל את בשר ערלתם בעצם היום הזה כאשר דבר אתו אלהים | 23 |
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.
| ואברהם--בן תשעים ותשע שנה בהמלו בשר ערלתו | 24 |
Abraham was 99 years old when (he was circumcised/someone circumcised him),
| וישמעאל בנו בן שלש עשרה שנה בהמלו--את בשר ערלתו | 25 |
and Ishmael was thirteen years old when Abraham circumcised him.
| בעצם היום הזה נמול אברהם וישמעאל בנו | 26 |
On that very day Abraham and his son, Ishmael were circumcised.
| וכל אנשי ביתו יליד בית ומקנת כסף מאת בן נכר--נמלו אתו | 27 |
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.
