Genesis 17

¹When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.

²I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”

³Then Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,

⁴“As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.

⁵No longer will you be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.

⁶I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.

⁷I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

⁸And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing— all the land of Canaan — as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”

⁹God also said to Abraham, “You must keep My covenant — you and your descendants in the generations after you.

¹⁰This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised.

¹¹You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.

¹²Generation after generation, every male must be circumcised when he is eight days old, including those born in your household and those purchased from a foreigner — even those who are not your offspring.

¹³Whether they are born in your household or purchased, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh will be an everlasting covenant.

¹⁴But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

¹⁵Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah.

¹⁶And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”

¹⁷Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?”

¹⁸And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!”

¹⁹But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

²⁰As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.

²¹But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”

²²When He had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

²³On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or purchased with his money — every male among the members of Abraham’s household — and he circumcised them, just as God had told him.

²⁴So Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised,

²⁵and his son Ishmael was thirteen;

²⁶Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day.

²⁷And all the men of Abraham’s household — both servants born in his household and those purchased from foreigners — were circumcised with him.

Related Resources from Heartlight

Cross References for Genesis 17

The Berean Standard Bible