The Covenant of Circumcision
1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. 2I will make my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.” 3Abram fell facedown, and God spoke with him: 4“As for me, my covenant is with you: you will be the father of a multitude of nations.
Abram Becomes Abraham
5Your name will no longer be Abram — your name will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6I will make you extremely fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your descendants after you, generation after generation, as an everlasting covenant — to be God to you and to your descendants after you. 8I will give you and your descendants after you the land where you now live as a foreigner, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. 9You, for your part, must keep my covenant — you and your descendants after you, generation after generation. 10This is my covenant, which you and your descendants after you must keep: every male among you must be circumcised. 11You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12Every male among you, generation after generation, must be circumcised at eight days old — every male born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner who is not your offspring. 13Whether born in your house or bought with your money, he must be circumcised. My covenant will be marked in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. 14But an uncircumcised male, one whose foreskin has not been cut, will be cut off from his people — he has broken my covenant.
Sarai Becomes Sarah
15As for Sarai your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16I will bless her, and I will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will become nations — kings of peoples will come from her.”
The Promise of a Son to Sarah
17Abraham fell facedown and laughed. He said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, at ninety, bear a child?” 18Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” 19God said, “No — Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you will 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. I will bless him and make him fruitful, and I will multiply him greatly. He will father twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear you at this time next year.” 22When he had finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23That very day, Abraham took his son Ishmael, everyone born in his household, and everyone bought with his money — every male among the men of Abraham’s household — and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin, just as God had told him. 24Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised. 25His son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised. 26Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on that very same day, 27along with every male in his household, whether born in his house or bought with money from a foreigner — they were all circumcised with him.
