15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield 1 and the one who will reward you in great abundance.” 2
15:2 But Abram said, “O sovereign Lord, 3 what will you give me since 4 I continue to be 5 childless, and my heir 6 is 7 Eliezer of Damascus?” 8 15:3 Abram added, 9 “Since 10 you have not given me a descendant, then look, one born in my house will be my heir!” 11
15:4 But look, 12 the word of the Lord came to him: “This man 13 will not be your heir, 14 but instead 15 a son 16 who comes from your own body will be 17 your heir.” 18 15:5 The Lord 19 took him outside and said, “Gaze into the sky and count the stars – if you are able to count them!” Then he said to him, “So will your descendants be.”
15:6 Abram believed 20 the Lord, and the Lord 21 considered his response of faith 22 as proof of genuine loyalty. 23
15:7 The Lord said 24 to him, “I am the Lord 25 who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans 26 to give you this land to possess.” 15:8 But 27 Abram 28 said, “O sovereign Lord, 29 by what 30 can I know that I am to possess it?”
15:9 The Lord 31 said to him, “Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” 15:10 So Abram 32 took all these for him and then cut them in two 33 and placed each half opposite the other, 34 but he did not cut the birds in half. 15:11 When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
15:12 When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, 35 and great terror overwhelmed him. 36 15:13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain 37 that your descendants will be strangers 38 in a foreign country. 39 They will be enslaved and oppressed 40 for four hundred years. 15:14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. 41 Afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15:15 But as for you, 42 you will go to your ancestors 43 in peace and be buried at a good old age. 44 15:16 In the fourth generation 45 your descendants 46 will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.” 47
15:17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch 48 passed between the animal parts. 49 15:18 That day the Lord made a covenant 50 with Abram: “To your descendants I give 51 this land, from the river of Egypt 52 to the great river, the Euphrates River – 15:19 the land 53 of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 15:20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 15:21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.” 54
17:1 When Abram was 99 years old, 55 the Lord appeared to him and said, 56 “I am the sovereign God. 57 Walk 58 before me 59 and be blameless. 60 17:2 Then I will confirm my covenant 61 between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.” 62
17:3 Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, 63 and God said to him, 64 17:4 “As for me, 65 this 66 is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 17:5 No longer will your name be 67 Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham 68 because I will make you 69 the father of a multitude of nations. 17:6 I will make you 70 extremely 71 fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. 72 17:7 I will confirm 73 my covenant as a perpetual 74 covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 75 17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing 76 – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent 77 possession. I will be their God.”
17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep 78 the covenantal requirement 79 I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 17:10 This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: 80 Every male among you must be circumcised. 81 17:11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder 82 of the covenant between me and you. 17:12 Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old 83 must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants. 17:13 They must indeed be circumcised, 84 whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant 85 will be visible in your flesh as a permanent 86 reminder. 17:14 Any uncircumcised male 87 who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off 88 from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement.” 89
17:15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; 90 Sarah 91 will be her name. 17:16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. 92 Kings of countries 93 will come from her!”
17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed 94 as he said to himself, 95 “Can 96 a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? 97 Can Sarah 98 bear a child at the age of ninety?” 99 17:18 Abraham said to God, “O that 100 Ishmael might live before you!” 101
17:19 God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. 102 I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual 103 covenant for his descendants after him. 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. 104 I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. 105 He will become the father of twelve princes; 106 I will make him into a great nation. 17:21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.” 17:22 When he finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. 107
17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) 108 and circumcised them 109 on that very same day, just as God had told him to do. 17:24 Now Abraham was 99 years old 110 when he was circumcised; 111 17:25 his son Ishmael was thirteen years old 112 when he was circumcised. 17:26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the very same day. 17:27 All the men of his household, whether born in his household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.