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Genesis 15-17
New American Standard Bible

Abram Promised a Son

15 After these things (A)the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,

“(B)Do not fear, Abram,
I am (C)a shield to you;
[a]Your (D)reward shall be very great.”

2 But Abram said, “Lord [b]God, what will You give me, since I [c]am childless, and the [d]heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram also said, “[e]Since You have given me no [f]son, [g]one who has been (E)born in my house is my heir.” 4 Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; (F)but one who will come from your own [h]body shall be your heir.” 5 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens and (G)count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “(H)So shall your [i]descendants be.” 6 (I)Then he believed in the Lord; and He [j]credited it to him as righteousness. 7 And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of (J)Ur of the Chaldeans, to (K)give you this land to [k]possess it.” 8 But he said, “Lord [l]God, (L)how may I know that I will [m]possess it?” 9 So He said to him, “[n]Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 Then he [o]brought all these to Him and (M)cut them [p]in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he (N)did not cut the birds. 11 And birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

12 Now when the sun was going down, (O)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, [q]terror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that (P)your [r]descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, [s]where (Q)they will be enslaved and oppressed for (R)four hundred years. 14 But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out (S)with [t]many possessions. 15 As for you, (T)you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. 16 Then in (U)the fourth generation they will return here, for (V)the wrongdoing of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

17 Now it came about, when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, a smoking oven and a flaming torch appeared which (W)passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,

“(X)To your [u]descendants I have given this land,
From (Y)the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:

19 (Z)the land of the Kenite, the Kenizzite, the Kadmonite, 20 the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.”

Sarai and Hagar

16 Now (AA)Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him a child, but she had (AB)an Egyptian slave woman whose name was Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. (AC)Please have relations with my slave woman; perhaps I will [v]obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 And so after Abram had lived (AD)ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave woman, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. 4 Then he had relations with Hagar, and she conceived; and when Hagar became aware that she had conceived, her mistress was insignificant in her sight. 5 So Sarai said to Abram, “(AE)May the wrong done to me be upon you! I put my slave woman into your [w]arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was insignificant in her [x]sight. (AF)May the Lord judge between [y]you and me.” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your slave woman is in your [z]power; do to her what is good in your [aa]sight.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and (AG)she fled from her presence.

7 Now (AH)the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to (AI)Shur. 8 He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave woman, (AJ)from where have you come, and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” 9 So the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit [ab]to her authority.” 10 The (AK)angel of the Lord also said to her, “(AL)I will greatly multiply your [ac]descendants so that [ad]they will be too many to count.” 11 The angel of the Lord said to her further,

“Behold, you are pregnant,
And you will give birth to a son;
And you shall name him [ae]Ishmael,
Because (AM)the Lord has heard your affliction.
12 But he will be a (AN)wild donkey of a man;
His hand will be against everyone,
And everyone’s hand will be against him;
And he will live [af](AO)in defiance of all his brothers.”

13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “[ag]You are [ah]a God who sees me”; for she said, “(AP)Have I even seen Him here and lived after [ai]He saw me?” 14 Therefore the well was called [aj]Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between (AQ)Kadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar bore a son to Abram; and Abram named his son, to whom Hagar gave birth, Ishmael. 16 Abram was (AR)eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to [ak]him.

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

17 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, (AS)the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,

“I am [al]God (AT)Almighty;
Walk before Me, and be [am](AU)blameless.
2 I will [an]make My (AV)covenant between Me and you,
And I will (AW)multiply you exceedingly.”

3 Abram (AX)fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,

4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,
And you will be the father of a (AY)multitude of nations.
5 No longer shall you be named [ao]Abram,
But (AZ)your name shall be [ap]Abraham;
For (BA)I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and (BB)kings will come from you. 7 I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your [aq]descendants after you throughout their generations as an (BC)everlasting covenant, (BD)to be God to you and (BE)to your [ar]descendants after you. 8 And (BF)I will give to you and to your [as]descendants after you the land where you live as a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and (BG)I will be their God.”

9 God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, (BH)you shall keep My covenant, you and your [at]descendants after you throughout their generations. 10 (BI)This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your [au]descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 And (BJ)you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12 And every male among you who is (BK)eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, including a slave who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your [av]descendants. 13 A slave who is born in your house or (BL)who is bought with your money shall certainly be circumcised; so My covenant shall be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. 14 But as for an uncircumcised male, one who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be (BM)cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you shall not call her by the name [aw]Sarai, but [ax]Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and indeed I will give you (BN)a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; (BO)kings of peoples will [ay]come from her.” 17 Then Abraham (BP)fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man a hundred years old? And (BQ)will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth to a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” 19 But God said, “No, but your wife Sarah will bear you (BR)a son, and you shall name him [az]Isaac; and (BS)I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his [ba]descendants after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and (BT)make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly. (BU)He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a (BV)great nation. 21 But I will establish My covenant with (BW)Isaac, whom (BX)Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.” 22 When He finished talking with him, (BY)God went up from Abraham.

23 Then Abraham took his son Ishmael, and all the slaves who were (BZ)born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on this very same day, (CA)as God had said to him. 24 Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when (CB)he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And his son (CC)Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 On this very same day Abraham was circumcised, as well as his son Ishmael. 27 And all the men of his household, those who were (CD)born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 15:1 Or Your very great reward
  2. Genesis 15:2 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  3. Genesis 15:2 Lit go
  4. Genesis 15:2 Lit son of acquisition
  5. Genesis 15:3 Lit Behold
  6. Genesis 15:3 Lit seed
  7. Genesis 15:3 Lit then behold, a son of my
  8. Genesis 15:4 Lit inward parts
  9. Genesis 15:5 Lit seed
  10. Genesis 15:6 Or imputed
  11. Genesis 15:7 Or inherit
  12. Genesis 15:8 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  13. Genesis 15:8 Or inherit
  14. Genesis 15:9 Lit Take
  15. Genesis 15:10 Lit took
  16. Genesis 15:10 Lit in the midst
  17. Genesis 15:12 Or a terror of great darkness
  18. Genesis 15:13 Lit seed
  19. Genesis 15:13 Lit and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them
  20. Genesis 15:14 Lit great
  21. Genesis 15:18 Lit seed
  22. Genesis 16:2 Lit be built from her
  23. Genesis 16:5 Lit breast
  24. Genesis 16:5 Lit eyes
  25. Genesis 16:5 Lit me and you
  26. Genesis 16:6 Lit hand
  27. Genesis 16:6 Lit eyes
  28. Genesis 16:9 Lit under her hands
  29. Genesis 16:10 Lit seed
  30. Genesis 16:10 Lit they shall not be counted for multitude
  31. Genesis 16:11 I.e., God hears
  32. Genesis 16:12 Lit before the face of; or opposite
  33. Genesis 16:13 Or You, God, see me
  34. Genesis 16:13 Heb Elroi
  35. Genesis 16:13 Lit His seeing me
  36. Genesis 16:14 I.e., the well of the living one who sees me
  37. Genesis 16:16 Lit Abram
  38. Genesis 17:1 Heb El Shaddai
  39. Genesis 17:1 Lit complete, perfect; or having integrity
  40. Genesis 17:2 Lit give
  41. Genesis 17:5 I.e., exalted father
  42. Genesis 17:5 I.e., father of a multitude
  43. Genesis 17:7 Lit seed
  44. Genesis 17:7 Lit seed
  45. Genesis 17:8 Lit seed
  46. Genesis 17:9 Lit seed
  47. Genesis 17:10 Lit seed
  48. Genesis 17:12 Lit seed
  49. Genesis 17:15 I.e., princess
  50. Genesis 17:15 I.e., princess (in another dialect)
  51. Genesis 17:16 Lit be
  52. Genesis 17:19 I.e., he laughs
  53. Genesis 17:19 Lit seed
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Genesis 15-17
Living Bible

15 Afterwards Jehovah spoke to Abram in a vision, and this is what he told him: “Don’t be fearful, Abram, for I will defend you. And I will give you great blessings.”

2-3 But Abram replied, “O Lord Jehovah, what good are all your blessings when I have no son? For without a son, some other member of my household[a] will inherit all my wealth.”

4 Then Jehovah told him, “No, no one else will be your heir, for you will have a son to inherit everything you own.”

5 Then God brought Abram outside beneath the nighttime sky and told him, “Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that—too many to count!” 6 And Abram believed God; then God considered him righteous on account of his faith.

7 And he told him, “I am Jehovah who brought you out of the city of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land.”

8 But Abram replied, “O Lord Jehovah, how can I be sure that you will give it to me?” 9 Then Jehovah told him to take a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon, 10 and to slay them and to cut them apart down the middle, and to separate the halves, but not to divide the birds. 11 And when the vultures came down upon the carcasses, Abram shooed them away.

12 That evening as the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a vision of terrible foreboding, darkness, and horror.

13 Then Jehovah told Abram, “Your descendants will be oppressed as slaves in a foreign land for 400 years. 14 But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and at the end they will come away with great wealth. 15 (But you will die in peace, at a ripe old age.) 16 After four generations they will return here to this land; for the wickedness of the Amorite nations living here now[b] will not be ready for punishment until then.”

17 As the sun went down and it was dark, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch that passed between the halves of the carcasses. 18 So that day Jehovah made this covenant with Abram: “I have given this land to your descendants from the Wadi-el-Arish[c] to the Euphrates River. 19-21 And I give to them these nations: Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, Jebusites.”

16 But Sarai and Abram had no children. So Sarai took her maid, an Egyptian girl named Hagar, 2-3 and gave her to Abram to be his second wife.

“Since the Lord has given me no children,” Sarai said, “you may sleep with my servant girl, and her children shall be mine.”

And Abram agreed. (This took place ten years after Abram had first arrived in the land of Canaan.) 4 So he slept with Hagar, and she conceived; and when she realized she was pregnant, she became very proud and arrogant toward her mistress Sarai.

5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “It’s all your fault. For now this servant girl of mine despises me, though I myself gave her the privilege of being your wife. May the Lord judge you for doing this to me!”[d]

6 “You have my permission to punish the girl as you see fit,” Abram replied. So Sarai beat her and she ran away.

7 The Angel of the Lord found her beside a desert spring along the road to Shur.

8 The Angel: “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

Hagar: “I am running away from my mistress.”

9-12 The Angel: “Return to your mistress and act as you should, for I will make you into a great nation. Yes, you are pregnant and your baby will be a son, and you are to name him Ishmael (‘God hears’), because God has heard your woes. This son of yours will be a wild one—free and untamed as a wild ass! He will be against everyone, and everyone will feel the same toward him. But he will live near the rest of his kin.”

13 Thereafter[e] Hagar spoke of Jehovah—for it was he who appeared to her—as “the God who looked upon me,” for she thought, “I saw God and lived to tell it.”

14 Later that well was named “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.” It lies between Kadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael. 16 (Abram was eighty-six years old at this time.)

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God appeared to him and told him, “I am the Almighty; obey me and live as you should. 2-4 I will prepare a contract between us, guaranteeing to make you into a mighty nation. In fact you shall be the father of not only one nation, but a multitude of nations!” Abram fell face downward in the dust as God talked with him.

5 “What’s more,” God told him, “I am changing your name. It is no longer ‘Abram’ (‘Exalted Father’), but ‘Abraham’ (‘Father of Nations’)—for that is what you will be. I have declared it. 6 I will give you millions of descendants who will form many nations! Kings shall be among your descendants! 7-8 And I will continue this agreement between us generation after generation, forever, for it shall be between me and your children as well. It is a contract that I shall be your God and the God of your posterity. And I will give all this land of Canaan to you and them, forever. And I will be your God.

9-10 “Your part of the contract,” God told him, “is to obey its terms. You personally and all your posterity have this continual responsibility: that every male among you shall be circumcised; 11 the foreskin of his penis shall be cut off. This will be the proof that you and they accept this covenant. 12 Every male shall be circumcised on the eighth day after birth. This applies to every foreign-born slave as well as to everyone born in your household. This is a permanent part of this contract, and it applies to all your posterity. 13 All must be circumcised. Your bodies will thus be marked as participants in my everlasting covenant. 14 Anyone who refuses these terms shall be cut off from his people; for he has violated my contract.”

15 Then God added, “Regarding Sarai your wife—her name is no longer ‘Sarai’ but ‘Sarah’ (‘Princess’). 16 And I will bless her and give you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and make her the mother of nations! Many kings shall be among your posterity.”

17 Then Abraham threw himself down in worship before the Lord, but inside he was laughing in disbelief![f] “Me, be a father?” he said in amusement. “Me—100 years old? And Sarah, to have a baby at 90?”

18 And Abraham said to God, “Yes, do bless Ishmael!”

19 “No,” God replied, “that isn’t what I said. Sarah shall bear you a son; and you are to name him Isaac (‘Laughter’), and I will sign my covenant with him forever, and with his descendants. 20 As for Ishmael, all right, I will bless him also, just as you have asked me to. I will cause him to multiply and become a great nation. Twelve princes shall be among his posterity. 21 But my contract is with Isaac, who will be born to you and Sarah next year at about this time.”

22 That ended the conversation and God left. 23 Then, that very day, Abraham took Ishmael his son and every other male—born in his household or bought from outside—and cut off their foreskins, just as God had told him to. 24-27 Abraham was ninety-nine years old at that time, and Ishmael was thirteen. Both were circumcised the same day, along with all the other men and boys of the household, whether born there or bought as slaves.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 15:2 some other member of my household was Eliezer of Damascus.
  2. Genesis 15:16 Amorite nations living here now, implied.
  3. Genesis 15:18 Wadi-el-Arish, literally, “River of Egypt,” at the southern border of Judah.
  4. Genesis 16:5 May the Lord judge you for doing this to me, literally, “Let the Lord judge between me and you.”
  5. Genesis 16:13 Thereafter, implied.
  6. Genesis 17:17 inside he was laughing in disbelief, implied.
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Genesis 14
Genesis 18
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