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
16:1 Now Sarai, 55 Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, 56 but she had an Egyptian servant 57 named Hagar. 58 16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since 59 the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with 60 my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” 61 Abram did what 62 Sarai told him.
16:3 So after Abram had lived 63 in Canaan for ten years, Sarai, Abram’s wife, gave Hagar, her Egyptian servant, 64 to her husband to be his wife. 65 16:4 He had sexual relations with 66 Hagar, and she became pregnant. 67 Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despised Sarai. 68 16:5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You have brought this wrong on me! 69 I allowed my servant to have sexual relations with you, 70 but when she realized 71 that she was pregnant, she despised me. 72 May the Lord judge between you and me!” 73
16:6 Abram said to Sarai, “Since your 74 servant is under your authority, 75 do to her whatever you think best.” 76 Then Sarai treated Hagar 77 harshly, 78 so she ran away from Sarai. 79
16:7 The Lord’s angel 80 found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert – the spring that is along the road to Shur. 81 16:8 He said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She replied, “I’m running away from 82 my mistress, Sarai.”
16:9 Then the Lord’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit 83 to her authority. 16:10 I will greatly multiply your descendants,” the Lord’s angel added, 84 “so that they will be too numerous to count.” 85 16:11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her,
“You are now 86 pregnant
and are about to give birth 87 to a son.
You are to name him Ishmael, 88
for the Lord has heard your painful groans. 89
16:12 He will be a wild donkey 90 of a man.
He will be hostile to everyone, 91
and everyone will be hostile to him. 92
He will live away from 93 his brothers.”
16:13 So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” 94 for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” 95 16:14 That is why the well was called 96 Beer Lahai Roi. 97 (It is located 98 between Kadesh and Bered.)
16:15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, whom Abram named Ishmael. 99 16:16 (Now 100 Abram was 86 years old 101 when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.) 102
17:1 When Abram was 99 years old, 103 the Lord appeared to him and said, 104 “I am the sovereign God. 105 Walk 106 before me 107 and be blameless. 108 17:2 Then I will confirm my covenant 109 between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.” 110
17:3 Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, 111 and God said to him, 112 17:4 “As for me, 113 this 114 is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 17:5 No longer will your name be 115 Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham 116 because I will make you 117 the father of a multitude of nations. 17:6 I will make you 118 extremely 119 fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. 120 17:7 I will confirm 121 my covenant as a perpetual 122 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. 123 17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing 124 – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent 125 possession. I will be their God.”
17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep 126 the covenantal requirement 127 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: 128 Every male among you must be circumcised. 129 17:11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder 130 of the covenant between me and you. 17:12 Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old 131 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, 132 whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant 133 will be visible in your flesh as a permanent 134 reminder. 17:14 Any uncircumcised male 135 who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off 136 from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement.” 137
17:15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; 138 Sarah 139 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. 140 Kings of countries 141 will come from her!”
17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed 142 as he said to himself, 143 “Can 144 a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? 145 Can Sarah 146 bear a child at the age of ninety?” 147 17:18 Abraham said to God, “O that 148 Ishmael might live before you!” 149
17:19 God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. 150 I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual 151 covenant for his descendants after him. 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. 152 I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. 153 He will become the father of twelve princes; 154 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. 155
17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) 156 and circumcised them 157 on that very same day, just as God had told him to do. 17:24 Now Abraham was 99 years old 158 when he was circumcised; 159 17:25 his son Ishmael was thirteen years old 160 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.
3:12 Let the nations be roused and let them go up
to the valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit in judgment on all the surrounding nations.
3:13 Rush forth with 161 the sickle, for the harvest is ripe!
Come, stomp the grapes, 162 for the winepress is full!
The vats overflow.
Indeed, their evil is great! 163