Genesis 17 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

(Exo 12:43—13:2 )

Gen 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;[fn] walk before me, and be blameless,

Gen 17:2

Gen 17:2that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”

Gen 17:3

Gen 17:3Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him,

Gen 17:4

Gen 17:4“Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.

Gen 17:5

Gen 17:5No longer shall your name be called Abram,[fn] but your name shall be Abraham,[fn] for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

Gen 17:6

Gen 17:6I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.

Gen 17:7

Gen 17:7And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.

Gen 17:8

Gen 17:8And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

Gen 17:9

Gen 17:9And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.

Gen 17:10

Gen 17:10This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

Gen 17:11

Gen 17:11You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.

Gen 17:12

Gen 17:12He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring,

Gen 17:13

Gen 17:13both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.

Gen 17:14

Gen 17:14Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Isaac’s Birth Promised

Gen 17:15

Gen 17:15And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah[fn] shall be her name.

Gen 17:16

Gen 17:16I will bless her, and moreover, I will give[fn] you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”

Gen 17:17

Gen 17:17Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

Gen 17:18

Gen 17:18And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!”

Gen 17:19

Gen 17:19God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac.[fn] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.

Gen 17:20

Gen 17:20As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.

Gen 17:21

Gen 17:21But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”

Gen 17:22

Gen 17:22When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.

Gen 17:23

Gen 17:23Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him.

Gen 17:24

Gen 17:24Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

Gen 17:25

Gen 17:25And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

Gen 17:26

Gen 17:26That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised.

Gen 17:27

Gen 17:27And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(17:1)

Hebrew El Shaddai

(17:5)

Abram means exalted father

(17:5)

Abraham means father of a multitude

(17:15)

Sarai and Sarah mean princess

(17:16)

Hebrew have given

(17:19)

Isaac means he laughs

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.