The Call of Abram

1 ^mNow the Lord said¹ to Abram, ⁿ“Go ^ofrom your country² and your kindred and your father’s house to ^pthe land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a ^qgreat nation, and I will ^rbless you and ^smake your name great, so that ^tyou will be a blessing. 3 ^uI will bless those who bless you, and ^vhim who dishonors you I will curse, and ^win you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”³

God’s Covenant with Abram

1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a ^svision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your ^tshield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I ^ucontinue¹ childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; ^vyour very own son² shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the ^wstars, ^xif you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, ^y“So shall your offspring be.”

13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that ^jyour offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be ^kafflicted for ^lfour hundred years. 14 But ^mI will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward ⁿthey shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; ^oyou shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And ^pthey shall come back here in the fourth generation, for ^qthe iniquity of the Amorites is ^rnot yet complete.”

17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 ^sOn that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give¹ this land, ^tfrom the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord ^lappeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God ^mAlmighty;^{1 n}walk before me, and be ^oblameless, 2 that I may ^pmake my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the ^qfather of a multitude of nations. 5 ^rNo longer shall your name be called Abram,^{2 s}but your name shall be Abraham,³ for ^tI have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly ^ufruitful, and I will make you into nations, and ^vkings shall come from you. 7 And I will ^westablish my covenant between me and you and ^xyour offspring after you throughout their generations for an ^yeverlasting covenant, ^zto be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And ^aI will give to you ^band to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, ^call the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and ^dI will be their God.”

Isaac’s Birth Promised

15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, ^myou shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah¹ shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give² you a son ⁿby her. I will bless her, and ^oshe shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and ^plaughed and said to himself, ^q“Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? ^rShall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said, ^s“No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall ^tcall his name Isaac.³ I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20 ^uAs 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 ^vI will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”

15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, ^h“By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely ⁱbless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring ^jas the stars of heaven and as the ^ksand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his¹ enemies, 18 ^land in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.