Abraham to Father Many Nations 1 UDB When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram again and said to him, "I am God Almighty. I want you to live your life in the way that I want. I want you to not do anything wrong. BSB BSB: When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.
2 UDB I will confirm my covenant between us, and I will cause you to have a very great number of descendants." BSB BSB: I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”
3 UDB Abram bowed down with his face on the ground. Then God said to him, BSB BSB: Then Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,
4 UDB "Listen to this! This is the covenant I am making with you: You will be the father of many groups of people. BSB BSB: “As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.
5 UDB Your name will be Abram no longer. Instead, your name will be Abraham because I will make you the father of many groups of people. BSB BSB: No longer will you be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
6 UDB I will cause you to have very, very many descendants, and I will cause nations and kings to be among them. BSB BSB: I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.
7 UDB I will make this covenant between me and you and the generations of your descendants after you forever. Because of this covenant, you will worship and follow me as God, and so will your descendants. BSB BSB: I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
8 UDB I will give to you and to your descendants the land of Canaan, the whole land of Canaan, where you are now living. It will be an everlasting possession for them, and I will be their God." BSB BSB: And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”
The Covenant of Circumcision 9 UDB Then God said to Abraham, "Now you must keep your part of the covenant that I am making with you, and your descendants must also obey it, for all generations. BSB BSB: God also said to Abraham, “You must keep My covenant—you and your descendants in the generations after you.
11 UDB Cutting their foreskins will be the sign that you have accepted the covenant that I am making with you. BSB BSB: You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
12 UDB Every male child among you must be circumcised when he is eight days old, in all future generations. That includes baby boys in your household and those born from slaves that have been bought, and foreigners who live among you but do not belong to your household. BSB BSB: Generation after generation, every male must be circumcised when he is eight days old, including those born in your household and those purchased from a foreigner—even those who are not your offspring.
13 UDB It does not matter whether their parents are members of your household or slaves that you have bought; they must all be circumcised. Your bodies will have this mark to show you have accepted this everlasting covenant that I am making. BSB BSB: Whether they are born in your household or purchased, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh will be an everlasting covenant.
14 UDB You must drive out from your community any male who has not been circumcised, because that person has disobeyed my covenant." BSB BSB: But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
15 UDB God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai, your wife, you must not call her Sarai any longer. I will change her name also. Her name will now be Sarah. BSB BSB: Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah.
16 UDB I will bless her, and she will surely give birth to a son for you. And I will bless her so much that she will be the ancestor of people of many nations. Kings and peoples will be descended from her." BSB BSB: And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”
17 UDB Abraham lay down with his face on the ground in respect before God. But then he laughed as he said to himself, "Can a man who is a hundred years old become a father of a son? And since Sarah is ninety years old, how can she bear a child?" BSB BSB: Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?”
19 UDB Then God replied, "No! Your wife Sarah will bear a son for you. You must name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him, one that will be an everlasting covenant with him and his descendants. BSB BSB: But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
21 UDB But it is with Isaac that I will establish my covenant—Isaac, the son whom Sarah will give birth to at this time next year." BSB BSB: But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”
22 UDB When God finished talking to Abraham, God disappeared from his sight. BSB BSB: When He had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.
23 UDB On that same day, Abraham took his son Ishmael and all the males that were in his household, including the sons of all the slaves he had bought, and circumcised them. He cut off their foreskins, just as God told him to do. BSB BSB: On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or purchased with his money—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised them, just as God had told him.
24 UDB Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, BSB BSB: So Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised,
25 UDB and Ishmael was thirteen years old when Abraham circumcised him. BSB BSB: and his son Ishmael was thirteen;
26 UDB It was on that very same day that Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. BSB BSB: Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day.
27 UDB All the males in his household, the ones who had been born there and those Abraham had bought from foreigners, were also circumcised. BSB BSB: And all the men of Abraham’s household—both servants born in his household and those purchased from foreigners—were circumcised with him.