Journey Through God's Word

¹Now [in Haran] the LORD had said to Abram, "Go away from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you;

²And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you [abundantly], And make your name great (exalted, distinguished); And you shall be a blessing [a source of great good to others];

³And I will bless (do good for, benefit) those who bless you, And I will curse [that is, subject to My wrath and judgment] the one who curses (despises, dishonors, has contempt for) you. And in you all the families (nations) of the earth will be blessed."

⁴So Abram departed [in faithful obedience] as the LORD had directed him; and Lot [his nephew] left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

⁵Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had acquired, and the people (servants) which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,

⁶Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the [great] terebinth (oak) tree of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time.

⁷Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your descendants." So Abram built an altar there to [honor] the LORD who had appeared to him.

⁸Then he moved on from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD [in worship through prayer, praise, and thanksgiving].

⁹Then Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev (the South country of Judah).

¹After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; Your reward [for obedience] shall be very great."

²Abram said, "Lord GOD, what reward will You give me, since I am [leaving this world] childless, and he who will be the owner and heir of my house is this [servant] Eliezer from Damascus?"

³And Abram continued, "Since You have given no child to me, one (a servant) born in my house is my heir."

⁴Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man [Eliezer] will not be your heir but he who shall come from your own body shall be your heir."

⁵And the LORD brought Abram outside [his tent into the night] and said, "Look now toward the heavens and count the stars—if you are able to count them." Then He said to him, "So [numerous] shall your descendants be."

⁶Then Abram believed in (affirmed, trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the LORD; and He counted (credited) it to him as righteousness (doing right in regard to God and man).

⁷And He said to him, "I am the [same] LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land as an inheritance."

⁸But Abram said, "Lord GOD, by what [proof] will I know that I will inherit it?"

⁹So God said to him, "Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."

¹⁰So Abram brought all these to Him and cut them down the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.

¹¹The birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

¹²When the sun was setting, a deep sleep overcame Abram; and a horror (terror, shuddering fear, nightmare) of great darkness overcame him.

¹³God said to Abram, "Know for sure that your descendants will be strangers [living temporarily] in a land (Egypt) that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.

¹⁴But on that nation whom your descendants will serve I will bring judgment, and afterward they will come out [of that land] with great possessions.

¹⁵As for you, you shall [die and] go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.

¹⁶Then in the fourth generation your descendants shall return here [to Canaan, the land of promise], for the wickedness and guilt of the Amorites is not yet complete (finished)."

¹⁷When the sun had gone down and a [deep] darkness had come, there appeared a smoking brazier and a flaming torch which passed between the [divided] pieces [of the animals].

¹⁸On the same day the LORD made a covenant (promise, pledge) with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates—

¹⁹[the land of] the Kenites and the Kenizzites and the Kadmonites

²⁰and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Rephaim,

²¹the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Girgashites and the Jebusites."

¹When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; Walk [habitually] before Me [with integrity, knowing that you are always in My presence], and be blameless and complete [in obedience to Me].

²"I will establish My covenant (everlasting promise) between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly [through your descendants]."

³Then Abram fell on his face [in worship], and God spoke with him, saying,

⁴"As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And [as a result] you shall be the father of many nations.

⁵"No longer shall your name be Abram (exalted father), But your name shall be Abraham (father of a multitude); For I will make you the father of many nations.

⁶I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.

⁷I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.

⁸I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger [moving from place to place], all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession [of property]; and I will be their God."

⁹Further, God said to Abraham, "As for you [your part of the agreement], you shall keep and faithfully obey [the terms of] My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

¹⁰This is [the sign of] My covenant, which you shall keep and faithfully obey, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

¹¹And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be the sign (symbol, memorial) of the covenant between Me and you.

¹²Every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, [including] a servant whether born in the house or one who is purchased with [your] money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants.

¹³A servant who is born in your house or one who is purchased with your money must be circumcised; and [the sign of] My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

¹⁴And the male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."

¹⁵Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai (my princess), but her name will be Sarah ( Princess).

¹⁶I will bless her, and indeed I will also give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."

¹⁷Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"

¹⁸And Abraham said to God, "Oh, that Ishmael [my firstborn] might live before You!"

¹⁹But God said, "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son indeed, and you shall name him Isaac (laughter); and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his descendants after him.

²⁰As for Ishmael, I have heard and listened to you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will greatly multiply him [through his descendants]. He will be the father of twelve princes (chieftains, sheiks), and I will make him a great nation.

²¹But My covenant [My promise, My solemn pledge], I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year."

²²And God finished speaking with him and went up from Abraham.

²³Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were born in his house and all who were purchased with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin the very same day, as God had said to him.

²⁴So Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised.

²⁵And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised.

²⁶On the very same day Abraham was circumcised, as well as Ishmael his son.

²⁷All the men [servants] of his household, both those born in the house and those purchased with money from a foreigner, were circumcised along with him [as the sign of God's covenant with Abraham].