1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
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1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
God appeared to Abraham [1] when he was 99 years old, and said,
I am God. Walk before me and be perfect.
2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
I'll make a covenant with you, and I'll make sure you have lots of descendants.
3And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
My covenant is with you, and you'll be the father of many nations.
5Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
No one will call you Abram anymore. Your name will be Abraham, because I've made you a father of many nations.
6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
I'll make you be exceedingly fruitful; nations and kings will come out of you.
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
I'll establish an everlasting covenant with you and your descendants. I'll be a God to you and to them.
8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
I'll give your descendants the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession. And I'll be their God.
9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
You and your descendants will keep my covenant.
10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
This is my covenant: Every male will be circumcised.
11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin. It shall be a token of the covenant between us. [2]
12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
When a baby boy is eight days old, he shall be circumcised, whether he is born in your house, or is bought with money, or is a stranger. [3]
13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
14And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
An uncircumcised boy must be cut off from his people.
15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
God said to Abraham,
Call Sarai Sarah from now on.
16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
I will bless her and give you a son from her. She will be a mother of nations and kings. [4]
17:17-22
Cf. Gen 18:9 - Sarah laughs at God
17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
Abraham falls down laughing at God [5] for telling him that he and Sarah will have a child, when they are 100 and 90 years old, respectively.
19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
God said to Abraham,
Sarah will have a son, and you will call him Isaac.
I'll establish my everlasting covenant with him and his descendants.
20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
I have blessed Ishmael and will make him have lots of children.
Twelve of his sons will be princes and from him I'll make a great nation.
21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
But my covenant will be with Isaac. Sarah will deliver him next year at this time.
22 And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
Then God stopped talking and went up.
23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.
24And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
25And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
26 In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.
27 And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.
Abraham was 99 years old when he circumcised himself, along with his 13 year old son, Ishmael, [6] and his 318 slaves -- all in one very busy (and painful) day.
God blesses the union between Abraham and his half-sister Sarah, promising Abraham that Sarah will have children.
Compare God's reaction to Abraham's laugh in this chapter with Sarah's laugh in the next.
Slate Blogs the Bible by David Plotz
God finally allows Sarah to have children, and he makes a covenant with Abraham. So the previous promises weren't covenants? Ok then.
Now here comes the really disgusting part. It's time to mutilate some dicks! Yep, that's right, it's circumcision time! God says that all boys, and he means ALL BOYS should be circumcised. John Harvey Kellogg would approve.
Well, great! After the nonsensical defilement of a poor slave woman, Hagar, God finally intervenes and blesses Sarah with the ability to bear children. Our perfect omniscient god character didn't have the forethought to spare Hagar intense heartbreak and trauma to simply give Sarah the blessing first. Again, punishment for punishment's sake, completely misdirected while the creeps get away scot-free.
Abraham never paid for his lie to the Pharaoh. Sarah hasn't paid for her treatment of Hagar. The Pharaoh suffers great plagues, Hagar suffers nine months of carrying someone else's child and likely a lot of post-partum depression to deal with. Is this truly the handiwork of an all-seeing and -knowing benevolent god?
This doesn't even include the mad ritual circumcision Abraham performs. Simply disgusting.