Genesis 17:1-27

The Sign of the Covenant

17:1 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the sovereign God. Walk before me and be blameless. 17:2 Then I will confirm my covenant between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.”

17:3 Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, and God said to him, 17:4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 17:5 No longer will your name be Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham because I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. 17:6 I will make you extremely fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. 17:7 I will confirm my covenant as a perpetual covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent possession. I will be their God.”

17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep the covenantal requirement I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 17:10 This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: Every male among you must be circumcised. 17:11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder of the covenant between me and you. 17:12 Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants. 17:13 They must indeed be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant will be visible in your flesh as a permanent reminder. 17:14 Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement.”

17:15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; Sarah will be her name. 17:16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. Kings of countries will come from her!”

17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed as he said to himself, “Can a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 17:18 Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live before you!”

17:19 God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual covenant for his descendants after him. 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes; I will make him into a great nation. 17:21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.” 17:22 When he finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) and circumcised them on that very same day, just as God had told him to do. 17:24 Now Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised; 17:25 his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised. 17:26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the very same day. 17:27 All the men of his household, whether born in his household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Genesis 20:13

20:13 When God made me wander from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”

Genesis 33:15

33:15 So Esau said, “Let me leave some of my men with you.” “Why do that?” Jacob replied. “My lord has already been kind enough to me.”

Genesis 36:27

36:27 These were the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

Genesis 37:24

37:24 Then they took him and threw him into the cistern. (Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.)

Deuteronomy 4:1

The Privileges of the Covenant

4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.

Deuteronomy 5:1

The Opening Exhortation

5:1 Then Moses called all the people of Israel together and said to them: “Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances that I am about to deliver to you today; learn them and be careful to keep them!

Deuteronomy 6:1-2

Exhortation to Keep the Covenant Principles

6:1 Now these are the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that the Lord your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed 6:2 and that you may so revere the Lord your God that you will keep all his statutes and commandments that I am giving you – you, your children, and your grandchildren – all your lives, to prolong your days.

Deuteronomy 10:12-13

An Exhortation to Love Both God and People

10:12 Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere him, to obey all his commandments, to love him, to serve him with all your mind and being, 10:13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and statutes that I am giving you today for your own good?

Deuteronomy 11:1

Reiteration of the Call to Obedience

11:1 You must love the Lord your God and do what he requires; keep his statutes, ordinances, and commandments at all times.

Nehemiah 9:13-14

9:13 “You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You provided them with just judgments, true laws, and good statutes and commandments. 9:14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath; you issued commandments, statutes, and law to them through Moses your servant.

Psalms 19:7-11

19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect

and preserves one’s life.

The rules set down by the Lord are reliable

and impart wisdom to the inexperienced.

19:8 The Lord’s precepts are fair

and make one joyful.

The Lord’s commands are pure

and give insight for life.

19:9 The commands to fear the Lord are right

and endure forever.

The judgments given by the Lord are trustworthy

and absolutely just.

19:10 They are of greater value than gold,

than even a great amount of pure gold;

they bring greater delight than honey,

than even the sweetest honey from a honeycomb.

19:11 Yes, your servant finds moral guidance there;

those who obey them receive a rich reward.

Psalms 105:44-45

105:44 He handed the territory of nations over to them,

and they took possession of what other peoples had produced,

105:45 so that they might keep his commands

and obey his laws.

Praise the Lord!

Psalms 119:1-6

Psalm 119

א (Alef)

119:1 How blessed are those whose actions are blameless,

who obey the law of the Lord.

119:2 How blessed are those who observe his rules,

and seek him with all their heart,

119:3 who, moreover, do no wrong,

but follow in his footsteps.

119:4 You demand that your precepts

be carefully kept.

119:5 If only I were predisposed

to keep your statutes!

119:6 Then I would not be ashamed,

if I were focused on all your commands.

Luke 1:6

1:6 They were both righteous in the sight of God, following all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly.

John 14:21

14:21 The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.”

Acts 24:16

24:16 This is the reason I do my best to always have a clear conscience toward God and toward people.

James 1:22-25

1:22 But be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it and so deceive yourselves. 1:23 For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone who gazes at his own face in a mirror. 1:24 For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets what sort of person he was. 1:25 But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out – he will be blessed in what he does.