The Abrahamic Covenant
Genesis 12-17
Abram Rescues Lot
14 In the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king ofElam, and Tidal king of Goiim, 2 these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom,Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king ofBela (that is, Zoar). 3 And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).4 Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 In thefourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated theRephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6 and theHorites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness. 7 Thenthey turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and defeated all the country of theAmalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon-tamar.
8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim,and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim9 with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Ariochking of Ellasar, four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits, andas the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hillcountry. 11 So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all theirprovisions, and went their way. 12 They also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, who wasdwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.
13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by theoaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram.14 When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men,born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 And he divided his forcesagainst them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah,north of Damascus. 16 Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back hiskinsman Lot with his possessions, and the women and the people.
Abram Blessed by Melchizedek
17 After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, theking of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 18 AndMelchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)19 And he blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. 21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give methe persons, but take the goods for yourself.” 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I havelifted my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I would nottake a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have madeAbram rich.’ 24 I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of themen who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”
God’s Covenant with Abram
15 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram,I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord GOD,what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer ofDamascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of myhousehold will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shallnot be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said,“Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said tohim, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him asrighteousness.
7 And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to giveyou this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram threeyears old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half,and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birdsof prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and greatdarkness fell upon him. 13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspringwill be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will beafflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, andafterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to yourfathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in thefourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flamingtorch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram,saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the riverEuphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, thePerizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
Sarai and Hagar
16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptianservant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORDhas prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtainchildren by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, after Abram had lived tenyears in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, andgave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. Andwhen she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5 And Saraisaid to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, andwhen she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judgebetween you and me!” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do toher as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.
7 The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on theway to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where areyou going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of the LORD said toher, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the LORD also said to her, “Iwill surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And theangel of the LORD said to her,
“Behold, you are pregnant
and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
because the LORD has listened to your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
his hand against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”
13 So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for shesaid, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.
15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore,Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him,“I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make mycovenant 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 father of amultitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall beAbraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make youexceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And Iwill establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout theirgenerations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all theland of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and youroffspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep,between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall becircumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign ofthe covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall becircumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or boughtwith your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born inyour house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall mycovenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is notcircumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken mycovenant.”
Isaac’s Birth Promised
15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, butSarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I willbless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 ThenAbraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man whois a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham saidto God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shallbear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as aneverlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, Ihave blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelveprinces, and I 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.”
22 When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23 Then Abrahamtook Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every maleamong the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that veryday, as God had said to him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcisedin the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he wascircumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael werecircumcised. 27 And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
(ESV)