Listening A1: Genesis Chapter 1 - Genesis 17

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God came to him and said, "I am God. Walk in front of me and be good."

"I will make a promise with you and will make you have many people."

Abram fell down and God spoke with him.

"My promise is with you and you will be the father of many nations."

"From now on your name will not be Abram. Your name will be Abraham. I have made you the father of many nations."

"I will make you very fruitful, and many nations will come from you, and kings will be born from you."

"I will keep my promise with you and your children, now and forever. I will be God to you and to your children."

"I will give you and your children the land where you live, all the land of Canaan, for always; and I will be their God."

God said to Abraham, "You must keep my promise, you and your children and their children."

"This is my promise that you must keep between me and you and your children: every boy must have the sign of the promise."

"You must have this small cut on your skin. This is the sign of the promise between me and you."

"Every boy who is eight days old must have this cut, no matter if he is born in your house or bought with money from a foreign man who is not your child."

"Every boy born in your house or bought with your money must have this cut; my promise will be on your bodies forever."

"Any boy who does not have this cut will be cut off from his people; he has broken my promise."

God said to Abraham, "Your wife Sarai will no longer be called Sarai. You will call her Sarah."

"I will bless her, and I will give you a son from her. I will bless her; she will be a mother of many nations. Kings of people will come from her."

Abraham fell down, laughed, and thought, "Can a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety, have a baby?"

Abraham said to God, "Please, let Ishmael live before you!"

God said, "No. But your wife Sarah will give you a son. You will call him Isaac. I will keep my promise with him and his children forever."

"As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I have blessed him; he will have many children. He will be the father of twelve chiefs, and I will make him a big nation."

"But my promise is with Isaac, whom Sarah will have at this time next year."

God finished talking and left Abraham.

Abraham took Ishmael his son and all the boys born in his house and all those bought with his money, every male in Abraham's house, and made the small cut on the skin that same day, as God had told him.

Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he had this cut.

Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he had the cut.

On that same day Abraham and his son Ishmael were cut.

All the men in his house, those born there and those bought with money from a foreign man, had the cut with him.