6 Bible Verses about Abraham, God's Covenant With

The word of Jehovah came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram; I am your shield. Your reward shall be very great. Abram said: O Jehovah God, what will you give me? I continue childless! The heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. Abram also said: You have given me no offspring. So a slave born in my house is to be my heir.read more.
The word of Jehovah came to him: This man shall not be your heir. No one but your very own issue shall be your heir. He brought him outside and said: Look toward heaven and count the stars. Are you able to count them? He continued: So shall your descendants be. He believed in Jehovah. Jehovah considered Abram's faith as his righteousness. Then God said to him: I AM JEHOVAH, who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess. Abram replied: O Jehovah God, how will I know that I shall possess it? He (God) said to him: Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. Abram brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other. He did not cut the birds in two. When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. Jehovah said to Abram: Know this for sure; your offspring will be strangers (aliens) in a land that is not theirs. They will be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years. I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve! Afterward they will come out with great possessions. As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace. You shall be buried at a good old age. They shall come back here in the fourth generation. The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. The sun went down and it was dark. A smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram. He said: To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. Yet he promised that he would give it to him and his seed after him for a possession. This promise was made before he had a child. God spoke to this effect, that his seed would be alien residents in a strange land. They would enslave them, and mistreat them for four hundred years. I will judge the nation to whom they shall be in bondage,' said God, 'and after they will come serve me in this place.'

Abram was ninety-nine years old. Jehovah appeared to him and said: I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. I will establish my covenant between us. I will greatly increase your numbers. Abram fell on his face and God said to him:read more.
This is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. You will no longer be called Abram (Exalted Father). Your name will be Abraham (means Father of Many). I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as a long lasting covenant between us. It will be for your descendants after you, for the generations to come. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now a guest (alien) (foreigner) (stranger), I will give a long lasting possession to you and your descendants after you. I will be their God.

Then God said to Abraham: As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision. It will be the sign of the covenant between us.read more.
For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised. This includes those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner, those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be a long lasting covenant. Any male not circumcised in the flesh will be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant. God continued: Do not call your wife Sarai any longer. Her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her. Abraham fell to his face. He laughed and said to himself: Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety? Abraham said to God: If only Ishmael might live under your blessing! God replied: Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son! You will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as a long lasting covenant for his descendants after him. Concerning Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him. I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac. Sarah will bear him to you by this time next year. When he finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised. His son Ishmael was thirteen. Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. Every male in Abraham's household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

He gave him the covenant of circumcision. Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him the eighth day. Isaac became father to Jacob and Jacob fathered the twelve family heads.

He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith that he had while he was not circumcised. That way he could be the father of all those who believe, though they are not circumcised, that righteousness might be counted to them.