Abraham to Father Many Nations

¹When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty.Walk before Me and be blameless.

²I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”

³Then Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,

⁴“As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.

⁵No longer will you be called Abram,but your name will be Abraham,for I have made you a father of many nations.

⁶I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.

⁷I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

⁸And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”

The Covenant of Circumcision

⁹God also said to Abraham, “You must keep My covenant—you and your descendants in the generations after you.

¹⁰This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised.

¹¹You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.

¹²Generation after generation, every male must be circumcised when he is eight days old, including those born in your household and those purchased from a foreigner—even those who are not your offspring.

¹³Whether they are born in your household or purchased, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh will be an everlasting covenant.

¹⁴But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

¹⁵Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah.

¹⁶And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”

¹⁷Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?”

¹⁸And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!”

¹⁹But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac.I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

²⁰As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.

²¹But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”

²²When He had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

²³On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or purchased with his money—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised them, just as God had told him.

²⁴So Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised,

²⁵and his son Ishmael was thirteen;

²⁶Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day.

²⁷And all the men of Abraham’s household—both servants born in his household and those purchased from foreigners—were circumcised with him.

A Prophecy against Tyre

¹In the eleventh month of the twelfth year,on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²“Son of man, because Tyre has said of Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gate to the nations is broken; it has swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will be filled,’

³therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, O Tyre, I am against you, and I will raise up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves.

⁴They will destroy the walls of Tyre and demolish her towers. I will scrape the soil from her and make her a bare rock.

⁵She will become a place to spread nets in the sea, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. She will become plunder for the nations,

⁶and the villages on her mainland will be slain by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’

⁷For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzarking of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with cavalry and a great company of troops.

⁸He will slaughter the villages of your mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works against you, build a ramp to your walls, and raise his shields against you.

⁹He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his axes.

¹⁰His multitude of horses will cover you in their dust.When he enters your gates as an army entering a breached city, your walls will shake from the noise of cavalry, wagons, and chariots.

¹¹The hooves of his horses will trample all your streets. He will slaughter your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground.

¹²They will plunder your wealth and pillage your merchandise. They will demolish your walls, tear down your beautiful homes, and throw your stones and timber and soil into the water.

¹³So I will silence the sound of your songs, and the music of your lyres will no longer be heard.

¹⁴I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread the fishing nets. You will never be rebuilt, for I, the LORD, have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.’

¹⁵This is what the Lord GOD says to Tyre: ‘Will not the coastlands quake at the sound of your downfall, when the wounded groan at the slaughter in your midst?

¹⁶All the princes of the sea will descend from their thrones, remove their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. Clothed with terror, they will sit on the ground, trembling every moment, appalled over you.

¹⁷Then they will lament for you, saying,“How you have perished, O city of renowninhabited by seafaring men—she who was powerful on the sea, along with her people,who imposed terror on all peoples!

¹⁸Now the coastlands trembleon the day of your downfall;the islands in the seaare dismayed by your demise.”’

¹⁹For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘When I make you a desolate city like other deserted cities, and when I raise up the deep against you so that the mighty waters cover you,

²⁰then I will bring you down with those who descend to the Pit, to the people of antiquity. I will make you dwell in the earth below like the ancient ruins, with those who descend to the Pit, so that you will no longer be inhabited or set in splendorin the land of the living.

²¹I will make you an object of horror, and you will be no more. You will be sought, but will never be found,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

Elijah Denounces Ahaziah

¹After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel.

²Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers and instructed them: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this injury.”

³But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are on your way to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’

⁴Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘You will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’”So Elijah departed.

⁵When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned?”

⁶They replied, “A man came up to meet us and said, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him that this is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending these men to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’”

⁷The king asked them, “What sort of man came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?”

⁸“He was a hairy man,” they answered, “with a leather belt around his waist.”“It was Elijah the Tishbite,” said the king.

⁹Then King Ahaziah sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. So the captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down!’”

¹⁰Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.”And fire came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty men.

¹¹So the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. And the captain said to Elijah, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down at once!’”

¹²Again Elijah replied, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.”And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty men.

¹³So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. And the third captain went up, fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, “Man of God, may my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours please be precious in your sight.

¹⁴Behold, fire has come down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty, with all their men. But now may my life be precious in your sight.”

¹⁵Then the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him.”So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king.

¹⁶And Elijah said to King Ahaziah, “This is what the LORD says: Is there really no God in Israel for you to inquire of His word? Is that why you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.”

Jehoram Succeeds Ahaziah

¹⁷So Ahaziah died according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. And since he had no son, Jehoramsucceeded him in the second year of the reign of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah.

¹⁸As for the rest of the acts of Ahaziah, along with his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Tell of His Wonders

¹Give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name;make known His deeds among the nations.

²Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;tell of all His wonders.

³Glory in His holy name;let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

⁴Seek out the LORD and His strength;seek His face always.

⁵Remember the wonders He has done,His marvels, and the judgments He has pronounced,

⁶O offspring of His servant Abraham,O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones.

⁷He is the LORD our God;His judgments carry throughout the earth.

⁸He remembers His covenant forever,the word He ordained for a thousand generations—

⁹the covenant He made with Abraham,and the oath He swore to Isaac.

¹⁰He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,to Israel as an everlasting covenant:

¹¹“I will give you the land of Canaanas the portion of your inheritance.”

¹²When they were few in number,few indeed, and strangers in the land,

¹³they wandered from nation to nation,from one kingdom to another.

¹⁴He let no man oppress them;He rebuked kings on their behalf:

¹⁵“Do not touch My anointed ones!Do no harm to My prophets!”

¹⁶He called down famine on the landand cut off all their suppliesof food.

¹⁷He sent a man before them—Joseph, sold as a slave.

¹⁸They bruised his feet with shacklesand placed his neck in irons,

¹⁹until his prediction came trueand the word of the LORD proved him right.

²⁰The king sent and released him;the ruler of peoples set him free.

²¹He made him master of his household,ruler over all his substance,

²²to instructhis princes as he pleasedand teach his elders wisdom.

²³Then Israel entered Egypt;Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham.

²⁴And the LORD made His people very fruitful,more numerous than their foes,

²⁵whose hearts He turned to hate His people,to conspire against His servants.

²⁶He sent Moses His servant,and Aaron, whom He had chosen.

²⁷They performed His miraculous signs among them,and wonders in the land of Ham.

²⁸He sent darkness, and it became dark—yet they defied His words.

²⁹He turned their waters to bloodand caused their fish to die.

³⁰Their land teemed with frogs,even in their royal chambers.

³¹He spoke, and insects swarmed—gnats throughout their country.

³²He gave them hail for rain,with lightning throughout their land.

³³He struck their vines and fig treesand shattered the trees of their country.

³⁴He spoke, and the locusts came—young locusts without number.

³⁵They devoured every plant in their landand consumed the produce of their soil.

³⁶Then He struck all the firstborn in their land,the firstfruits of all their vigor.

³⁷He brought Israel out with silver and gold,and none among His tribes stumbled.

³⁸Egypt was glad when they departed,for the dread of Israel had fallen on them.

³⁹He spread a cloud as a coveringand a fire to light up the night.

⁴⁰They asked, and He brought quailand satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

⁴¹He opened a rock, and water gushed out;it flowed like a river in the desert.

⁴²For He remembered His holy promiseto Abraham His servant.

⁴³He brought forth His people with rejoicing,His chosen with shouts of joy.

⁴⁴He gave them the lands of the nations,that they might inherit the fruit of others’ labor,

⁴⁵that they might keep His statutesand obey His laws.Hallelujah!