Genesis 17:17

¹⁵ And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.

¹⁶ And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.

Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?

¹⁸ And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

¹⁹ And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: Abraham 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?”
KJV: Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
WEB: Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?”
ASV: Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
DARBY: And Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall [a child] be born to him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear?
BLB: And Abraham fell on his face, and he laughed, and he said in his heart, “To a son of a hundred years shall [a child] be born? Or [shall] Sarah, a daughter of ninety years, bear [a child]?”

ÅB: Da falt Abraham på sitt ansikt og lo, og han sa ved seg selv: Skulle en som er hundre år gammel, få barn? Og skulle Sara, som er nitti år gammel, føde?
OTB: Da bøyde Abraham seg ned og lo, mens han tenkte i sitt hjerte: “Kan et barn bli født til en mann som er hundre år gammel? Og kan Sara, som er nitti år gammel, føde et barn?”
B1930: Da falt Abraham på sitt ansikt og lo, og han sa ved sig selv: Skulde en som er hundre år gammel, få barn? Og skulde Sara, som er nitti år gammel, føde?

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Genesis 18:12
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
Read in context
Genesis 21:6
And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.
Read in context
Romans 4:19–20
And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb:
Read in context
John 8:56
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
Read in context
Revelation 11:16
And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Read in context
Genesis 17:3
And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
Read in context
Ezekiel 1:28
As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.
Read in context
Revelation 5:8
And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Read in context