Gen 17:1 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the sovereign God. Walk before me and be blameless.
Note: There are two imperatives here: "walk and be blameless [or "perfect"]." The second imperative may be purely sequential (see the translation) or consequential: "walk before me and then you will be blameless." How one interprets the sequence depends on the meaning of "walk before": (1) If it simply refers in a neutral way to serving the Lord, then the second imperative is likely sequential. (2) But if it has a positive moral connotation ("serve me faithfully"), then the second imperative probably indicates purpose (or result). For other uses of the idiom see 1 Sam 2:30, 35 and 12:2 (where it occurs twice).
Gen 17:17-19a Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed as he said to himself, “Can a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live before you!”
God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac.
Note: Heb "will call his name Isaac." The name means "he laughs," or perhaps "may he laugh"
Matt 16:24-26a Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what does it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life?
