Terah’s Descendants

²⁷ This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot ^(A)Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. ²⁸ And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹ Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was ^(B)Sarai,^[a] and the name of Nahor’s wife, ^(C)Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. ³⁰ But ^(D)Sarai was barren; she had no child.

³¹ And Terah ^(E)took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from ^(F)Ur of the Chaldeans to go to ^(G)the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. ³² So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

Promises to Abram^(H)

12 Now the ^(I)Lord had said to Abram:

⁴ So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and ^(Q)the ^[b]people whom they had acquired ^(R)in Haran, and they ^(S)departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. ⁶ Abram ^(T)passed through the land to the place of Shechem, ^(U)as far as ^[c]the terebinth tree of Moreh. ^(V)And the Canaanites were then in the land.

^7 (W)Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ^(X)“To your ^[d]descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an ^(Y)altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸ And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and ^(Z)called on the name of the Lord. ⁹ So Abram journeyed, ^(AA)going on still toward the ^[e]South.

Abram in Egypt

¹⁰ Now there was ^(AB)a famine in the land, and Abram ^(AC)went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was ^(AD)severe in the land. ¹¹ And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are ^(AE)a woman of beautiful countenance. ¹² Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they ^(AF)will kill me, but they will let you live. ^13 (AG)Please say you are my ^(AH)sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that ^[f]I may live because of you.”

¹⁴ So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. ¹⁵ The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶ He ^(AI)treated Abram well for her sake. He ^(AJ)had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

¹⁷ But the Lord ^(AK)plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸ And Pharaoh called Abram and said, ^(AL)“What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.” ^20 (AM)So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.

¹⁴ And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot ^(A)had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—^(B)northward, southward, eastward, and westward; ¹⁵ for all the land which you see ^(C)I give to you and ^(D)your ^[a]descendants forever. ¹⁶ And ^(E)I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.

²² But Abram ^(A)said to the king of Sodom, “I ^(B)have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, ^(C)the Possessor of heaven and earth, ²³ that ^(D)I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’— ²⁴ except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”

God’s Covenant with Abram^(E)

15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram ^(F)in a vision, saying, ^(G)“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your ^(H)shield, ^[a]your exceedingly ^(I)great reward.”

^2 (J)But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, ^(K)seeing I ^[b]go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed ^(L)one^[c] born in my house is my heir!”

⁴ And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who ^(M)will come from your own body shall be your heir.” ⁵ Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and ^(N)count the ^(O)stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, ^(P)“So shall your ^(Q)descendants be.”

⁶ And he ^(R)believed in the Lord, and He ^(S)accounted it to him for righteousness.

⁵ Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— ⁶ just as Abraham ^(A)“believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” ⁷ Therefore know that only ^(B)those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. ⁸ And ^(C)the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ^(D)“In you all the nations shall be blessed.” ⁹ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

The Changeless Promise^(A)

¹⁵ Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: ^(B)Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. ¹⁶ Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of ^(C)one, ^(D)“And to your Seed,” who is ^(E)Christ. ¹⁷ And this I say, that the law, ^(F)which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God ^[a]in Christ, ^(G)that it should make the promise of no effect. ¹⁸ For if ^(H)the inheritance is of the law, ^(I)it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

Sons and Heirs

²⁶ For you ^(A)are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷ For ^(B)as many of you as were baptized into Christ ^(C)have put on Christ. ^28 (D)There is neither Jew nor Greek, ^(E)there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all ^(F)one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And ^(G)if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s ^(H)seed, and ^(I)heirs according to the promise.

⁵¹ Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(A)if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.”

⁵² Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You ^(B)have a demon! ^(C)Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’ ⁵³ Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. ^(D)Who do You make Yourself out to be?”

⁵⁴ Jesus answered, ^(E)“If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. ^(F)It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is ^[a]your God. ⁵⁵ Yet ^(G)you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and ^(H)keep His word. ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham ^(I)rejoiced to see My day, ^(J)and he saw it and was glad.”

⁵⁷ Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”

⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(K)before Abraham was, ^(L)I AM.”

⁵⁹ Then ^(M)they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, ^(N)going^[b] through the midst of them, and so passed by.

God’s Righteousness Through Faith

²¹ But now ^(A)the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, ^(B)being witnessed by the Law ^(C)and the Prophets, ²² even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all ^[a]and on all who believe. For ^(D)there is no difference; ²³ for ^(E)all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified ^[b]freely ^(F)by His grace ^(G)through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Abraham Justified by Faith^(A)

4 What then shall we say that ^(B)Abraham our ^(C)father^[a] has found according to the flesh? ² For if Abraham was ^(D)justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. ³ For what does the Scripture say? ^(E)“Abraham believed God, and it was ^[b]accounted to him for righteousness.” ⁴ Now ^(F)to him who works, the wages are not counted ^[c]as grace but as debt.

David Celebrates the Same Truth

⁵ But to him who ^(G)does not work but believes on Him who justifies ^(H)the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,