The Call of Abram

12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household(A) to the land(B) I will show you.(C)

“I will make you into a great nation,(D)
    and I will bless you;(E)
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.[a](F)
I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;(G)
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.(H)[b]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 12:2 Or be seen as blessed
  2. Genesis 12:3 Or earth / will use your name in blessings (see 48:20)

14 The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west.(A) 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring[a] forever.(B) 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.(C) 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land,(D) for I am giving it to you.”(E)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 13:15 Or seed; also in verse 16

He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out(A) of Ur of the Chaldeans(B) to give you this land to take possession of it.”(C)

Read full chapter

18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram(A) and said, “To your descendants I give this land,(B) from the Wadi[a] of Egypt(C) to the great river, the Euphrates(D) 19 the land of the Kenites,(E) Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites,(F) Perizzites,(G) Rephaites,(H) 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”(I)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 15:18 Or river

The Covenant of Circumcision

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old,(A) the Lord appeared to him(B) and said, “I am God Almighty[a];(C) walk before me faithfully and be blameless.(D) Then I will make my covenant between me and you(E) and will greatly increase your numbers.”(F)

Abram fell facedown,(G) and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you:(H) You will be the father of many nations.(I) No longer will you be called Abram[b]; your name will be Abraham,[c](J) for I have made you a father of many nations.(K) I will make you very fruitful;(L) I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.(M) I will establish my covenant(N) as an everlasting covenant(O) between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God(P) and the God of your descendants after you.(Q) The whole land of Canaan,(R) where you now reside as a foreigner,(S) I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you;(T) and I will be their God.(U)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 17:1 Hebrew El-Shaddai
  2. Genesis 17:5 Abram means exalted father.
  3. Genesis 17:5 Abraham probably means father of many.

15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai(A) your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.(B) 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.(C) I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations;(D) kings of peoples will come from her.”

17 Abraham fell facedown;(E) he laughed(F) and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old?(G) Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”(H) 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael(I) might live under your blessing!”(J)

19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son,(K) and you will call him Isaac.[a](L) I will establish my covenant with him(M) as an everlasting covenant(N) for his descendants after him.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 17:19 Isaac means he laughs.

21 But my covenant(A) I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you(B) by this time next year.”(C)

Read full chapter

10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year,(A) and Sarah your wife will have a son.”(B)

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old,(C) and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.(D) 12 So Sarah laughed(E) to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord(F) is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’(G) 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord?(H) I will return to you at the appointed time next year,(I) and Sarah will have a son.”(J)

15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”

But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

Read full chapter

12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring[a] will be reckoned.(A)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 21:12 Or seed

15 The angel of the Lord(A) called to Abraham from heaven(B) a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself,(C) declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,(D) 17 I will surely bless you(E) and make your descendants(F) as numerous as the stars in the sky(G) and as the sand on the seashore.(H) Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,(I) 18 and through your offspring[a] all nations on earth will be blessed,[b](J) because you have obeyed me.”(K)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 22:18 Or seed
  2. Genesis 22:18 Or and all nations on earth will use the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20)

“The Lord, the God of heaven,(A) who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land(B) and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring[a](C) I will give this land’(D)—he will send his angel before you(E) so that you can get a wife for my son from there.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 24:7 Or seed

11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac,(A) who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.(B)

Read full chapter

21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless.(A) The Lord answered his prayer,(B) and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.(C)

23 The Lord said to her,

“Two nations(D) are in your womb,
    and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
    and the older will serve the younger.(E)

Read full chapter

Isaac and Abimelek(A)

26 Now there was a famine in the land(B)—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines(C) in Gerar.(D) The Lord appeared(E) to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt;(F) live in the land where I tell you to live.(G) Stay in this land for a while,(H) and I will be with you(I) and will bless you.(J) For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands(K) and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham.(L) I will make your descendants(M) as numerous as the stars in the sky(N) and will give them all these lands,(O) and through your offspring[a] all nations on earth will be blessed,[b](P) because Abraham obeyed me(Q) and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees(R) and my instructions.(S) So Isaac stayed in Gerar.(T)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 26:4 Or seed
  2. Genesis 26:4 Or and all nations on earth will use the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20)

12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold,(A) because the Lord blessed him.(B) 13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy.(C) 14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants(D) that the Philistines envied him.(E)

Read full chapter

24 That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham.(A) Do not be afraid,(B) for I am with you;(C) I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants(D) for the sake of my servant Abraham.”(E)

25 Isaac built an altar(F) there and called on the name of the Lord.(G) There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.(H)

Read full chapter

19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn.(A) I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game,(B) so that you may give me your blessing.”(C)

20 Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”

“The Lord your God gave me success,(D)” he replied.

21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you,(E) my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”

22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac,(F) who touched(G) him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau;(H) so he proceeded to bless him. 24 “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked.

“I am,” he replied.

25 Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”(I)

Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”

27 So he went to him and kissed(J) him(K). When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes,(L) he blessed him and said,

“Ah, the smell of my son
    is like the smell of a field
    that the Lord has blessed.(M)
28 May God give you heaven’s dew(N)
    and earth’s richness(O)
    an abundance of grain(P) and new wine.(Q)
29 May nations serve you
    and peoples bow down to you.(R)
Be lord over your brothers,
    and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.(S)
May those who curse you be cursed
    and those who bless you be blessed.(T)

Read full chapter

28 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed(A) him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.(B) Go at once to Paddan Aram,[a](C) to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel.(D) Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.(E) May God Almighty[b](F) bless(G) you and make you fruitful(H) and increase your numbers(I) until you become a community of peoples. May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham,(J) so that you may take possession of the land(K) where you now reside as a foreigner,(L) the land God gave to Abraham.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 28:2 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia; also in verses 5, 6 and 7
  2. Genesis 28:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai

28 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed(A) him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.(B)

Read full chapter

Bible Gateway Recommends