⁷ “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants^[a] after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

²⁴ where the Lord appeared to him on the night of his arrival. “I am the God of your father, Abraham,” he said. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you. I will multiply your descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will do this because of my promise to Abraham, my servant.”

⁷ Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,”^[a] though Abraham had other children, too. ⁸ This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children. ⁹ For God had promised, “I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”^[b]

³⁹ This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away^[a]—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”

¹⁸ So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt^[a] to the great Euphrates River—