⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars^(A)—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring^[a] be.”^(B)

¹² And so from this one man, and he as good as dead,^(A) came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.^(B)

¹⁰ The Lord your God has increased^(A) your numbers^(B) so that today you are as numerous^(C) as the stars in the sky.^(D)

¹⁸ Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations,^(A) just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”^[a](B)

¹³ Remember^(A) your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self:^(B) ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars^(C) in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land^(D) I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’”

¹⁷ I will surely bless you^(A) and make your descendants^(B) as numerous as the stars in the sky^(C) and as the sand on the seashore.^(D) Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,^(E)

²² Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all,^(A) and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.^(B)

⁷ Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^{[a](A) 8} In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children,^(B) but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.^(C)