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18 and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.”(A)

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25 You are the descendants of the prophets and of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’(A)

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I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”[a](A)

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Footnotes

  1. 12.3 Or by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves

16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring;[a] it does not say, “And to offsprings,”[b] as of many, but it says, “And to your offspring,”[c] that is, to one person, who is Christ.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 3.16 Gk seed
  2. 3.16 Gk seeds
  3. 3.16 Gk seed

I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth shall gain blessing for themselves through your offspring,(A) because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

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And the scripture, foreseeing that God would reckon as righteous the gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the gentiles shall be blessed in you.”(A) For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed.

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28 There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.(A) 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring,[a] heirs according to the promise.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 3.29 Gk seed

23 But this command I gave them, “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; walk only in the way that I command you, so that it may be well with you.”(A)

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18 seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?[a](A)

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Footnotes

  1. 18.18 Or and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,[a](A)

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Footnotes

  1. 1.3 Gk heavenlies

17 May his name endure forever,
    his fame continue as long as the sun.
May all nations be blessed in him;[a]
    may they pronounce him happy.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 72.17 Or bless themselves by him

the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh(A)

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The Meaning of Faith

11 Now faith is the assurance[a] of things hoped for, the conviction[b] of things not seen.(A) Indeed, by faith[c] our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.[d](B)

The Examples of Abel, Enoch, and Noah

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable[e] sacrifice than Cain’s. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith[f] he still speaks.(C) By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death, and “he was not found, because God had taken him.” For it was attested before he was taken away that “he had pleased God.”(D) And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would approach God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith.(E)

The Faith of Abraham

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he set out, not knowing where he was going.(F) By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.(G) 10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.(H) 11 By faith, with Sarah’s involvement, he received power of procreation, even though he was too old, because he considered[g] him faithful who had promised.(I) 12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”(J)

13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth,(K) 14 for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better homeland, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.(L)

17 By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son,(M) 18 of whom he had been told, “It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.”(N) 19 He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead—and, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.(O) 20 By faith Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, “bowing in worship over the top of his staff.”(P) 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his burial.[h](Q)

The Faith of Moses

23 By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.[i](R) 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered abuse suffered for the Christ[j] to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, unafraid of the king’s anger, for he persevered as though[k] he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.[l](S)

The Faith of Other Israelite Heroes

29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned.(T) 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days.(U) 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient,[m] because she had received the spies in peace.(V)

32 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,(W) 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.(X) 35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection.(Y) 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment.(Z) 37 They were stoned to death; they were sawn in two;[n] they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented(AA) 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains and in caves and holes in the ground.(AB)

39 Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.(AC)

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Footnotes

  1. 11.1 Or reality
  2. 11.1 Or evidence
  3. 11.2 Gk by this
  4. 11.3 Or was not made out of visible things
  5. 11.4 Gk greater
  6. 11.4 Gk through it
  7. 11.11 Other ancient authorities read By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered
  8. 11.22 Gk his bones
  9. 11.23 Other ancient authorities add By faith Moses, when he was grown up, killed the Egyptian, because he observed the humiliation of his brothers and sisters
  10. 11.26 Or the Messiah
  11. 11.27 Or because
  12. 11.28 Gk would not touch them
  13. 11.31 Or unbelieving
  14. 11.37 Other ancient authorities add they were tempted

18 For if the inheritance comes from the law, it no longer comes from the promise, but God granted it to Abraham through the promise.(A)

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30 Therefore the Lord the God of Israel declares: I promised that your family and the family of your ancestor should go in and out before me forever, but now the Lord declares: Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be treated with contempt.(A)

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10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill[a] his son.

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Footnotes

  1. 22.10 Or to slaughter

So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him.

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