⁹ By faith he made his home in the promised land^(A) like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents,^(B) as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.^(C)

⁸ From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel^(A) and pitched his tent,^(B) with Bethel on the west and Ai^(C) on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.^(D)

¹⁸ So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre^(A) at Hebron,^(B) where he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the Lord.^(C)

¹⁷ Because God wanted to make the unchanging^(A) nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised,^(B) he confirmed it with an oath.

⁹ “Where is your wife Sarah?”^(A) they asked him.

“There, in the tent,^(B)” he said.

³ From the Negev^(A) he went from place to place until he came to Bethel,^(B) to the place between Bethel and Ai^(C) where his tent had been earlier

³ Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty^[a](A) appeared to me at Luz^(B) in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me^{(C) 4} and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers.^(D) I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land^(E) as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’^(F)

²⁷ Jacob came home to his father Isaac^(A) in Mamre,^(B) near Kiriath Arba^(C) (that is, Hebron),^(D) where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.^(E)

¹³ There above it^[a] stood the Lord,^(A) and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.^(B) I will give you and your descendants the land^(C) on which you are lying.^{(D) 14} Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you^(E) will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south.^(F) All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.^[b](G)