¹⁵ And thus Abraham,^{[a] (A)}having patiently waited, obtained the promise.

^2 (A)And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ^3 (B)I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and ^(C)in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”^[a]

¹² so that you may not be sluggish, but ^(A)imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

¹⁷ as it is written, ^(A)“I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, ^(B)who gives life to the dead and calls into existence ^(C)the things that do not exist. ¹⁸ In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ^(D)“So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was ^(E)as good as dead (^(F)since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered ^(G)the barrenness^[a] of Sarah's womb. ²⁰ No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹ fully convinced that ^(H)God was able to do what he had promised. ²² That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” ²³ But ^(I)the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, ²⁴ but for ours also. It will be counted to us ^(J)who believe in ^(K)him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ^25 (L)who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised ^(M)for our justification.

^7 (A)But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith

² And the Lord answered me:

² And Sarah ^(A)conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age ^(B)at the time of which God had spoken to him. ³ Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, ^(C)Isaac.^{[a] 4} And Abraham ^(D)circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, ^(E)as God had commanded him. ^5 (F)Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶ And Sarah said, ^(G)“God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” ⁷ And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? ^(H)Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

² But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue^[a] childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and ^(A)a member of my household will be my heir.” ⁴ And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; ^(B)your very own son^[b] shall be your heir.” ⁵ And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and ^(C)number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, ^(D)“So shall your offspring be.” ⁶ And ^(E)he believed the Lord, and ^(F)he counted it to him as righteousness.

¹⁶ I will bless her, and moreover, I will ^(A)give^[a] you a son by her. I will bless her, and ^(B)she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” ¹⁷ Then Abraham ^(C)fell on his face ^(D)and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”