Abraham

When Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.

And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. Abramʼs wife was named Sarai, and Nahorʼs wife was named Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah.

And Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan. But when they arrived in Haran, they settled there.

Then the Lordsaid to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your fatherʼs household, and go to the land I will show you.

So Abram departed, as the Lordhad directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,

Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the Oak of Moreh at Shechem. And at that time the Canaanites were in the land.

Then the Lordappeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

And Abram journeyed on toward the Negev.

Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.

So when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.

He treated Abram well on her account, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

The Lord, however, afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abramʼs wife Sarai.

So Pharaoh summoned Abram and asked, “What have you done to me? Why didnʼt you tell me she was your wife?

So Abram went up out of Egypt into the Negev—he and his wife and all his possessions—and Lot was with him.

And Abram had become extremely wealthy in livestock and silver and gold.

to the site where he had built the altar. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.

Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.

And there was discord between the herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen of Lot. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were also living in the land.

So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no contention between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen. After all, we are kinsmen.

Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

After Lot had departed, the Lordsaid to Abram, “Now lift up your eyes from the place where you are, and look to the north and south and east and west,

So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the Oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the Lord.

They also carried off Abramʼs nephew Lot and his possessions, since Lot was living in Sodom.

Then an escapee came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were bound by treaty to Abram.

And when Abram heard that his relative had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men born in his household, and they set out in pursuit as far as Dan.

and he blessed Abram and said: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, but take the goods for yourself.”

But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LordGod Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

that I will not accept even a thread, or a strap of a sandal, or anything that belongs to you, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’

After these events, the word of the Lordcame to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

But Abram replied, “O Lord God, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

And the birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.

Then the Lordsaid to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.

On that day the Lordmade a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—

Now Abramʼs wife Sarai had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar.

So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, the Lordhas prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

So after he had lived in Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to Abram to be his wife.

Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the Lordjudge between you and me.”

“Here,” said Abram, “your servant is in your hands. Do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she fled from her.

And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.

Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lordappeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.

Then Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,

No longer will you be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.

God also said to Abraham, “You must keep My covenant—you and your descendants in the generations after you.

Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah.

Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?”

And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!”

When He had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or purchased with his money—every male among the members of Abrahamʼs household—and he circumcised them, just as God had told him.

So Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised,

Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day.

So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.”

Meanwhile, Abraham ran to the herd, selected a tender and choice calf, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.

And Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

And the Lordasked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’

When the men got up to leave, they looked out over Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them off.

And the Lordsaid, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?

Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lordby doing what is right and just, in order that the Lordmay bring upon Abraham what He has promised.”

And the two men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.

Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes—

When the Lordhad finished speaking with Abraham, He departed, and Abraham returned home.

Early the next morning, Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord.

So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that destroyed the cities where he had lived.

Now Abraham journeyed from there to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was staying in Gerar,

Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.

Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such tremendous guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.”

Abimelech also asked Abraham, “What prompted you to do such a thing?”

Abraham replied, “I thought to myself, ‘Surely there is no fear of God in this place. They will kill me on account of my wife.’

So Abimelech brought sheep and cattle, menservants and maidservants, and he gave them to Abraham and restored his wife Sarah to him.

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children—

for on account of Abrahamʼs wife Sarah, the Lordhad completely closed all the wombs in Abimelechʼs household.

So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised.

And Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore to him.

When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.

Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

She added, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned.

But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son,

and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave womanʼs son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!”

Now this matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son Ishmael.

But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to everything that Sarah tells you, for through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.

Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagarʼs shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.

At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.

And Abraham replied, “I swear it.”

But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelechʼs servants had seized,

So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant.

Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from the flock,

and Abimelech asked him, “Why have you set apart these seven ewe lambs?”

And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered.

So Abraham got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, and took along two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had designated.

On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

“Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told his servants. “The boy and I will go over there to worship, and then we will return to you.”

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac. He himself carried the fire and the sacrificial knife, and the two of them walked on together.

Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” “Here I am, my son,” he replied. “The fire and the wood are here,” said Isaac, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two walked on together.

When they arrived at the place God had designated, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar, atop the wood.

Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

Just then the angel of the Lordcalled out to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.

Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.

And Abraham called that place The LordWill Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lordit will be provided.”

And the angel of the Lordcalled to Abraham from heaven a second time,

Abraham went back to his servants, and they got up and set out together for Beersheba. And Abraham settled in Beersheba.

Some time later, Abraham was told, “Milcah has also borne sons to your brother Nahor:

And Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight sons to Abrahamʼs brother Nahor.

She died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went out to mourn and to weep for her.

Then Abraham got up from beside his dead wife and said to the Hittites,

The Hittites replied to Abraham,

Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites.

Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth. So in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city, Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham,

Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land

Ephron answered Abraham,

Abraham agreed to Ephronʼs terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the standard of the merchants.

to Abrahamʼs possession in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city.

After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field at Machpelah near Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

So the field and its cave were deeded by the Hittites to Abraham as a burial site.

By now Abraham was old and well along in years, and the Lordhad blessed him in every way.

So Abraham instructed the chief servant of his household, who managed all he owned, “Place your hand under my thigh,

Abraham replied, “Make sure that you do not take my son back there.

So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.

“O Lord, God of my master Abraham,” he prayed, “please grant me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abrahamʼs brother Nahor.

saying, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld His kindness and faithfulness from my master. As for me, the Lordhas led me on the journey to the house of my masterʼs relatives.”

“I am Abrahamʼs servant,” he replied.

So when I came to the spring today, I prayed: O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if only You would make my journey a success!

Then I bowed down and worshiped the Lord; and I blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who led me on the right road to take the granddaughter of my masterʼs brother for his son.

When Abrahamʼs servant heard their words, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord.

So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abrahamʼs servant and his men.

Now Abraham had taken another wife, named Keturah,

Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac.

But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.

Abraham lived a total of 175 years.

And at a ripe old age he breathed his last and died, old and contented, and was gathered to his people.

This was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah.

After Abrahamʼs death, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near Beer-lahai-roi.

This is the account of Abrahamʼs son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarahʼs maidservant, bore to Abraham.

This is the account of Abrahamʼs son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac,

Now there was another famine in the land, subsequent to the one that had occurred in Abrahamʼs time. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.

Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.

because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

So the Philistines took dirt and stopped up all the wells that his fatherʼs servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.

Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. And he gave these wells the same names his father had given them.

and that night the Lordappeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham.”

And may He give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants, so that you may possess the land where you dwell as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”

Esau went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abrahamʼs son Ishmael, in addition to the wives he already had.

And there at the top the Lordwas standing and saying, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you now lie.

If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, and last night He rendered judgment.”

May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.

Then Jacob declared, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, the Lordwho told me, ‘Go back to your country and to your kindred, and I will make you prosper,’

The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”

Jacob returned to his father Isaac at Mamre, near Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.

Then he blessed Joseph and said: “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

the angel who has redeemed me from all harm— may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”

The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.

There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and there I buried Leah.

They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave at Machpelah in the field near Mamre, which Abraham had purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely visit you and bring you up from this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

God also told Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.

Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me and said: I have surely attended to you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.

“This is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”

I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name the LORD I did not make Myself known to them.

And I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD!’”

Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom You swore by Your very self when You declared, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised, and it shall be their inheritance forever.’”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of the land of Egypt, and go to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’

then I will remember My covenant with Jacob and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

‘Because they did not follow Me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years of age or older who came out of Egypt will see the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—

See, I have placed the land before you. Enter and possess the land that the LORD swore He would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants after them.”

And when the LORD your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give you—a land with great and splendid cities that you did not build,

It is not because of your righteousness or uprightness of heart that you are going in to possess their land, but it is because of their wickedness that the LORD your God is driving out these nations before you, to keep the promise He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people and the wickedness of their sin.

and so that He may establish you today as His people, and He may be your God as He promised you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

and that you may love the LORD your God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

And the LORD said to him, “This is the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross into it.”

And Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and worshiped other gods.

But I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac,

At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command.

But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been unwilling to destroy them or cast them from His presence.

and Abram (that is, Abraham).

The sons of Abraham were Isaac and Ishmael.

The sons born to Keturah, Abrahamʼs concubine: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan.

Abraham was the father of Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel.

the covenant He made with Abraham, and the oath He swore to Isaac.

O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, keep this desire forever in the intentions of the hearts of Your people, and direct their hearts toward You.

Our God, did You not drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham Your friend?

At the command of the king, the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials, which read: “Children of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that He may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria.

You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.

The nobles of the nations have assembled as the people of the God of Abraham; for the shields of the earth belong to God; He is highly exalted.

O offspring of His servant Abraham, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones.

the covenant He made with Abraham, and the oath He swore to Isaac.

For He remembered His holy promise to Abraham His servant.

Therefore the LORD who redeemed Abraham says of the house of Jacob: “No longer will Jacob be ashamed and no more will his face grow pale.

“But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—

Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. When I called him, he was but one; then I blessed him and multiplied him.

Yet You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, are our Father; our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.

then I would also reject the descendants of Jacob and of My servant David, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore them from captivity and will have compassion on them.”

“Son of man, those living in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’

You will show faithfulness to Jacob and loving devotion to Abraham, as You swore to our fathers from the days of old.

This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.

In all, then, there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.

And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

I say to you that many will come from the east and the west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

But concerning the dead rising, have you not read about the burning bush in the Book of Moses, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?

as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.”

the oath He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,

Then should not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be released from her bondage on the Sabbath day?”

There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are thrown out.

One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abrahamʼs side. And the rich man also died and was buried.

In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.

So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’

But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let your brothers listen to them.’

‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone is sent to them from the dead, they will repent.’

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham.

Even Moses demonstrates that the dead are raised, in the passage about the burning bush. For he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’

“We are Abrahamʼs descendants,” they answered. “We have never been slaves to anyone. How can You say we will be set free?”

I know you are Abrahamʼs descendants, but you are trying to kill Me because My word has no place within you.

“Abraham is our father,” they replied. “If you were children of Abraham,” said Jesus, “you would do the works of Abraham.

But now you are trying to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing.

“Now we know that You have a demon!” declared the Jews. “Abraham died, and so did the prophets, yet You say that anyone who keeps Your word will never taste death.

Are You greater than our father Abraham? He died, as did the prophets. Who do You claim to be?”

Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.”

Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?”

“Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over and rejected Him before Pilate, even though he had decided to release Him.

And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’

And Stephen declared: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

Their bones were carried back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a price he paid in silver.

As the time drew near for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased greatly in number.

‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.

Brothers, children of Abraham, and you Gentiles who fear God, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has discovered?

If Abraham was indeed justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God.

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Is this blessing only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abrahamʼs faith was credited to him as righteousness.

And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world was not given through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and may be guaranteed to all Abrahamʼs offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

Nor because they are Abrahamʼs descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”

I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.

So also, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Understand, then, that those who have faith are sons of Abraham.

The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and foretold the gospel to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”

So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say, “and to seeds,” meaning many, but “and to your seed,” meaning One, who is Christ.

For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God freely granted it to Abraham through a promise.

And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abrahamʼs seed and heirs according to the promise.

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.

For surely it is not the angels He helps, but the descendants of Abraham.

When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,

This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,

and Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything. First, his name means “king of righteousness.” Then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.”

Consider how great Melchizedek was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder.

Now the law commands the sons of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their brothers—though they too are descended from Abraham.

But Melchizedek, who did not trace his descent from Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.

And so to speak, Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son,

Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God.

just as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. And you are her children if you do what is right and refuse to give way to fear.