And there was the LORD standing beside him. "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham and Isaac," he said. "I will give to you and to your descendants this land on which you are lying.

After this, Abram had a vision and heard the LORD say to him, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I will shield you from danger and give you a great reward."

The LORD said to him, "Your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land; they will be slaves there and will be treated cruelly for four hundred years.

The LORD had appeared to Isaac and had said, "Do not go to Egypt; stay in this land, where I tell you to stay.

Live here, and I will be with you and bless you. I am going to give all this territory to you and to your descendants. I will keep the promise I made to your father Abraham.

Do not be afraid---I am with you! I am your God---let nothing terrify you! I will make you strong and help you; I will protect you and save you.

Israel, the LORD who created you says, "Do not be afraid---I will save you. I have called you by name---you are mine.

When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you; your troubles will not overwhelm you. When you pass through fire, you will not be burned; the hard trials that come will not hurt you.

Gedaliah said to them, "I give you my word that there is no need for you to be afraid to surrender to the Babylonians. Settle in this land, serve the king of Babylonia, and all will go well with you.

and said, 'Don't be afraid, Paul! You must stand before the Emperor. And God in his goodness to you has spared the lives of all those who are sailing with you.'

I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing.

I am going to give you and your descendants all the land that you see, and it will be yours forever.

I am going to give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all; it would be as easy to count all the specks of dust on earth!

His descendants will become a great and mighty nation, and through him I will bless all the nations.

I promise that I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand along the seashore. Your descendants will conquer their enemies.

They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations.

And God said to him, "I am Almighty God. Have many children. Nations will be descended from you, and you will be the ancestor of kings.

The Israelites lived in Egypt in the region of Goshen, where they became rich and had many children.

but their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and became so numerous and strong that Egypt was filled with them.

He said to his people, "These Israelites are so numerous and strong that they are a threat to us.

The LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

When your ancestors went to Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Then, in the LORD's presence you will recite these words: 'My ancestor was a wandering Aramean, who took his family to Egypt to live. They were few in number when they went there, but they became a large and powerful nation.

"When the time drew near for God to keep the promise he had made to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had grown much larger.