I said, "I have worked, but how hopeless it is! I have used up my strength, but have accomplished nothing." Yet I can trust the LORD to defend my cause; he will reward me for what I do.

Why spend money on what does not satisfy? Why spend your wages and still be hungry? Listen to me and do what I say, and you will enjoy the best food of all.

They will be famous among the nations; Everyone who sees them will know That they are a people whom I have blessed."

"If you live according to my laws and obey my commands,

Your crops will be so plentiful that you will still be harvesting grain when it is time to pick grapes, and you will still be picking grapes when it is time to plant grain. You will have all that you want to eat, and you can live in safety in your land.

You will be victorious over your enemies;

I will bless you and give you many children; I will keep my part of the covenant that I made with you.

"The LORD will bless your towns and your fields.

"The LORD will bless your grain crops and the food you prepare from them.

"The LORD will defeat your enemies when they attack you. They will attack from one direction, but they will run from you in all directions.

"If you obey the LORD your God and do everything he commands, he will make you his own people, as he has promised.

The LORD will give you many children, many cattle, and abundant crops in the land that he promised your ancestors to give you.

"You will plant plenty of seed, but reap only a small harvest, because the locusts will eat your crops.

Olive trees will grow everywhere in your land, but you will not have any olive oil, because the olives will drop off.

All your trees and crops will be devoured by insects.

Israel's greatness will fly away like a bird, and there will be no more children born to them, no more women pregnant, no more children conceived.

LORD, I can see their children being hunted down and killed.

You have planted much grain, but have harvested very little. You have food to eat, but not enough to make you full. You have wine to drink, but not enough to get drunk on! You have clothing, but not enough to keep you warm. And workers cannot earn enough to live on.

Although there is no grain left, and the grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced, yet from now on I will bless you."

Bring the full amount of your tithes to the Temple, so that there will be plenty of food there. Put me to the test and you will see that I will open the windows of heaven and pour out on you in abundance all kinds of good things.

So then, my dear friends, stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord's service is ever useless.

They will be famous among the nations; Everyone who sees them will know That they are a people whom I have blessed."

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 will keep my promise to you and to your descendants in future generations as an everlasting covenant. I will be your God and the God of your descendants.

May the LORD give you children--- you and your descendants!

May you be blessed by the LORD, who made heaven and earth!

Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.

I will give them a single purpose in life: to honor me for all time, for their own good and the good of their descendants.

"I will call my people and gather them together. I will rescue them and make them as numerous as they used to be.

Though I have scattered them among the nations, yet in far-off places they will remember me. They and their children will survive and return home together.

For God's promise was made to you and your children, and to all who are far away---all whom the Lord our God calls to himself."

The promises of God through his prophets are for you, and you share in the covenant which God made with your ancestors. As he said to Abraham, 'Through your descendants I will bless all the people on earth.'

And so God chose his Servant and sent him to you first, to bless you by making every one of you turn away from your wicked ways."

And so the promise was based on faith, in order that the promise should be guaranteed as God's free gift to all of Abraham's descendants---not just to those who obey the Law, but also to those who believe as Abraham did. For Abraham is the spiritual father of us all;

Nor are all of Abraham's descendants the children of God. God said to Abraham, "It is through Isaac that you will have the descendants I promised you."

This means that the children born in the usual way are not the children of God; instead, the children born as a result of God's promise are regarded as the true descendants.

If you belong to Christ, then you are the descendants of Abraham and will receive what God has promised.