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."

"My fellow Israelites, descendants of Abraham, and all Gentiles here who worship God: it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent!

But now, give the woman back to her husband. He is a prophet, and he will pray for you, so that you will not die. But if you do not give her back, I warn you that you are going to die, you and all your people."

Esau said, "This is the second time that he has cheated me. No wonder his name is Jacob. He took my rights as the first-born son, and now he has taken away my blessing. Haven't you saved a blessing for me?"

Esau continued to plead with his father: "Do you have only one blessing, father? Bless me too, father!" He began to cry.

You will live by your sword, But be your brother's slave. Yet when you rebel, You will break away from his control."

But Jacob crossed his hands, and put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, even though he was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, who was the older.

May the angel, who has rescued me from all harm, bless them! May my name and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac live on through these boys! May they have many children, many descendants!"

He said to his father, "Not that way, father. This is the older boy; put your right hand on his head."

So he blessed them that day, saying, "The Israelites will use your names when they pronounce blessings. They will say, 'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.' " In this way Jacob put Ephraim before Manasseh.

Jacob called for his sons and said, "Gather around, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the future:

"Reuben, my first-born, you are my strength And the first child of my manhood, The proudest and strongest of all my sons.

"Simeon and Levi are brothers. They use their weapons to commit violence.

A curse be on their anger, because it is so fierce, And on their fury, because it is so cruel. I will scatter them throughout the land of Israel. I will disperse them among its people.

Judah is like a lion, Killing his victim and returning to his den, Stretching out and lying down. No one dares disturb him.

He ties his young donkey to a grapevine, To the very best of the vines. He washes his clothes in blood-red wine.

"Zebulun will live beside the sea. His shore will be a haven for ships. His territory will reach as far as Sidon.

But he sees that the resting place is good And that the land is delightful. So he bends his back to carry the load And is forced to work as a slave.

Dan will be a snake at the side of the road, A poisonous snake beside the path, That strikes at the horse's heel, So that the rider is thrown off backward.

"Gad will be attacked by a band of robbers, But he will turn and pursue them.

"Naphtali is a deer that runs free, Who bears lovely fawns.

His enemies attack him fiercely And pursue him with their bows and arrows.

It is your father's God who helps you, The Almighty God who blesses you With blessings of rain from above And of deep waters from beneath the ground, Blessings of many cattle and children,

"Benjamin is like a vicious wolf. Morning and evening he kills and devours."

Then Jacob commanded his sons, "Now that I am going to join my people in death, bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

That is where they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; that is where they buried Isaac and his wife Rebecca; and that is where I buried Leah.

When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he lay back down and died.

He will keep his covenant forever, his promises for a thousand generations.

The LORD made a covenant with Jacob, one that will last forever.

God's people were few in number, strangers in the land of Canaan.

But God let no one oppress them; to protect them, he warned the kings:

And don't think you can escape punishment by saying that Abraham is your ancestor. I tell you that God can take these rocks and make descendants for Abraham!

The ax is ready to cut down the trees at the roots; every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire.

God said to Abraham, "You also must agree to keep the covenant with me, both you and your descendants in future generations.

You and your descendants must all agree to circumcise every male among you.

But God said, "No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you will name him Isaac. I will keep my covenant with him and with his descendants forever. It is an everlasting covenant.

The LORD made a covenant with Jacob, one that will last forever.

You found that he was faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him. You promised to give him the land of the Canaanites, the land of the Hittites and the Amorites, the land of the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Girgashites, to be a land where his descendants would live. You kept your promise, because you are faithful.

He said he would show mercy to our ancestors and remember his sacred covenant.

They are God's people; he made them his children and revealed his glory to them; he made his covenants with them and gave them the Law; they have the true worship; they have received God's promises;

they are descended from the famous Hebrew ancestors; and Christ, as a human being, belongs to their race. May God, who rules over all, be praised forever! Amen.

For I tell you that Christ's life of service was on behalf of the Jews, to show that God is faithful, to make his promises to their ancestors come true,

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

I will bless those who bless you, But I will curse those who curse you. And through you I will bless all the nations."

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

All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants---all because you obeyed my command."

I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give them all this territory. All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants.

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.

When God promised Abraham and his descendants that the world would belong to him, he did so, not because Abraham obeyed the Law, but because he believed and was accepted as righteous by God.

The scripture predicted that God would put the Gentiles right with himself through faith. And so the scripture announced the Good News to Abraham: "Through you God will bless all people."

Now, God made his promises to Abraham and to his descendant. The scripture does not use the plural "descendants," meaning many people, but the singular "descendant," meaning one person only, namely, Christ.

All nations will remember the LORD. From every part of the world they will turn to him; all races will worship him.

Praise the LORD, all people on earth; praise his glory and might.

They sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to break open its seals. For you were killed, and by your sacrificial death you bought for God people from every tribe, language, nation, and race.

After this I looked, and there was an enormous crowd---no one could count all the people! They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood in front of the throne and of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.

Then I saw another angel flying high in the air, with an eternal message of Good News to announce to the peoples of the earth, to every race, tribe, language, and nation.