"For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

"Men [and] brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent.

"Now therefore, restore the man's wife; for he [is] a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore [her,] know that you shall surely die, you and all who [are] yours."

And [Esau] said, "Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!" And he said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?"

And Esau said to his father, "Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me -- me also, O my father!" And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

By your sword you shall live, And you shall serve your brother; And it shall come to pass, when you become restless, That you shall break his yoke from your neck."

Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid [it] on Ephraim's head, who [was] the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh [was] the firstborn.

The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."

And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this [one is] the firstborn; put your right hand on his head."

So he blessed them that day, saying, "By you Israel will bless, saying, 'May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!' " And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

And Jacob called his sons and said, "Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:

"Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.

"Simeon and Levi [are] brothers; Instruments of cruelty [are in] their dwelling place.

Cursed [be] their anger, for [it is] fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel.

Judah [is] a lion's whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him?

Binding his donkey to the vine, And his donkey's colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes.

"Zebulun shall dwell by the haven of the sea; He [shall become] a haven for ships, And his border shall adjoin Sidon.

He saw that rest [was] good, And that the land [was] pleasant; He bowed his shoulder to bear [a burden,] And became a band of slaves.

Dan shall be a serpent by the way, A viper by the path, That bites the horse's heels So that its rider shall fall backward.

"Gad, a troop shall tramp upon him, But he shall triumph at last.

"Naphtali [is] a deer let loose; He uses beautiful words.

The archers have bitterly grieved him, Shot [at him] and hated him.

By the God of your father who will help you, And by the Almighty who will bless you [With] blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

"Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he shall devour the prey, And at night he shall divide the spoil."

Then he charged them and said to them: "I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that [is] in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

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

And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

He remembers His covenant forever, The word [which] He commanded, for a thousand generations,

And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel [as] an everlasting covenant,

When they were few in number, Indeed very few, and strangers in it.

He permitted no one to do them wrong; Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes,

"and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as [our] father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

"And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

And God said to Abraham: "As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

"This [is] My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised;

Then God said: "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, [and] with his descendants after him.

And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel [for] an everlasting covenant,

You found his heart faithful before You, And made a covenant with him To give the land of the Canaanites, The Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, And the Girgashites -- To give [it] to his descendants. You have performed Your words, For You [are] righteous.

To perform the mercy [promised] to our fathers And to remember His holy covenant,

who are Israelites, to whom [pertain] the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service [of God,] and the promises;

of whom [are] the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ [came,] who is over all, [the] eternally blessed God. Amen.

Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises [made] to the fathers,

And if you [are] Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

"since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

"In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."

"And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;

"Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

For the promise that he would be the heir of the world [was] not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, [saying,] "In you all the nations shall be blessed."

Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ.

All the ends of the world Shall remember and turn to the LORD, And all the families of the nations Shall worship before You.

Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples, Give to the LORD glory and strength.

And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,

Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth -- to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people --