Deu 7:7-8, 9:5-6, Jer 31:3, Eze 16:6-8, Joh 3:14-17, Rom 5:8, 9:15-16 | ESV | STEP | It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples ,

Deuteronomy 7:7-8

7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but ^ait is because the Lord loves you and is keeping ^bthe oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 9:5-6

5 ^cNot because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm ^dthe word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

6 “Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are ^ea stubborn people.

Jeremiah 31:3

3 the Lord appeared to him ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew me} from far away.
^gI have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore ^hI have continued ⁱmy faithfulness to you.

Ezekiel 16:6-8

6 “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing ^jin your blood, I said to you ^kin your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you ^lin your blood, ‘Live!’ 7 ^mI made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall ⁿand arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet ^oyou were naked and bare.

8 “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and ^pI spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you ^qand entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, ^rand you became mine.

John 3:14-17

14 And ^sas Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man ^tbe lifted up, 15 that whoever believes ^uin him ^vmay have eternal life. ^{▼▼Some interpreters hold that the quotation ends at verse 15}

For God So Loved the World

16 “For ^xGod so loved ^ythe world, ^{▼▼Or For this is how God loved the world} ^aathat he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not ^abperish but have eternal life. 17 For ^acGod did not send his Son into the world ^adto condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Romans 5:8

8 but ^aeGod shows his love for us in that ^afwhile we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 9:15-16

15 For he says to Moses, ^ag“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, ^{▼▼Greek not of him who wills or runs} but on God, who has mercy.