Gen 12:1-3, 17:7-8, Deu 4:37, 7:6-8, 9:5, 14:2, Neh 9:7-8, Act 7:2-53 | ESV | STEP | Now the Lord said to Abram , Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

1 Now ^athe Lord said ^{▼▼Or had said} to Abram, “Go from your country ^{▼▼Or land} and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 ^dAnd I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 ^eI will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and ^fin you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” ^{▼▼Or by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves}

Genesis 17:7-8

7 And I will ^hestablish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, ⁱto be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And ^jI will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and ^kI will be their God.”

Deuteronomy 4:37

37 And because ^lhe loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them ^{▼▼Hebrew his offspring after him} and brought you out of Egypt ⁿwith his own presence, by his great power,

Deuteronomy 7:6-8

6 “For ^oyou are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be ^pa people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 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 ^qit is because the Lord loves you and is keeping ^rthe 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

5 ^sNot 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 ^tthe word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Deuteronomy 14:2

2 For ^uyou are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

Nehemiah 9:7-8

7 You are the Lord, the God ^vwho chose Abram and brought him out of ^wUr of the Chaldeans ^xand gave him the name Abraham. 8 ^yYou found his heart faithful before you, ^zand made with him the covenant to give to his offspring ^aathe land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. ^abAnd you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

Acts 7:2-53

2 And Stephen said:

^ac“Brothers and fathers, hear me. ^adThe God ^aeof glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, ^afbefore he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ^ag‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4 ^ahThen he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And ^aiafter his father died, ^ajGod removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 5 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised ^akto give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, ^although he had no child. 6 And God spoke to this effect—that ^amhis offspring would ^anbe sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them ^aofour hundred years. 7 ‘But ^apI will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out ^aqand worship me in this place.’ 8 And ^arhe gave him the covenant of circumcision. And ^asso Abraham became the father of Isaac, and ^atcircumcised him on the eighth day, and ^auIsaac became the father of Jacob, and ^avJacob of the twelve patriarchs.

9 “And the patriarchs, ^awjealous of Joseph, ^axsold him into Egypt; but ^ayGod was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his afflictions and ^azgave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, ^bawho made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Now ^bbthere came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 12 ^bcBut when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. 13 And ^bdon the second visit ^beJoseph made himself known to his brothers, and ^bfJoseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 And ^bgJoseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, ^bhseventy-five persons in all. 15 And ^biJacob went down into Egypt, and ^bjhe died, he ^bkand our fathers, 16 and ^blthey were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that ^bmAbraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

17 “But ^bnas the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, ^bothe people increased and multiplied in Egypt 18 until there arose over Egypt another king ^bpwho did not know Joseph. 19 ^bqHe dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, ^brso that they would not be kept alive. 20 ^bsAt this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, 21 and ^btwhen he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses ^buwas instructed in ^bvall the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was ^bwmighty in his words and deeds.

23 “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart ^bxto visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 ^byAnd on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ 27 But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ^bz‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 At this retort ^caMoses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, ^cbwhere he became the father of two sons.

30 “Now when forty years had passed, ^ccan angel appeared to him ^cdin the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 ^ce‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. 33 Then the Lord said to him, ^cf‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 ^cgI have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and ^chhave heard their groaning, and ^ciI have come down to deliver them. ^cjAnd now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

35 “This Moses, whom they rejected, ^cksaying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer ^clby the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 ^cmThis man led them out, performing ^cnwonders and signs ^coin Egypt and ^cpat the Red Sea and ^cqin the wilderness for ^crforty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you ^csa prophet like me from your brothers.’ 38 This is the one ^ctwho was in the congregation in the wilderness with ^cuthe angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. ^cvHe received ^cwliving ^cxoracles to give to us. 39 Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and ^cyin their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ^cz‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 And ^dathey made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and ^dbwere rejoicing in ^dcthe works of their hands. 42 But ^ddGod turned away and ^degave them over to worship ^dfthe host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

^dg“‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices,
^dhduring the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
43 You took up the tent of ^diMoloch
and the star of your god Rephan,
the images that you made to worship;
and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’
44 “Our fathers had ^djthe tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses ^dkdirected him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn ^dlbrought it in with Joshua when they ^dmdispossessed the nations ^dnthat God drove out before our fathers. So it was ^dountil the days of David, 46 ^dpwho found favor in the sight of God and ^dqasked to find a dwelling place for ^drthe God of Jacob. ^{▼▼Some manuscripts for the house of Jacob} 47 But it was ^dtSolomon who built a house for him. 48 ^duYet the Most High does not dwell ^dvin houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

49 ^dw“‘Heaven is my throne,
^dxand the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
or what is the place of my rest?
50 Did not my hand make all these things?’
51 ^dy“You stiff-necked people, ^dzuncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. ^eaAs your fathers did, so do you. 52 ^ebWhich of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of ^ecthe Righteous One, ^edwhom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law ^eeas delivered by angels and ^efdid not keep it.”