The Call of Abram

12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household(A) to the land(B) I will show you.(C)

“I will make you into a great nation,(D)
    and I will bless you;(E)
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.[a](F)
I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;(G)
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.(H)[b]

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot(I) went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old(J) when he set out from Harran.(K) He took his wife Sarai,(L) his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated(M) and the people(N) they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan,(O) and they arrived there.

Abram traveled through the land(P) as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh(Q) at Shechem.(R) At that time the Canaanites(S) were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram(T) and said, “To your offspring[c] I will give this land.(U)(V) So he built an altar there to the Lord,(W) who had appeared to him.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 12:2 Or be seen as blessed
  2. Genesis 12:3 Or earth / will use your name in blessings (see 48:20)
  3. Genesis 12:7 Or seed

14 The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west.(A) 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring[a] forever.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 13:15 Or seed; also in verse 16

God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord.(A) I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty,[a](B) but by my name(C) the Lord[b](D) I did not make myself fully known to them. I also established my covenant(E) with them to give them the land(F) of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 6:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai
  2. Exodus 6:3 See note at 3:15.

12 “Honor your father and your mother,(A) so that you may live long(B) in the land(C) the Lord your God is giving you.

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23 My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites,(A) and I will wipe them out. 24 Do not bow down before their gods or worship(B) them or follow their practices.(C) You must demolish(D) them and break their sacred stones(E) to pieces. 25 Worship the Lord your God,(F) and his blessing(G) will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness(H) from among you, 26 and none will miscarry or be barren(I) in your land. I will give you a full life span.(J)

27 “I will send my terror(K) ahead of you and throw into confusion(L) every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run.(M) 28 I will send the hornet(N) ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites(O) out of your way. 29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals(P) too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession(Q) of the land.

31 “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea[a] to the Mediterranean Sea,[b] and from the desert to the Euphrates River.(R) I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out(S) before you. 32 Do not make a covenant(T) with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare(U) to you.”

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 23:31 Or the Sea of Reeds
  2. Exodus 23:31 Hebrew to the Sea of the Philistines

33 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath(A) to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’(B) I will send an angel(C) before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.(D) Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey.(E) But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked(F) people and I might destroy(G) you on the way.”

When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn(H) and no one put on any ornaments. For the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people.(I) If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy(J) you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.’” So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.(K)

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12 Be careful not to make a treaty(A) with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare(B) among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.[a](C) 14 Do not worship any other god,(D) for the Lord, whose name(E) is Jealous, is a jealous God.(F)

15 “Be careful not to make a treaty(G) with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute(H) themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices.(I) 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives(J) for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods,(K) they will lead your sons to do the same.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 34:13 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah

16 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife;(A) that would dishonor your brother.

17 “‘Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter.(B) Do not have sexual relations with either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness.

18 “‘Do not take your wife’s sister(C) as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.

19 “‘Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness(D) of her monthly period.(E)

20 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife(F) and defile yourself with her.

21 “‘Do not give any of your children(G) to be sacrificed to Molek,(H) for you must not profane the name of your God.(I) I am the Lord.(J)

22 “‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman;(K) that is detestable.(L)

23 “‘Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.(M)

24 “‘Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you(N) became defiled.(O) 25 Even the land was defiled;(P) so I punished it for its sin,(Q) and the land vomited out its inhabitants.(R) 26 But you must keep my decrees and my laws.(S) The native-born and the foreigners residing among you must not do any of these detestable things, 27 for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. 28 And if you defile the land,(T) it will vomit you out(U) as it vomited out the nations that were before you.

29 “‘Everyone who does any of these detestable things—such persons must be cut off from their people. 30 Keep my requirements(V) and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the Lord your God.(W)’”

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22 “‘Keep all my decrees and laws(A) and follow them, so that the land(B) where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. 23 You must not live according to the customs of the nations(C) I am going to drive out before you.(D) Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.(E) 24 But I said to you, “You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.”(F) I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the nations.(G)

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18 “‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws,(A) and you will live safely in the land.(B) 19 Then the land will yield its fruit,(C) and you will eat your fill and live there in safety.(D)

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Reward for Obedience

26 “‘Do not make idols(A) or set up an image(B) or a sacred stone(C) for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone(D) in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.

“‘Observe my Sabbaths(E) and have reverence for my sanctuary.(F) I am the Lord.

“‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey(G) my commands, I will send you rain(H) in its season,(I) and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit.(J) Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want(K) and live in safety in your land.(L)

“‘I will grant peace in the land,(M) and you will lie down(N) and no one will make you afraid.(O) I will remove wild beasts(P) from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country.

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32 So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you;(A) do not turn aside to the right or to the left.(B) 33 Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you,(C) so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days(D) in the land that you will possess.

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After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself,(A) “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness(B) of these nations(C) that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity(D) that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness(E) of these nations,(F) the Lord your God will drive them out(G) before you, to accomplish what he swore(H) to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.(I) Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.(J)

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Observe therefore all the commands(A) I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,(B) and so that you may live long(C) in the land the Lord swore(D) to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.(E)

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20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates,(A) 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many(B) in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.(C)

22 If you carefully observe(D) all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love(E) the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast(F) to him— 23 then the Lord will drive out(G) all these nations(H) before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.(I) 24 Every place where you set your foot will be yours:(J) Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River(K) to the Mediterranean Sea. 25 No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror(L) and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.(M)

26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing(N) and a curse(O) 27 the blessing(P) if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; 28 the curse if you disobey(Q) the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods,(R) which you have not known. 29 When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim(S) the blessings, and on Mount Ebal(T) the curses.(U)

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The One Place of Worship

12 These are the decrees(A) and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess—as long as you live in the land.(B) Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains,(C) on the hills and under every spreading tree,(D) where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash(E) their sacred stones and burn(F) their Asherah(G) poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names(H) from those places.

You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.(I) But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name(J) there for his dwelling.(K) To that place you must go;

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Occult Practices

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate(A) the detestable ways(B) of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire,(C) who practices divination(D) or sorcery,(E) interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,(F) 11 or casts spells,(G) or who is a medium or spiritist(H) or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.(I) 13 You must be blameless(J) before the Lord your God.(K)

The Prophet

14 The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination.(L) But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so. 15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites.(M) You must listen to him.

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Atonement for an Unsolved Murder

21 If someone is found slain, lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who the killer was,(A) your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns. Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke(B) and lead it down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley they are to break the heifer’s neck. The Levitical priests shall step forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings(C) in the name of the Lord and to decide all cases of dispute and assault.(D) Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands(E) over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, and they shall declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, Lord, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent person.” Then the bloodshed will be atoned for,(F) and you will have purged(G) from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

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51 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan,(A) 52 drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places.(B) 53 Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess.(C)

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55 “‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns(A) in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. 56 And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.(B)’”

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12 Who is wise(A) enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?

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15 but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north(A) and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’(B) For I will restore(C) them to the land I gave their ancestors.(D)

16 “But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them.(E) After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt(F) them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks.(G) 17 My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden(H) from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.(I) 18 I will repay(J) them double(K) for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land(L) with the lifeless forms of their vile images(M) and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.(N)(O)

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10 The land is full of adulterers;(A)
    because of the curse[a](B) the land lies parched
    and the pastures(C) in the wilderness are withered.(D)
The prophets follow an evil course
    and use their power unjustly.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 23:10 Or because of these things

Israel’s Restoration Assured

16 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 17 “Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Their conduct was like a woman’s monthly uncleanness(A) in my sight.(B) 18 So I poured out(C) my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land and because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered(D) through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions.(E) 20 And wherever they went among the nations they profaned(F) my holy name, for it was said of them, ‘These are the Lord’s people, and yet they had to leave his land.’(G)

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11 “‘On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, in the valley of those who travel east of the Sea. It will block the way of travelers, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried(A) there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog.[a](B)

12 “‘For seven months the Israelites will be burying them in order to cleanse the land.(C) 13 All the people of the land will bury them, and the day I display my glory(D) will be a memorable day for them, declares the Sovereign Lord. 14 People will be continually employed in cleansing the land. They will spread out across the land and, along with others, they will bury any bodies that are lying on the ground.

“‘After the seven months they will carry out a more detailed search. 15 As they go through the land, anyone who sees a human bone will leave a marker beside it until the gravediggers bury it in the Valley of Hamon Gog, 16 near a town called Hamonah.[b] And so they will cleanse the land.’

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 39:11 Hamon Gog means hordes of Gog.
  2. Ezekiel 39:16 Hamonah means horde.

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