Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



The LORD told Abram, "You are to leave your land, your relatives, and your father's house and go to the land that I'm going to show you. I'll make a great nation of your descendants, I'll bless you, and I'll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed."

"Long ago your ancestors lived beyond the Euphrates River, including Terah, father of both Abraham and Nahor, where they served other gods. Then I took your ancestor Abraham from the other side of the Euphrates River and led him through the entire land of Canaan. I multiplied his descendants, and gave him his son Isaac.

You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, whom you brought from Ur of the Chaldeans and to whom you gave the name Abraham.

Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. For when he was only one person I called him, but I made him fruitful and made him many.

Stephen replied: "Listen, brothers and fathers! "The glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran. God told him, "Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land I'll show you.'

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.




The LORD spoke to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land as an inheritance." But he replied, "Lord GOD, how will I know that I will inherit it?" The LORD responded, "Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." read more.
So Abram brought him all these animals and cut each of them in half, down the middle, placing the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut the birds in half. When birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. As the sun began to set, Abram was overcome with deep sleep, and suddenly a frightening and terrifying darkness descended on him. Then the LORD told Abram, "You can be certain about this: Your descendants will be foreigners in a land that isn't theirs. They will be slaves there and will be oppressed for 400 years. However, I will judge the nation that they serve, and later they will leave there with many possessions. Now as for you, you'll die peacefully, join your ancestors, and be buried at a good old age. Your descendants will return here in the fourth generation, since the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet run its course." When the sun had fully set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a fiery torch passed between the animal pieces. That very day the LORD made this covenant with Abram: "I'm giving this land to your descendants, from the river of Egypt to the great Euphrates River including the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

"Son of Man, those who are living among these ruins of the land of Israel keep saying, "Abraham was only one man, but he was able to possess the land! As for us, we're a multitude, and the land has been given to us as an inheritance.'


The LORD told Abram, "You are to leave your land, your relatives, and your father's house and go to the land that I'm going to show you. I'll make a great nation of your descendants, I'll bless you, and I'll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed."

"since Abraham's descendants will become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him?

The angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, "I have taken an oath to swear by myself," declares the LORD, "that since you have carried this out and have not withheld your only unique son, I will certainly bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in heaven and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the gates of their enemies. read more.
Furthermore, through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed my command."

Remain in this land, and I'll be with and bless you by giving all these lands to you and to your descendants in fulfillment of my solemn promise that I made to your father Abraham. I'll cause you to have as many descendants as the stars of the heavens, and I'll certainly give all these lands to your descendants. Later on, through your descendants all the nations of the earth will bless one another.


In the same way, Abraham "believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." You see, then, that those who have faith are Abraham's real descendants. Because the Scripture saw ahead of time that God would justify the gentiles by faith, it announced the gospel to Abraham beforehand when it said, "Through you all nations will be blessed."


The LORD told Abram, "You are to leave your land, your relatives, and your father's house and go to the land that I'm going to show you. I'll make a great nation of your descendants, I'll bless you, and I'll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed."

Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. For when he was only one person I called him, but I made him fruitful and made him many.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.


The LORD told Abram, "You are to leave your land, your relatives, and your father's house and go to the land that I'm going to show you. I'll make a great nation of your descendants, I'll bless you, and I'll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed." read more.
So Abram left there, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot accompanied him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the servants he had acquired while living in Haran. Then they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they arrived in the land of Canaan, Abram traveled through the land to the place called Shechem, as far as the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "I'll give this land to your descendants." So Abram built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

After Lot had separated from Abram, the LORD told Abram, "Look off to the north, south, east, and west from where you're living, because I'm going to give you and your descendants all of the land that you see forever! I'll make your descendants as plentiful as the specks of dust of the earth, so that if one could count the specks of dust of the earth, then your descendants could also be counted. read more.
Get up! Walk throughout the length and breadth of the land, because I'm going to give it to you."

That very day the LORD made this covenant with Abram: "I'm giving this land to your descendants, from the river of Egypt to the great Euphrates River including the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, read more.
the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

I'll give to you and to your descendants the land to which you have traveled all the land of Canaan as an eternal possession. I will be their God."

for you haven't arrived yet to your allotted place that the LORD your God is about to give you. But after you have crossed the Jordan River and settled in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and after you have received relief from the enemies around you and are living securely,

He said: "I will give Canaan to you as the allotted portion that is your inheritance."


The LORD told Abram, "You are to leave your land, your relatives, and your father's house and go to the land that I'm going to show you. I'll make a great nation of your descendants, I'll bless you, and I'll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed." read more.
So Abram left there, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot accompanied him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the servants he had acquired while living in Haran. Then they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they arrived in the land of Canaan,


The LORD told Abram, "You are to leave your land, your relatives, and your father's house and go to the land that I'm going to show you. I'll make a great nation of your descendants, I'll bless you, and I'll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed."


Sometime later, God tested Abraham. He called out to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am!" he answered. God said, "Please take your son, your unique son whom you love Isaac and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him as a burnt offering there on one of the mountains that I will point out to you."

When Abram was 99 years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and announced, "I am God Almighty. Live in constant awareness that I'm always with you, and be blameless. I'll establish my covenant between me and you, and I'll greatly increase your numbers."

Just then, an angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven and said, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he answered. "Don't lay your hand on the youth!" he said. "Don't do anything to him, because I've just demonstrated that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only unique one, from me."

and said, "I have taken an oath to swear by myself," declares the LORD, "that since you have carried this out and have not withheld your only unique son, I will certainly bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in heaven and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the gates of their enemies. Furthermore, through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed my command."


The LORD told Abram, "You are to leave your land, your relatives, and your father's house and go to the land that I'm going to show you. I'll make a great nation of your descendants, I'll bless you, and I'll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed." read more.
So Abram left there, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot accompanied him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the servants he had acquired while living in Haran. Then they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they arrived in the land of Canaan, Abram traveled through the land to the place called Shechem, as far as the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "I'll give this land to your descendants." So Abram built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. From there Abram traveled on to the hill country east of Bethel and set up his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. Then Abram traveled on, continuing into the Negev.


When Abram was 99 years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and announced, "I am God Almighty. Live in constant awareness that I'm always with you, and be blameless. I'll establish my covenant between me and you, and I'll greatly increase your numbers." Then Abram fell to the ground as God continued speaking to him. read more.
"Look, I've made a covenant with you. You will be the father of many nations. Your name is no longer to be Abram. Instead your name will be Abraham, since I'll make you the father of many nations. I'm going to cause you to have many descendants, and I'll bring nations from you. Kings will come from you. I'm establishing my covenant between me and you, and with your descendants who come after you, generation after generation, as an eternal covenant, to be your God and your descendants' God after you. I'll give to you and to your descendants the land to which you have traveled all the land of Canaan as an eternal possession. I will be their God." God continued to speak to Abraham, "You and your descendants who are born in the future are to keep my covenant that is, you and your descendants, generation after generation. Here is my covenant that you are to observe, between me and you and your descendants: Every male among you is to be circumcised. You are all to be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and this is to be the sign of the covenant between me and you. Generation after generation, every male among you is to be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth, including the servant born in your house or the one purchased from a foreigner, who is not of your offspring. The servant born in your house or the one purchased with money is to be circumcised. My covenant is to remain in your flesh as an eternal covenant. Any uncircumcised male who does not have the foreskin of his flesh circumcised on the eighth day after his birth is to be eliminated from his people because he has broken my covenant." God told Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are not to call her Sarai any longer, because her name is to be Sarah. I will bless her. Furthermore, I will give you a son from her. I will bless her, so that nations, kings, and people will come from her." Abraham fell to the ground, laughed, and told himself, "Can a child be born to a 100-year-old man? Can a 90-year-old Sarah give birth?" So Abraham responded to God, "If only Ishmael would live in constant awareness that you're always with him!" But God replied, "No, but your wife Sarah will give birth to your son, and you are to name him Isaac. I'll confirm my covenant with him as an eternal covenant for his descendants. And as for Ishmael, I've heard you. I'll bless him, and he'll have many descendants. I will multiply him greatly, he'll father twelve tribal leaders, and I'll cause his descendants to become a great nation. Now as to Isaac, I'll confirm my covenant with him, to whom Sarah will give birth as your son at this time next year." With that, God finished talking to Abraham, and ascended, leaving him.

The LORD told Abram, "You are to leave your land, your relatives, and your father's house and go to the land that I'm going to show you. I'll make a great nation of your descendants, I'll bless you, and I'll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed."

and not all of Abraham's descendants are his true descendants. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that descendants will be named for you." That is, it is not merely the children born through natural descent who were regarded as God's children, but it is the children born through the promise who were regarded as descendants. For this is the language of the promise: "At this time I will return, and Sarah will have a son." read more.
Not only that, but Rebecca became pregnant by our ancestor Isaac. Yet before their children had been born or had done anything good or bad (so that God's plan of election might continue to operate according to his calling and not by actions), Rebecca was told, "The older child will serve the younger one." So it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

He remembers his eternal covenant every promise he made for a thousand generations, like the covenant he made with Abraham, and his promise to Isaac. He presented it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant. read more.
He said: "I will give Canaan to you as the allotted portion that is your inheritance."

I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they lived as resident aliens for a time. Also, I've heard the groaning of the Israelis whom the Egyptians have forced to labor for them, and I've remembered my covenant. Therefore, tell the Israelis, "I am the LORD. I'll bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I'll deliver you from their bondage. I'll redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. read more.
I'll take you for my own people, and I'll be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I'll bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I'll give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.'"




By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

The LORD told Abram, "You are to leave your land, your relatives, and your father's house and go to the land that I'm going to show you. I'll make a great nation of your descendants, I'll bless you, and I'll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed." read more.
So Abram left there, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot accompanied him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.


The LORD told Abram, "You are to leave your land, your relatives, and your father's house and go to the land that I'm going to show you. I'll make a great nation of your descendants, I'll bless you, and I'll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed." read more.
So Abram left there, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot accompanied him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.






The LORD told Abram, "You are to leave your land, your relatives, and your father's house and go to the land that I'm going to show you. I'll make a great nation of your descendants, I'll bless you, and I'll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed." read more.
So Abram left there, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot accompanied him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the servants he had acquired while living in Haran. Then they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they arrived in the land of Canaan,



Abraham answered, "God will provide himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." The two of them went on together and came to the place about which God had spoken. Abraham built an altar there, arranged the wood, tied up his son Isaac, and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. Then he stretched out his hand and grabbed the knife to slaughter his son. read more.
Just then, an angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven and said, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he answered. "Don't lay your hand on the youth!" he said. "Don't do anything to him, because I've just demonstrated that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only unique one, from me."


The LORD told Abram, "You are to leave your land, your relatives, and your father's house and go to the land that I'm going to show you. I'll make a great nation of your descendants, I'll bless you, and I'll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed."

After Lot had separated from Abram, the LORD told Abram, "Look off to the north, south, east, and west from where you're living, because I'm going to give you and your descendants all of the land that you see forever! I'll make your descendants as plentiful as the specks of dust of the earth, so that if one could count the specks of dust of the earth, then your descendants could also be counted. read more.
Get up! Walk throughout the length and breadth of the land, because I'm going to give it to you."

That very day the LORD made this covenant with Abram: "I'm giving this land to your descendants, from the river of Egypt to the great Euphrates River

I'm establishing my covenant between me and you, and with your descendants who come after you, generation after generation, as an eternal covenant, to be your God and your descendants' God after you. I'll give to you and to your descendants the land to which you have traveled all the land of Canaan as an eternal possession. I will be their God."


The LORD told Abram, "You are to leave your land, your relatives, and your father's house and go to the land that I'm going to show you. I'll make a great nation of your descendants, I'll bless you, and I'll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed."

"since Abraham's descendants will become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him?

The angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, "I have taken an oath to swear by myself," declares the LORD, "that since you have carried this out and have not withheld your only unique son, I will certainly bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in heaven and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the gates of their enemies. read more.
Furthermore, through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed my command."

Remain in this land, and I'll be with and bless you by giving all these lands to you and to your descendants in fulfillment of my solemn promise that I made to your father Abraham. I'll cause you to have as many descendants as the stars of the heavens, and I'll certainly give all these lands to your descendants. Later on, through your descendants all the nations of the earth will bless one another.


In the same way, Abraham "believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." You see, then, that those who have faith are Abraham's real descendants. Because the Scripture saw ahead of time that God would justify the gentiles by faith, it announced the gospel to Abraham beforehand when it said, "Through you all nations will be blessed."


Our ancestor Abraham was justified by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar, wasn't he?

Abraham took his son Ishmael and all the servants born in his house or purchased with his money every male among the men of his household and circumcised them that very day, just as God had spoken to him.

The LORD told Abram, "You are to leave your land, your relatives, and your father's house and go to the land that I'm going to show you. I'll make a great nation of your descendants, I'll bless you, and I'll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed." read more.
So Abram left there, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot accompanied him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.

You found him faithful in your sight; you made a covenant with him and you gave the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites to his descendants. And you have kept your word, because you are righteous.

"Don't lay your hand on the youth!" he said. "Don't do anything to him, because I've just demonstrated that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only unique one, from me."

On the eighth day after his son Isaac had been born, Abraham circumcised him, just as God had commanded him.

"The glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran. God told him, "Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land I'll show you.' So he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. Then after the death of his father, God had him move to this country where you now live. God gave him no property here, not even a foot of land, yet he promised to give it to him and to his descendants after him as a permanent possession, even though he had no child. read more.
"This is what God promised: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and its people would enslave them and oppress them for 400 years. "But I will punish the nation they serve,' said God, "and afterwards they will leave and worship me in this place.' Later, God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. Later, he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. Then Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered the twelve patriarchs.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who also inherited the same promise, because he was waiting for the city with permanent foundations, whose architect and builder is God. read more.
By faith Sarah, even though she was old and barren, received the strength to conceive, because she was convinced that the one who had made the promise was faithful. Abraham was as good as dead, yet from this one man came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people died having faith. They did not receive the things that were promised, yet they saw them in the distant future and welcomed them, acknowledging that they were strangers and foreigners on earth. For people who say such things make it clear that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking about what they had left behind, they would have had an opportunity to go back. Instead, they were longing for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, because he has prepared a city for them. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered Isaac he who had received the promises was about to offer his unique son in sacrifice,


By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his male servants with him, along with his son Isaac. He cut the wood for the burnt offering and set out to go to the place about which God had spoken to him.

He took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They said, "We will put into practice and obey everything that the LORD has decreed."

The LORD told Abram, "You are to leave your land, your relatives, and your father's house and go to the land that I'm going to show you. I'll make a great nation of your descendants, I'll bless you, and I'll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed." read more.
So Abram left there, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot accompanied him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.

"Don't lay your hand on the youth!" he said. "Don't do anything to him, because I've just demonstrated that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only unique one, from me."

The Israelis did this. Moses and Aaron did just what the LORD had commanded.




"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, as well as his own life, he can't be my disciple. Whoever doesn't carry his cross and follow me can't be my disciple.

"The glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran. God told him, "Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land I'll show you.'


The LORD told Abram, "You are to leave your land, your relatives, and your father's house and go to the land that I'm going to show you. I'll make a great nation of your descendants, I'll bless you, and I'll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed." read more.
So Abram left there, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot accompanied him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the servants he had acquired while living in Haran. Then they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they arrived in the land of Canaan, Abram traveled through the land to the place called Shechem, as far as the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "I'll give this land to your descendants." So Abram built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. From there Abram traveled on to the hill country east of Bethel and set up his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.

Then two of the men turned away from there and walked toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing in the presence of the LORD. Abraham approached and asked, "Will you actually destroy the righteous along with the wicked? Perhaps there are 50 righteous ones within the city. Will you actually destroy it and not forgive the place for the sake of the 50 righteous that are found there? read more.
Far be it from you to do such a thing to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! The Judge of all the earth will do what is right, won't he?" The LORD said, "If I find 50 righteous people within Sodom, I'll forgive the whole place for their sake." Abraham answered, "Look, even though I am only dust and ashes, I've ventured to speak to my LORD. What if there are five less than 50 righteous ones? Will you bring destruction upon the city because of those five?" The LORD said, "I won't destroy it if I find 45 there." Abraham continued to speak to him, asking, "What if 40 are found there?" The LORD replied, "I won't do it for the sake of those 40." Abraham then asked, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak. What if 30 are found there?" The LORD answered, "I won't do it for the sake of those 30." "Look," Abraham said, "I've presumed to speak to my LORD" so what if 20 are found there?" "For the sake of those 20," the LORD responded, "I won't destroy it." Finally, Abraham inquired, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak only once more. What if ten are found there?" He replied, "For the sake of those ten I won't destroy it." As soon as he finished talking to Abraham, the LORD left and Abraham returned to where he had been sitting.