GOD CALLED ABRAM
Key verse: 1
NIV
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)
2 “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)
3 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]
4 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) 5 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.
Footnotes
- Genesis 12:2 Or be seen as blessed
- Genesis 12:3 Or earth / will use your name in blessings (see 48:20)
Cross references
- Genesis 12:1 : Ge 20:13; 24:4, 27, 40
- Genesis 12:1 : S Ge 10:19
- Genesis 12:1 : Ge 15:7; 26:2; Jos 24:3; Ac 7:3*; Heb 11:8
- Genesis 12:2 : Ge 13:16; 15:5; 17:2, 4; 18:18; 22:17; 26:4; 28:3, 14; 32:12; 35:11; 41:49; 46:3; 47:27; 48:4, 16, 19; Ex 1:7; 5:5; 32:13; Dt 1:10; 10:22; 13:17; 26:5; Jos 11:4; 24:3; 2Sa 17:11; 1Ki 3:8; 4:20; 1Ch 27:23; 2Ch 1:9; Ne 9:23; Ps 107:38; Isa 6:13; 10:22; 48:19; 51:2; 54:3; 60:22; Jer 33:22; Mic 4:7
- Genesis 12:2 : Ge 24:1, 35; 25:11; 26:3; 28:4; Ex 20:24; Nu 22:12; 23:8, 20; 24:9; Ps 67:6; 115:12; Isa 44:3; 61:9; 65:23; Mal 3:12
- Genesis 12:2 : Ge 22:18; Isa 19:24; Jer 4:2; Hag 2:19; Zec 8:13
- Genesis 12:3 : Ge 27:29; Ex 23:22; Nu 24:9; Dt 30:7
- Genesis 12:3 : Ge 15:5; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:4, 14; Dt 9:5; Ps 72:17; Isa 19:25; Ac 3:25; Gal 3:8*
- Genesis 12:4 : S Ge 11:27
- Genesis 12:4 : Ge 16:3, 16; 17:1, 17, 24; 21:5
- Genesis 12:4 : S Ge 11:31
- Genesis 12:5 : S Ge 11:29
- Genesis 12:5 : ver 16; Ge 13:2, 6; 31:18; 46:6
- Genesis 12:5 : Ge 14:14; 15:3; 17:23; Ecc 2:7
- Genesis 12:5 : Ge 11:31; 16:3; Heb 11:8
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway
ESV
The Call of Abram
12 Now (A)the Lord said[a] to Abram, “Go from your country[b] and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 (B)And 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 (C)I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and (D)in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”[c]
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from (E)Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Genesis 12:1 Or had said
- Genesis 12:1 Or land
- Genesis 12:3 Or by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway
Abram was called by God when he was 75 years old. He was living in Haran, a major city in upper Mesopotamia (southern Turkey). God called Abram at a dark time. There had been no one to carry the lamp of God since the time of Noah and the Great Flood. God’s call to Abram was a two-sided covenant promise. Abram’s part was to leave his family and his country. He had to painfully separate from everything he knew and go to an unknown land. God’s part was multi-faceted. God would transform the childless Abram into a great nation; God would bless Abram; God would make Abram’s name great; God would bless anyone who blessed Abram and would curse anyone who cursed Abram; and God would make Abram into a blessing for the whole world. Quite a promise to someone from an idol-worshipping family who didn’t know God!
How did Abram respond? He followed God. He did exactly what God told him to do and left his family and his nation and went to the land where God showed him. God had planted faith in Abram that he would make this dead man into a great blessing for the whole world.
Prayer: Father, thank you that you call ordinary, sinful people to follow you and obey your word. Help me to follow you all my life.
One Word: “I will make you into a great nation”
