Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, who was the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, Abram's wife, and with them he left the city of Ur in Babylonia to go to the land of Canaan. They went as far as Haran and settled there.

The LORD said to Abram, "Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's home, and go to a land that I am going to show you.

I will bless those who bless you, But I will curse those who curse you. And through you I will bless all the nations."

Then I took Abraham, your ancestor, from the land across the Euphrates and led him through the whole land of Canaan. I gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac,

You, LORD God, chose Abram and led him out of Ur in Babylonia; you changed his name to Abraham.

You found that he was faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him. You promised to give him the land of the Canaanites, the land of the Hittites and the Amorites, the land of the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Girgashites, to be a land where his descendants would live. You kept your promise, because you are faithful.

"Who was it that brought the conqueror from the east and makes him triumphant wherever he goes? Who gives him victory over kings and nations? His sword strikes them down as if they were dust. His arrows scatter them like straw before the wind.

Think of your ancestor, Abraham, and of Sarah, from whom you are descended. When I called Abraham, he was childless, but I blessed him and gave him children; I made his descendants numerous.

Stephen answered, "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! Before our ancestor Abraham had gone to live in Haran, the God of glory appeared to him in Mesopotamia

And so he left his country and went to live in Haran. After Abraham's father died, God made him move to this land where you now live.

The LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "This is the country that I am going to give to your descendants." Then Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

I am going to give you and your descendants all the land that you see, and it will be yours forever.

Now, go and look over the whole land, because I am going to give it all to you."

Then the LORD said to him, "I am the LORD, who led you out of Ur in Babylonia, to give you this land as your own."

But Abram asked, "Sovereign LORD, how can I know that it will be mine?"

I will give to you and to your descendants this land in which you are now a foreigner. The whole land of Canaan will belong to your descendants forever, and I will be their God."

Live here, and I will be with you and bless you. I am going to give all this territory to you and to your descendants. I will keep the promise I made to your father Abraham.

It is not because you are good and do what is right that the LORD is letting you take their land. He will drive them out because they are wicked and because he intends to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

He will keep the agreement he made with Abraham and his promise to Isaac.

"I will give you the land of Canaan," he said. "It will be your own possession."

I will take you from every nation and country and bring you back to your own land.

Through faith they fought whole countries and won. They did what was right and received what God had promised. They shut the mouths of lions,

When he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him,

All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants---all because you obeyed my command."

The LORD took him outside and said, "Look at the sky and try to count the stars; you will have as many descendants as that."

"So then, anyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock.

The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, and the wind blew hard against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock.

Through him God gave me the privilege of being an apostle for the sake of Christ, in order to lead people of all nations to believe and obey.

But thanks be to God! For though at one time you were slaves to sin, you have obeyed with all your heart the truths found in the teaching you received.

But not all have accepted the Good News. Isaiah himself said, "Lord, who believed our message?"

we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.

My friends, what good is it for one of you to say that you have faith if your actions do not prove it? Can that faith save you?

What good is there in your saying to them, "God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!"---if you don't give them the necessities of life?

Now that by your obedience to the truth you have purified yourselves and have come to have a sincere love for other believers, love one another earnestly with all your heart.

In the same way you wives must submit yourselves to your husbands, so that if any of them do not believe God's word, your conduct will win them over to believe. It will not be necessary for you to say a word,

The time has come for judgment to begin, and God's own people are the first to be judged. If it starts with us, how will it end with those who do not believe the Good News from God?