Surely you have read this scripture? 'The stone which the builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most important of all.

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as he said to them, "This passage of scripture has come true today, as you heard it being read."

"My friends," he said, "the scripture had to come true in which the Holy Spirit, speaking through David, made a prediction about Judas, who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus.

For the scripture says to the king of Egypt, "I made you king in order to use you to show my power and to spread my fame over the whole world."

God has not rejected his people, whom he chose from the beginning. You know what the scripture says in the passage where Elijah pleads with God against Israel:

The scripture predicted that God would put the Gentiles right with himself through faith. And so the scripture announced the Good News to Abraham: "Through you God will bless all people."

Those who depend on obeying the Law live under a curse. For the scripture says, "Whoever does not always obey everything that is written in the book of the Law is under God's curse!"

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living,

For the scripture says, "I chose a valuable stone, which I am placing as the cornerstone in Zion; and whoever believes in him will never be disappointed."

Abram put his trust in the LORD, and because of this the LORD was pleased with him and accepted him.

The scripture says, "Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous."

But those who depend on faith, not on deeds, and who believe in the God who declares the guilty to be innocent, it is this faith that God takes into account in order to put them right with himself.

That is why Abraham, through faith, "was accepted as righteous by God."

They were written also for us who are to be accepted as righteous, who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from death.

Consider the experience of Abraham; as the scripture says, "He believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous."

The LORD would speak with Moses face-to-face, just as someone speaks with a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp. But the young man who was his helper, Joshua son of Nun, stayed in the Tent.

You are our God. When your people Israel moved into this land, you drove out the people who were living here and gave the land to the descendants of Abraham, your friend, to be theirs forever.

I want someone to plead with God for me, as one pleads for a friend.

"But you, Israel my servant, you are the people that I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham, my friend.

The greatest love you can have for your friends is to give your life for them.

I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father.