So I will certainly bless you. I will make the children born into your family as many as the stars in the sky. I will make them as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. They will take over the cities of their enemies.

论福，我必赐大福给你；论子孙，我必叫你的子孙多起来，如同天上的星，海边的沙。你子孙必得着仇敌的城门，

我必多多赐福给你，我必使你的后裔大大增多，如同天上的星、海边的沙。你的后裔必得仇敌的城门，

我必多多赐福给你，我必使你的后裔大大增多，如同天上的星、海边的沙。你的后裔必得仇敌的城门，

我必赐福给你，使你的后裔多如天上的星和海边的沙。你的后裔必占领仇敌的城池，

我必定赐福给你，必使你的后裔繁多，像天上的星，海边的沙；你的后裔必占领仇敌的城门。

我必定大大祝福你，使你的后裔大大增多，如同天上的星辰、海边的沙粒；你的后裔必占有仇敌的城门。

論福，我必賜大福給你；論子孫，我必叫你的子孫多起來，如同天上的星，海邊的沙。你子孫必得着仇敵的城門，

我必多多賜福給你，我必使你的後裔大大增多，如同天上的星、海邊的沙。你的後裔必得仇敵的城門，

我必多多賜福給你，我必使你的後裔大大增多，如同天上的星、海邊的沙。你的後裔必得仇敵的城門，

我必賜福給你，使你的後裔多如天上的星和海邊的沙。你的後裔必佔領仇敵的城池，

我必定賜福給你，必使你的後裔繁多，像天上的星，海邊的沙；你的後裔必佔領仇敵的城門。

我就必定大大地賜福與你，必定使你的後裔大大增多，如同天上的星，如同海邊的沙；你的後裔必佔領仇敵的城。

我必定大大祝福你，使你的後裔大大增多，如同天上的星辰、海邊的沙粒；你的後裔必占有仇敵的城門。

必錫爾嘏、昌熾爾裔、如天上之星、如海濱之沙、爾裔必據諸敵之邑、

我必大賚爾福祉、昌熾爾子孫、如天星之眾多、如海沙之無量、爾子孫將勝諸敵、

必賜福於爾、使爾後裔眾多、如天上之星、如海濱之沙、爾後裔必得敵之城邑為業、

I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,

I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,

I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies.

I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies.

indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand, which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.

blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.

that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies.

That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which[ is] upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the strongholds of their enemies.

that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your offspring greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gate of his enemies.

The Lord took Abram outside and said,“ Look up at the sky. Count the stars, if you can.” Then he said to him,“ That’s how many children will be born into your family.”

I will make them like the dust of the earth. Can dust be counted? If it can, then your family can be counted.

And they gave Rebekah their blessing. They said to her,“ Dear sister, may your family grow by thousands and thousands. May they take over the cities of their enemies.”

I will make your children after you as many as the stars in the sky. And I will give them all these lands. All nations on earth will be blessed because of your children.

Here is what I will do for my servant David. And here is what I will do for the Levites who serve me. I will make their children after them as many as the stars in the sky. And I will make them as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. It will be impossible to count them.”

Ask me, and I will give the nations to you. All nations on earth will belong to you.You will break them with an iron scepter. You will smash them to pieces like clay pots.”

The Lord your God has caused there to be many of you. Today you are as many as the stars in the sky.

Moses, the servant of the Lord, died. After that, the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun. Joshua was Moses’ helper. The Lord said to Joshua,“ My servant Moses is dead. Now then, I want you and all these people to get ready to go across the Jordan River. I want all of you to go into the land I am about to give to the Israelites.I will give all of you every place you walk on, just as I promised Moses.Your territory will reach from the Negev Desert all the way to Lebanon. The great Euphrates River will be to the east. The Mediterranean Sea will be to the west. Your territory will include all the Hittite country.Joshua, no one will be able to oppose you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will never leave you. I will never desert you.Be strong and brave. You will lead these people. They will take the land as their very own. It is the land I promised to give their people of long ago.“ Be strong and very brave. Make sure you obey the whole law my servant Moses gave you. Do not turn away from it to the right or the left. Then you will have success everywhere you go.Never stop reading this Book of the Law. Day and night you must think about what it says. Make sure you do everything written in it. Then things will go well with you. And you will have great success.Here is what I am commanding you to do. Be strong and brave. Do not be afraid. Do not lose hope. I am the Lord your God. I will be with you everywhere you go.”So Joshua gave orders to the officers of the people. He said,

May the king rule from sea to sea. May his kingdom reach from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.May the desert tribes bow down to him. May his enemies lick the dust.

“ I see him, but I don’t see him now. I view him, but he isn’t near. A star will come from among the people of Jacob. A king will rise up out of Israel. He’ll crush the foreheads of the people of Moab. He’ll crush the heads of all the people of Sheth.He’ll win the battle over Edom. He’ll win the battle over his enemy Seir. But Israel will grow strong.A ruler will come from among the people of Jacob. He’ll destroy those from the city who are still alive.”

But you have said,‘ I will surely give you success. I will make your children as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. People will not be able to count them.’ ”

The seventh angel blew his trumpet. There were loud voices in heaven. They said,“ The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah. He will rule for ever and ever.”

If you obey the Lord your God, here are the blessings that will come to you and remain with you.You will be blessed in the cities. You will be blessed out in the country.Your children will be blessed. Your crops will be blessed. The young animals among your livestock will be blessed. That includes your calves and lambs.Your baskets and bread pans will be blessed.You will be blessed no matter where you go.Enemies will rise up against you. But the Lord will help you win the battle over them. They will come at you from one direction. But they’ll run away from you in every direction.The Lord your God will bless your barns with plenty of grain and other food. He will bless everything you do. He’ll bless you in the land he’s giving you.The Lord your God will make you his holy people. He will set you apart for himself. He promised to do this. He promised to do it if you would keep his commands and live exactly as he wants you to live.All the nations on earth will see that you belong to the Lord. And they will be afraid of you.The Lord will give you more than you need. You will have many children. Your livestock will have many little ones. Your crops will do very well. All of that will happen in the land he promised to give you. He promised this to your people of long ago.The Lord will open up the heavens. That’s where he stores his riches. He will send rain on your land at just the right time. He’ll bless everything you do. You will lend money to many nations. But you won’t have to borrow from any of them.The Lord your God will make you leaders, not followers. Pay attention to his commands that I’m giving you today. Be careful to obey them. Then you will always be on top. You will never be on the bottom.

“ Give praise to the Lord, the God of Israel! He has come to his people and purchased their freedom.He has acted with great power and has saved us. He did it for those who are from the family line of his servant David.Long ago holy prophets said he would do it.He has saved us from our enemies. We are rescued from all who hate us.He has been kind to our people of long ago. He has remembered his holy covenant.He made a promise to our father Abraham.He promised to save us from our enemies. Then we could serve him without fear.He wants us to be holy and godly as long as we live.

But let us give thanks to God! He gives us the victory because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done.

Joseph, your father’s God helps you. The Mighty God blesses you. He gives you blessings from the sky above. He gives you blessings from the deep springs below. He blesses you with children and with a mother’s milk.Your father’s blessings are great. They are greater than the blessings from the age- old mountains. They are greater than the gifts from the ancient hills. Let all those blessings rest on the head of Joseph. Let them rest on the head of the one who is prince among his brothers.

May God give you dew from heaven. May he give you the richness of the earth. May he give you plenty of grain and fresh wine.May nations serve you. May they bow down to you. Rule over your brothers. May the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed. And may those who bless you be blessed.”

Give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. Those blessings come from the heavenly world. They belong to us because we belong to Christ.

You gave Israel this land that you promised to their people of long ago. It is a land that has plenty of milk and honey.

May the Mighty God bless you. May he give you children. May he make your family larger until you become a community of nations.

“ I will make you into a great nation. And I will bless you. I will make your name great. You will be a blessing to others.

King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber. It’s near Elath in Edom. It’s on the shore of the Red Sea.

While David was king of Israel, he won many battles over the Philistines. He brought them under his control. He took Metheg Ammah away from them.David also won the battle over the people of Moab. He made them lie down on the ground. Then he measured them off with a piece of rope. He put two- thirds of them to death. He let the other third remain alive. So the Moabites were brought under David’s rule. They gave him the gifts he required them to bring him.David fought against Hadadezer, the son of Rehob. Hadadezer was king of Zobah. He had gone to repair his monument at the Euphrates River.David captured 1,000 of Hadadezer’s chariots, 7,000 chariot riders and 20,000 soldiers on foot. He cut the legs of all but 100 of the chariot horses.The Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, the king of Zobah. But David struck down 22,000 of them.He stationed some soldiers in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus. The people of Aram were brought under his rule. They gave him the gifts he required them to bring him. The Lord helped David win his battles everywhere he went.David took the gold shields that belonged to the officers of Hadadezer. He brought the shields to Jerusalem.He took a huge amount of bronze from Tebah and Berothai. Those towns belonged to Hadadezer.Tou was king of Hamath. He heard that David had won the battle over the entire army of Hadadezer.So Tou sent his son Joram to King David. Joram greeted David. He praised David because he had won the battle over Hadadezer. Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. So Joram brought with him gifts made out of silver, of gold and of bronze.King David set those gifts apart for the Lord. He had done the same thing with the silver and gold he had taken from the other nations. Those were nations he had brought under his control.Those nations were Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia and Amalek. He also set apart for the Lord what he had taken from Hadadezer, the son of Rehob. Hadadezer was king of Zobah.David returned after he had struck down 18,000 men of Edom in the Valley of Salt. He became famous for doing it.He stationed some soldiers all through Edom. The whole nation of Edom was brought under David’s rule. The Lord helped him win his battles everywhere he went.David ruled over the whole nation of Israel. He did what was fair and right for all his people.Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was commander over the army. Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, kept the records.Zadok, the son of Ahitub, was a priest. Ahimelek, the son of Abiathar, was also a priest. Seraiah was the secretary.Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was commander over the Kerethites and Pelethites. And David’s sons were priests.

I will greatly increase the number of your children after you. Nations and kings will come from you.

Then his parents will take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town.

Samaria’s plague can’t be healed. The plague has spread to Judah. It has spread right up to the gate of my people. It has spread to Jerusalem itself.

They will be like the dust of the earth that can’t be counted. They will spread out to the west and to the east. They will spread out to the north and to the south. All nations on earth will be blessed because of you and your children after you.I am with you. I will watch over you everywhere you go. And I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”Jacob woke up from his sleep. Then he thought,“ The Lord is surely in this place. And I didn’t even know it.”Jacob was afraid. He said,“ How holy this place is! This must be the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.”Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head. He set it up as a sacred stone. And he poured olive oil on top of it.He named that place Bethel. But the city used to be called Luz.Then Jacob made a promise. He said,“ May God be with me. May he watch over me on this journey I’m taking. May he give me food to eat and clothes to wear.May he do as he has promised so that I can return safely to my father’s home. Then you, Lord, will be my God.This stone I’ve set up as a sacred stone will be God’s house. And I’ll give you a tenth of everything you give me.”

The king of Ammon died. His son Hanun became the next king after him.David thought,“ I’m going to be kind to Hanun. His father Nahash was kind to me.” So David sent messengers to Hanun. He wanted them to tell Hanun how sad he was that Hanun’s father had died. David’s messengers went to the land of Ammon.The Ammonite commanders spoke to their master Hanun. They said,“ David has sent messengers to tell you he is sad. They say he wants to honor your father. But the real reason they’ve come is to look the city over. They want to destroy it.”So Hanun grabbed David’s messengers. He shaved off half of each man’s beard. He cut their clothes off just below the waist and left them half naked. Then he sent them away.David was told about it. So he sent messengers to his men because they were filled with shame. King David said to them,“ Stay at Jericho until your beards grow out again. Then come back here.”The Ammonites realized that what they had done had made David very angry with them. So they hired 20,000 Aramean soldiers who were on foot. The soldiers came from Beth Rehob and Zobah. The Ammonites also hired the king of Maakah and 1,000 men. And they hired 12,000 men from Tob.David heard about it. So he sent Joab out with the entire army of Israel’s fighting men.The Ammonites marched out. They took up their battle positions at the entrance of their city gate. The Arameans of Zobah and Rehob gathered their troops together in the open country. So did the men of Tob and Maakah.Joab saw that there were lines of soldiers in front of him and behind him. So he chose some of the best troops in Israel. He sent them to march out against the Arameans.He put the rest of the men under the command of his brother Abishai. Joab sent them to march out against the Ammonites.He said,“ Suppose the Arameans are too strong for me. Then you must come and help me. But suppose the Ammonites are too strong for you. Then I’ll come and help you.Be strong. Let’s be brave as we fight for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what he thinks is best.”Then Joab and the troops with him marched out to attack the Arameans. They ran away from him.The Ammonites realized that the Arameans were running away. So they ran away from Abishai. They went inside the city. After Joab had fought against the Ammonites, he went back to Jerusalem.The Arameans saw that they had been driven away by Israel. So they brought their troops together.Hadadezer had some Arameans brought from east of the Euphrates River. They went to Helam under the command of Shobak. He was the commander of Hadadezer’s army.David was told about it. So he gathered the whole army of Israel together. They went across the Jordan River to Helam. The Arameans lined up their soldiers to go to war against David. They began to fight against him.But then they ran away from Israel. David killed 700 of their chariot riders. He killed 40,000 of their soldiers who were on foot. He also struck down Shobak, the commander of their army. Shobak died there.All the kings who were under the rule of Hadadezer saw that Israel had won the battle over them. So they made a peace treaty with the Israelites. They were brought under Israel’s rule. After that, the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.

“ In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom. It will never be destroyed. And no other nation will ever take it over. It will crush all those other kingdoms. It will bring them to an end. But it will last forever.That’s what the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain means. Human hands didn’t cut out the rock. It broke the statue to pieces. It smashed the iron, bronze, clay, silver and gold.“ The great God has shown you what will take place in days to come. The dream is true. And you can trust the meaning of it that I have explained to you.”