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.

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,

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.

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 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.

Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him,“ Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”

And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted!

They gave her this blessing as she parted:“ Our sister, may you become the mother of many millions! May your descendants be strong and conquer the cities of their enemies.”

I will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars of the sky, and I will give them all these lands. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

And as the stars of the sky cannot be counted and the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of my servant David and the Levites who minister before me.”

Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession.You will break them with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots.’”

The Lord your God has increased your population, making you as numerous as the stars!

After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said,“ Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them.I promise you what I promised Moses:‘ Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you—from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.“ Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them.Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.This is my command— be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”Joshua then commanded the officers of Israel,

May he reign from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.Desert nomads will bow before him; his enemies will fall before him in the dust.

I see him, but not here and now. I perceive him, but far in the distant future. A star will rise from Jacob; a scepter will emerge from Israel. It will crush the heads of Moab’s people, cracking the skulls of the people of Sheth.Edom will be taken over, and Seir, its enemy, will be conquered, while Israel marches on in triumph.A ruler will rise in Jacob who will destroy the survivors of Ir.”

But you promised me,‘ I will surely treat you kindly, and I will multiply your descendants until they become as numerous as the sands along the seashore— too many to count.’”

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven:“ The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.”

You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God:Your towns and your fields will be blessed.Your children and your crops will be blessed. The offspring of your herds and flocks will be blessed.Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be blessed.Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed.“ The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven!“ The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.“ If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do.Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you.“ The Lord will give you prosperity in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, blessing you with many children, numerous livestock, and abundant crops.The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them.If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom.

“ Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people.He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David,just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago.Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us.He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering his sacred covenant—the covenant he swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham.We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear,in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live.

But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

May the God of your father help you; may the Almighty bless you with the blessings of the heavens above, and blessings of the watery depths below, and blessings of the breasts and womb.May my fatherly blessings on you surpass the blessings of my ancestors, reaching to the heights of the eternal hills. May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph, who is a prince among his brothers.

“ From the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth, may God always give you abundant harvests of grain and bountiful new wine.May many nations become your servants, and may they bow down to you. May you be the master over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. All who curse you will be cursed, and all who bless you will be blessed.”

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.

You gave the people of Israel this land that you had promised their ancestors long before— a land flowing with milk and honey.

May God Almighty bless you and give you many children. And may your descendants multiply and become many nations!

I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.

King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion geber, a port near Elath in the land of Edom, along the shore of the Red Sea.

After this, David defeated and subdued the Philistines by conquering Gath, their largest town.David also conquered the land of Moab. He made the people lie down on the ground in a row, and he measured them off in groups with a length of rope. He measured off two groups to be executed for every one group to be spared. The Moabites who were spared became David’s subjects and paid him tribute money.David also destroyed the forces of Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when Hadadezer marched out to strengthen his control along the Euphrates River.David captured 1,000 chariots, 7,000 charioteers, and 20,000 foot soldiers. He crippled all the chariot horses except enough for 100 chariots.When Arameans from Damascus arrived to help King Hadadezer, David killed 22,000 of them.Then he placed several army garrisons in Damascus, the Aramean capital, and the Arameans became David’s subjects and paid him tribute money. So the Lord made David victorious wherever he went.David brought the gold shields of Hadadezer’s officers to Jerusalem,along with a large amount of bronze from Hadadezer’s towns of Tebah and Berothai.When King Toi of Hamath heard that David had destroyed the entire army of Hadadezer,he sent his son Joram to congratulate King David for his successful campaign. Hadadezer and Toi had been enemies and were often at war. Joram presented David with many gifts of silver, gold, and bronze.King David dedicated all these gifts to the Lord, as he did with the silver and gold from the other nations he had defeated—from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek— and from Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.So David became even more famous when he returned from destroying 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.He placed army garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. In fact, the Lord made David victorious wherever he went.So David reigned over all Israel and did what was just and right for all his people.Joab son of Zeruiah was commander of the army. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the royal historian.Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were the priests. Seraiah was the court secretary.Benaiah son of Jehoiada was captain of the king’s bodyguard. And David’s sons served as priestly leaders.

I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!

In such a case, the father and mother must take the son to the elders as they hold court at the town gate.

For my people’s wound is too deep to heal. It has reached into Judah, even to the gates of Jerusalem.

Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions— to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.”Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said,“ Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!”But he was also afraid and said,“ What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it.He named that place Bethel( which means“ house of God”), although it was previously called Luz.Then Jacob made this vow:“ If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing,and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will certainly be my God.And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.”

Some time after this, King Nahash of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king.David said,“ I am going to show loyalty to Hanun just as his father, Nahash, was always loyal to me.” So David sent ambassadors to express sympathy to Hanun about his father’s death. But when David’s ambassadors arrived in the land of Ammon,the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun, their master,“ Do you really think these men are coming here to honor your father? No! David has sent them to spy out the city so they can come in and conquer it!”So Hanun seized David’s ambassadors and shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their robes at the buttocks, and sent them back to David in shame.When David heard what had happened, he sent messengers to tell the men,“ Stay at Jericho until your beards grow out, and then come back.” For they felt deep shame because of their appearance.When the people of Ammon realized how seriously they had angered David, they sent and hired 20,000 Aramean foot soldiers from the lands of Beth rehob and Zobah, 1,000 from the king of Maacah, and 12,000 from the land of Tob.When David heard about this, he sent Joab and all his warriors to fight them.The Ammonite troops came out and drew up their battle lines at the entrance of the city gate, while the Arameans from Zobah and Rehob and the men from Tob and Maacah positioned themselves to fight in the open fields.When Joab saw that he would have to fight on both the front and the rear, he chose some of Israel’s elite troops and placed them under his personal command to fight the Arameans in the fields.He left the rest of the army under the command of his brother Abishai, who was to attack the Ammonites.“ If the Arameans are too strong for me, then come over and help me,” Joab told his brother.“ And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will come and help you.Be courageous! Let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. May the Lord’s will be done.”When Joab and his troops attacked, the Arameans began to run away.And when the Ammonites saw the Arameans running, they ran from Abishai and retreated into the city. After the battle was over, Joab returned to Jerusalem.The Arameans now realized that they were no match for Israel. So when they regrouped,they were joined by additional Aramean troops summoned by Hadadezer from the other side of the Euphrates River. These troops arrived at Helam under the command of Shobach, the commander of Hadadezer’s forces.When David heard what was happening, he mobilized all Israel, crossed the Jordan River, and led the army to Helam. The Arameans positioned themselves in battle formation and fought against David.But again the Arameans fled from the Israelites. This time David’s forces killed 700 charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers, including Shobach, the commander of their army.When all the kings allied with Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they surrendered to Israel and became their subjects. After that, the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites.

“ During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever.That is the meaning of the rock cut from the mountain, though not by human hands, that crushed to pieces the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God was showing the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its meaning is certain.”