“ I thought to myself,‘ I would love to treat you as my own children!’ I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land— the finest possession in the world. I looked forward to your calling me‘ Father,’ and I wanted you never to turn from me.

“我说：‘我怎样将你安置在儿女之中，赐给你美地，就是万国中肥美的产业。我又说：你们必称我为父，也不再转去不跟从我。

“我说，我多么乐意把你列在儿女之中，赐给你美地，就是万国中最美的产业。我说，你会以‘我父啊’称呼我，不再转离而跟从我。

“我说，我多么乐意把你列在儿女之中，赐给你美地，就是万国中最美的产业。我说，你会以‘我父啊’称呼我，不再转离而跟从我。

“我曾想，我多么愿意把你们当成我的儿女，赐给你们万国中最肥美的土地。我原以为你们会叫我‘父亲’，再不离弃我。

“我说：‘我待你，像待儿女一样，赐给你佳美之地，就是列国中最美好的产业；我以为你会称我为父，不再离去不跟从我了。

我說：我怎樣將你安置在兒女之中，賜給你美地，就是萬國中肥美的產業。我又說：你們必稱我為父，也不再轉去不跟從我。

「我說，我多麼樂意把你列在兒女之中，賜給你美地，就是萬國中最美的產業。我說，你會以『我父啊』稱呼我，不再轉離而

「我說，我多麼樂意把你列在兒女之中，賜給你美地，就是萬國中最美的產業。我說，你會以『我父啊』稱呼我，不再轉離而跟從我。

我曾想，我多麼願意把你們當成我的兒女，賜給你們萬國中最肥美的土地。我原以為你們會叫我『父親』，再不離棄我。

“我說：‘我待你，像待兒女一樣，賜給你佳美之地，就是列國中最美好的產業；我以為你會稱我為父，不再離去不跟從我了。

『「我心裏說：我必怎樣將你安置在兒女之中，賜給你可喜愛之地、列國中美上美的產業。我心裏又說：你必會以「我父啊」稱呼我，你必不會再轉去而不隨從我了。

我曾曰、我置爾於諸子中、錫爾樂土、列國中極美之業、又曰、爾必稱我為父、不轉而不從我、

予竊自思、能安以為爾赤子、斯土膏腴、列國之民以為佳業、焉能予爾。轉念曰、爾稱予為父、無違逆予、則可。

我自問曰、我何以視爾為子、何以賜爾美地、列國之民所視為美業者、曰、爾惟稱我為父、勿離棄我、或作我曾應許曰我必使爾在諸子中極為昌大將萬國所珍愛之美地賜爾為業我曰但欲爾稱我為父勿離棄我

“ I myself said,“‘ How gladly would I treat you like my children and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’ I thought you would call me‘ Father’ and not turn away from following me.

“ I myself said,“‘ I would gladly treat you like my children. I would give you a pleasant land. It is the most beautiful land any nation could have.’ I thought you would call me‘ Father.’ I hoped you would always obey me.

“‘ I said, How I would set you among my sons, and give you a pleasant land, a heritage most beautiful of all nations. And I thought you would call me, My Father, and would not turn from following me.

I thought,“ How I long to make you my sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of all the nations.” I thought,“ You will call me‘ My Father’ and never turn away from me.”

“ Then I said,‘ How I would set you among My sons And give you a pleasant land, The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’ And I said,‘ You shall call Me, My Father, And not turn away from following Me.’

“ But I said:‘ How can I put you among the children And give you a pleasant land, A beautiful heritage of the hosts of nations?’“ And I said:‘ You shall call Me,“ My Father,” And not turn away from Me.’

But I said, How I will put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of the nations! and I said, Ye shall call me My Father, and shall not turn away from following me.

I thought: How I long to make you My sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of all the nations. I thought: You will call Me, my Father, and never turn away from Me.

But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.

“ I thought to myself,‘ Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son! What a joy it would be for me to give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!’ I thought you would call me,‘ Father’ and would never cease being loyal to me.

“ But I said,‘ How I desire to put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations!’ and I said,‘ You shall call me“ My Father”, and shall not turn away from following me.’

Yet you say to me,‘ Father, you have been my guide since my youth.

Surely you are still our Father! Even if Abraham and Jacob would disown us, Lord, you would still be our Father. You are our Redeemer from ages past.

God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out,“ Abba, Father.”Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

And I will give them one heart and one purpose: to worship me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants.And I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me.

Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

Tears of joy will stream down their faces, and I will lead them home with great care. They will walk beside quiet streams and on smooth paths where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is my oldest child.

He will enter the glorious land of Israel, and many nations will fall, but Moab, Edom, and the best part of Ammon will escape.

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.

“ The king of the north will march onward unopposed; none will be able to stop him. He will pause in the glorious land of Israel, intent on destroying it.

He will stop between the glorious holy mountain and the sea and will pitch his royal tents. But while he is there, his time will suddenly run out, and no one will help him.

“ Is not Israel still my son, my darling child?” says the Lord.“ I often have to punish him, but I still love him. That’s why I long for him and surely will have mercy on him.

And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.

The wise inherit honor, but fools are put to shame!

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,and we have a priceless inheritance— an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.

Then from one of the prominent horns came a small horn whose power grew very great. It extended toward the south and the east and toward the glorious land of Israel.

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.

“ Many rulers have ravaged my vineyard, trampling down the vines and turning all its beauty into a barren wilderness.

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him,“ Abba, Father.”For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

The people refused to enter the pleasant land, for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them.

I took a solemn oath that day that I would bring them out of Egypt to a land I had discovered and explored for them— a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the best of all lands anywhere.

“ Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? How can I destroy you like Admah or demolish you like Zeboiim? My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows.

He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.They are reborn— not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.

“ How can I pardon you? For even your children have turned from me. They have sworn by gods that are not gods at all! I fed my people until they were full. But they thanked me by committing adultery and lining up at the brothels.