Don’t think you can say to yourselves,‘ Abraham is our father.’ I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham even from these stones.

不要自己心里说：‘有亚伯拉罕为我们的祖宗。’我告诉你们，神能从这些石头中给亚伯拉罕兴起子孙来。

不要自己心里说：‘我们有亚伯拉罕为祖宗。’我告诉你们，上帝能从这些石头中给亚伯拉罕兴起子孙来。

不要自己心里说：‘我们有亚伯拉罕为祖宗。’我告诉你们，神能从这些石头中给亚伯拉罕兴起子孙来。

不要心里说，‘我们是亚伯拉罕的子孙。’我告诉你们，上帝可以从这些石头中兴起亚伯拉罕的子孙。

你们心里不要以为：‘我们有亚伯拉罕作我们的祖宗。’我告诉你们，神能从这些石头中给亚伯拉罕兴起后裔来。

你们不要心里想‘我们有亚伯拉罕为先祖。’我告诉你们：神能从这些石头中给亚伯拉罕兴起儿女来。

不要自己心裏說：『有亞伯拉罕為我們的祖宗。』我告訴你們，神能從這些石頭中給亞伯拉罕興起子孫來。

不要自己心裏說：『我們有亞伯拉罕為祖宗。』我告訴你們，上帝能從這些石頭中給亞伯拉罕興起子孫來。

不要自己心裏說：『我們有亞伯拉罕為祖宗。』我告訴你們，神能從這些石頭中給亞伯拉罕興起子孫來。

不要心裡說，『我們是亞伯拉罕的子孫。』我告訴你們，上帝可以從這些石頭中興起亞伯拉罕的子孫。

你們心裡不要以為：‘我們有亞伯拉罕作我們的祖宗。’我告訴你們，神能從這些石頭中給亞伯拉罕興起後裔來。

不要自己心裏想着說：「我們有亞伯拉罕是我們的祖宗。」我告訴你們，上帝能從這些石頭中給亞伯拉罕興起子孫來！

你們不要心裡想『我們有亞伯拉罕為先祖。』我告訴你們：神能從這些石頭中給亞伯拉罕興起兒女來。

勿自謂、我有亞伯拉罕為父也、我語汝、上帝能由此石興起亞伯拉罕之子孫焉、

勿自以為亞伯拉罕吾祖也、吾語爾、上帝能使此石為亞伯拉罕子孫焉、

毋心中自矜曰、亞伯拉罕吾祖也、吾語爾、天主能使此石為亞伯拉罕之子孫焉、

毋思吾輩有亞伯漢為我祖先；蓋吾語爾、天主全能、即欲化此頑石為亞伯漢之子孫、亦易如反掌耳。

And do not think you can say to yourselves,‘ We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

And do not presume to say to yourselves,‘ We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.

Don’t just say to each other,‘ We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.

And don’t presume to say to yourselves,‘ We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones.

and do not assume that you can say to yourselves,‘ We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you that God is able, from these stones, to raise up children for Abraham.

and do not think to say to yourselves,‘ We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

And don’t presume to say to yourselves,‘ We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to[ our] father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

and don’t think you can say to yourselves,‘ We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

Don’t think to yourselves,‘ We have Abraham for our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

Live in a way that shows you have turned away from your sins. And don’t start saying to yourselves,‘ Abraham is our father.’ I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham even from these stones.

This is because all of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. You have put him on as if he were your clothes.There is no Jew or Gentile. There is no slave or free person. There is no male or female. That’s because you are all one in Christ Jesus.You who belong to Christ are Abraham’s seed. So you will receive what God has promised.

Not everyone in Abraham’s family line is really his child. Not at all! Scripture says,“ Your family line will continue through Isaac.”( Genesis 21:12)In other words, God’s children are not just in the family line of Abraham. Instead, they are the children God promised to him. They are the ones considered to be Abraham’s children.

They answered him,“ We are Abraham’s children. We have never been slaves of anyone. So how can you say that we will be set free?”

“ Listen, fellow children of Abraham! Listen, you Gentiles who worship God! This message of salvation has been sent to us.

What should we say about these things? What did Abraham, the father of our people, discover about being right with God?

Evil thoughts come from the inside, from a person’s heart. So do sexual sins, stealing and murder.

So the rich man called out,‘ Father Abraham! Have pity on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water. Then he can cool my tongue with it. I am in terrible pain in this fire.’

It is written that Abraham had two sons. The slave woman gave birth to one of them. The free woman gave birth to the other one.Abraham’s son by the slave woman was born in the usual way. But his son by the free woman was born because of God’s promise.These things are examples. The two women stand for two covenants. One covenant comes from Mount Sinai. It gives birth to children who are going to be slaves. It is Hagar.Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia. She stands for the present city of Jerusalem. That’s because she and her children are slaves.But the Jerusalem that is above is free. She is our mother.It is written,“ Be glad, woman, you who have never had children. Shout for joy and cry out loud, you who have never had labor pains. The woman who is all alone has more children than the woman who has a husband.”( Isaiah 54:1)Brothers and sisters, you are children because of God’s promise just as Isaac was.At that time, the son born in the usual way tried to hurt the other son. The other son was born by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the same now.But what does Scripture say?“ Get rid of the slave woman. Get rid of her son. The slave woman’s son will never have a share of the family’s property. He’ll never share it with the free woman’s son.”( Genesis 21:10)Brothers and sisters, we are not the slave woman’s children. We are the free woman’s children.

Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died. So did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

“ Abraham is our father,” they answered. Jesus said,“ Are you really Abraham’s children? If you are, you will do what Abraham did.But you are looking for a way to kill me. I am a man who has told you the truth I heard from God. Abraham didn’t do the things you want to do.

“ Son of man, here is what the people living in Israel’s broken- down buildings are saying.‘ Abraham was only one man. But he owned the land. We are many people. The land must certainly belong to us.’

Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he asked,“ Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?

He thought to himself,‘ What should I do? I don’t have any place to store my crops.’

Simon Peter has explained to us what God has now done. He has chosen some of the Gentiles to be among his very own people.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.God chose the things of this world that are common and looked down on. God chose things considered unimportant to do away with things considered important.

The Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this. He said to himself,“ If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him. He would know what kind of woman she is. She is a sinner!”

He was circumcised as a sign of the covenant God had made with him. It showed that his faith had made him right with God before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the father of all believers who have not been circumcised. God accepts their faith. So their faith makes them right with him.And Abraham is also the father of those who are circumcised and believe. So just being circumcised is not enough. Those who are circumcised must also follow the steps of our father Abraham. He had faith before he was circumcised.Abraham and his family received a promise. God promised that Abraham would receive the world. It would not come to him because he obeyed the law. It would come because of his faith, which made him right with God.Do those who depend on the law receive the promise? If they do, faith would mean nothing. God’s promise would be worthless.The law brings God’s anger. Where there is no law, the law can’t be broken.The promise is based on God’s grace. The promise comes by faith. All of Abraham’s children will certainly receive the promise. And it is not only for those who are ruled by the law. Those who have the same faith that Abraham had are also included. He is the father of us all.It is written,“ I have made you a father of many nations.”( Genesis 17:5) God considers Abraham to be our father. The God that Abraham believed in gives life to the dead. Abraham’s God also creates things that did not exist before.

“ I tell you,” he replied,“ if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

I say to you that many will come from the east and the west. They will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of heaven. They will sit with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.But those who think they belong in the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness. There they will weep and grind their teeth.”

Before you believed in Christ, you were separated from him. You were not considered to be citizens of Israel. You were not included in what the covenants promised. You were without hope and without God in the world.At one time you were far away from God. But now you belong to Christ Jesus. He spilled his blood for you. This has brought you near to God.