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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. 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 all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say,“ Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,” though Abraham had other children, too.This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children.

“ But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said.“ We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean,‘ You will be set free’?”

“ Brothers— you sons of Abraham, and also you God fearing Gentiles— this message of salvation has been sent to us!

Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God?

For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,

“ The rich man shouted,‘ Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’

The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife.The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.These two women serve as an illustration of God’s two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them.And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia, because she and her children live in slavery to the law.But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother.As Isaiah said,“ Rejoice, O childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break into a joyful shout, you who have never been in labor! For the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband!”And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac.But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit.But what do the Scriptures say about that?“ Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman.

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

“ Our father is Abraham!” they declared.“ No,” Jesus replied,“ for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example.Instead, you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing.

“ Son of man, the scattered remnants of Israel living among the ruined cities keep saying,‘ Abraham was only one man, yet he gained possession of the entire land. We are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’

Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them,“ Why do you question this in your hearts?

He said to himself,‘ What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’

Peter has told you about the time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself.

Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself,“ If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”

Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous— even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith.And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless.For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it.( The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him,“ I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.

He replied,“ If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”

And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world— from east and west— and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven.But many Israelites— those for whom the Kingdom was prepared— will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.