Then God led Abram outside. God said, “Look at the sky. See the many stars. There are so many you can’t count them. In the future, your family will be like that.”
I will truly bless you. I will give you many, many descendants, [126] as many as the stars in the sky. There will be as many people as sand on the seashore. And your people will live in cities that they take from their enemies.
I will make your family as many as the stars of heaven. And I will give all these lands to your family. Through your descendants, [152] every nation on earth will be blessed.
But Joab said to the king, “May the Lord your God give you 100 times as many people, no matter how many there are! And may your eyes see this thing happen. But why do you want to do this?”
But Joab answered, “May the Lord make his nation 100 times as large! Sir, all the people of Israel are your servants. Why do you want to do this thing, my lord and king? You will make all the people of Israel guilty of sin!”
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob). Those men served you. And you used your name to make a promise to them. You said: ‘I will make your people as many as the stars in the sky. I will give your people all this land like I promised. This land will be theirs forever.’”
“I will punish those people. But some of those people will be like the sticks that don’t burn completely—they will be punished, but they won’t be destroyed completely. You will see that I punished these people, and you will know that I am the Lord!
Look, I am giving you that land. Go and take it. I promised to give that land to your ancestors [2] —Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I promised to give that land to them and to their descendants. [3] ’”
When your ancestors [64] went down into Egypt, there were only 70 people. Now the Lord your God has made you many, many people—as many as the stars in the sky.