I will give them the same attitude and the same purpose so that they will fear me as long as they live. This will be for their own good and for the good of their children.
I will make my promise to you and your descendants for generations to come as an everlasting promise. I will be your God and the God of your descendants.
I have chosen him so that he will direct his children and his family after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. In this way I, the Lord, will do what I have promised Abraham.”
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you did not refuse to give me your son, your only son.”
A highway will be there, a roadway. It will be called the Holy Road. Sinners won’t travel on it. It will be for those who walk on it. Godless fools won’t wander ⌞onto it⌟.
They will never again work for nothing. They will never again give birth to children who die young, because they will be offspring blessed by the Lord. The Lord will bless their descendants as well.
I will give them the desire to know that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, because they will wholeheartedly come back to me.
“But this is the promise that I will make to Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put my teachings inside them, and I will write those teachings on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
This is what the Lord says: Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask which paths are the old, reliable paths. Ask which way leads to blessings. Live that way, and find a resting place for yourselves. But you said that you wouldn’t live that way.
I will form them into one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule all of them. They will no longer be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.
They will live in the land that I gave my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They, their children, and their grandchildren will live in it permanently. My servant David will always be their prince.
I pray that all of these people continue to have unity in the way that you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they may be united with us so that the world will believe that you have sent me.
God has fulfilled the promise for us, their descendants, by bringing Jesus back to life. This is what Scripture says in the second psalm: ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.’
Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace. The number of people increased as people lived in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
Actually, the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and an unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise, their children would be unacceptable ⌞to God⌟, but now they are acceptable to him.
With that, brothers and sisters, I must say goodbye. Make sure that you improve. Accept my encouragement. Share the same attitude and live in peace. The God of love and peace will be with you.
As long as you live, you, your children, and your grandchildren must fear the Lord your God. All of you must obey all his laws and commands that I’m giving you, and you will live a long time.
The Lord our God commanded us to obey all these laws and to fear him. These laws are for our own good as long as we live so that he will preserve our lives. It’s still true today.