Genesis 17:4Plain English Version“I promise that I will do this for you. I will give you a big family. Lots of people will be born into your family, so that you will be the father of lots of nations. See the chapter |
So I will do really good things for you. And I will give you a really big family. You see, lots of people will be born into your son’s family later on, and they will become a really big mob of people. There will be lots and lots of them, just like there are lots of stars in the sky, and lots of little bits of sand at the beaches beside the sea. And when other nations get up to fight against them, your family will win, and they will take the towns from those other nations.
God said to Rebekah, “There are 2 babies inside you. They will grow up and have kids, and their kids will become 2 nations. Right from the start, those 2 nations will fight against each other. One of those nations will be stronger than the other nation. Yes, the younger son’s nation will be stronger, and his nation will be boss over the older son’s nation.”
Remember that promise you made to me. You said, ‘I promise that I will be good to you, and I will give you a really big family. Lots of kids and grand-kids will be born into your family later on, and they will become a really big mob of people. Nobody will be able to count them, just like nobody can count all those little bits of sand that are at the beaches by the sea.’ Please be good to me and my family, God, just like you promised. Please don’t let my brother kill us.”
And God said to Jacob, “I am God. I have power over everything. Your mob will have lots of kids, so that your family will get really big. Later on, your family will be so big that they will become a nation, and that nation will split up into lots of nations, and some of your people will be the big bosses of those nations.”
But Jacob didn’t move his hand. He said, “No, my son. I know for sure that I’m doing the right thing. Listen, your older son will have a big family, and they will become an important tribe. But your younger son will be more important than your older son. He will have a really big family, and later on, his tribe will be really big and really important.”