I will build a great nation from you. I will bless you and make your name famous. People will use your name to bless other people.
Deuteronomy 26:5 - Easy To Read Version Then there before the Lord your God you will say: ‘My ancestor was a wandering Aramean. [157] He went down into Egypt and stayed there. When he went there, he had only a few people in his family. But in Egypt he became a great nation—a powerful nation with many people. Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: Amplified Bible - Classic Edition And you shall say before the Lord your God, A wandering and lost Aramean ready to perish was my father [Jacob], and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and numerous. American Standard Version (1901) And thou shalt answer and say before Jehovah thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father; and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous. Common English Bible Then you should solemnly state before the LORD your God: “My father was a starving Aramean. He went down to Egypt, living as an immigrant there with few family members, but that is where he became a great nation, mighty and numerous. Catholic Public Domain Version And you shall say, in the sight of the Lord your God: 'The Syrian pursued my father, who descended into Egypt, and he sojourned there in a very small number, and he increased into a great and strong nation and into an innumerable multitude. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version And thou shalt speak thus in the sight of the Lord thy God: The Syrian pursued my father, who went down into Egypt, and sojourned there in a very small number, and grew into a nation great and strong and of an infinite multitude. |
I will build a great nation from you. I will bless you and make your name famous. People will use your name to bless other people.
Go back to my country to my own people. There find a wife for my son Isaac and bring her here to him.”
When Isaac was 40 years old he married Rebekah. Rebekah was from Paddan Aram. She was Bethuel’s daughter and the sister of Laban the Aramean.
After that Esau hated Jacob because of this blessing. Esau thought to himself, “My father will soon die, and there will be a time of sadness for him. But after that I will kill Jacob.”
So Isaac sent Jacob to Rebekkah’s brother in Paddan Aram. So Jacob went to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean. Laban was the brother of Rebekkah. Rebekkah was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean. He did not tell Laban he was leaving.
That night God went to Laban in a dream. God said, “Be careful! Be careful of every word you say to Jacob.”
In the daytime, the sun took away my strength, and at night sleep was taken from my eyes by the cold.
Take twice as much money with you this time. Take the money that was given back to you after you paid last time. Maybe the governor made a mistake.
I will take care of you during the next five years of hunger. So you and your family will not lose everything you own.
So God sent me here ahead of you so that I can save your people in this country.
Also, there were the two sons of Joseph. They had been born in Egypt. So there was a total of 70 people in Jacob’s family in Egypt.
Israel (Jacob) stayed in Egypt. He lived in the land of Goshen. His family grew and became very large. They got that land in Egypt and did very well.
They said to Pharaoh, “The time of hunger is very bad in Canaan. There are no fields left with grass for our animals. So we have come to live in this land. We ask you to please let us live in Goshen.”
The Egyptians forced the Israelites to work harder and harder. But the more the people of Israel were forced to work, the more they grew and spread. And the Egyptian people became more and more afraid of the people of Israel.
There was a total of 70 people who were direct descendants [1] of Jacob. (Joseph was one of the twelve sons, but he was already in Egypt.)
But the people of Israel had many children, and their number grew and grew. The people of Israel became strong, and the country of Egypt was filled with the Israelites.
“Jacob ran away to the land of Aram. In that place, Israel {\cf2\super [140]} worked for a wife. He kept sheep to get another wife.
But the Lord used a prophet and brought Israel out of Egypt. The Lord used a prophet and kept Israel safe.
So Jacob went down to Egypt. Jacob and our fathers \{lived there until they\} died.
And now, there are even more of you! The Lord your God has added more and more people, so that today you are as many as the stars in the sky!
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.
“Then the priest will take the basket from you. He will put it down in front of the altar [156] of the Lord your God.
Why did the Lord love and choose you? It was not because you are such a large nation. You had the fewest of all people!