Genesis 12:3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
3 (A)I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will find blessing in you.[a]
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- 12:3 Will find blessing in you: the Hebrew conjugation of the verb here and in 18:18 and 28:14 can be either reflexive (“shall bless themselves by you” = people will invoke Abraham as an example of someone blessed by God) or passive (“by you all the families of earth will be blessed” = the religious privileges of Abraham and his descendants ultimately will be extended to the nations). In 22:18 and 26:4, another conjugation of the same verb is used in a similar context that is undoubtedly reflexive (“bless themselves”). Many scholars suggest that the two passages in which the sense is clear should determine the interpretation of the three ambiguous passages: the privileged blessing enjoyed by Abraham and his descendants will awaken in all peoples the desire to enjoy those same blessings. Since the term is understood in a passive sense in the New Testament (Acts 3:25; Gal 3:8), it is rendered here by a neutral expression that admits of both meanings.
Genesis 13:14-15
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
14 After Lot had parted from him, the Lord said to Abram: Look about you, and from where you are, gaze to the north and south, east and west;(A) 15 all the land that you see I will give to you and your descendants forever.(B)
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Genesis 15:5-6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
5 He took him outside and said: Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so, he added, will your descendants be.(A) 6 (B)Abram put his faith in the Lord, who attributed it to him as an act of righteousness.[a]
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- 15:6 Abraham’s act of faith in God’s promises was regarded as an act of righteousness, i.e., as fully expressive of his relationship with God. St. Paul (Rom 4:1–25; Gal 3:6–9) makes Abraham’s faith a model for Christians.
Genesis 18:18
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
18 now that he is to become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth are to find blessing in him?(A)
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Genesis 22:17-18
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
17 I will bless you and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; your descendants will take possession of the gates of their enemies,(A) 18 and in your descendants all the nations of the earth will find blessing, because you obeyed my command.”(B)
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Genesis 26:4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth will find blessing—(A)
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Deuteronomy 19:8
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
8 (A)But if the Lord, your God, enlarges your territory, as he swore to your ancestors, and gives you all the land he promised your ancestors he would give,
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Ben Sira 44:21
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
21 For this reason, God promised him with an oath
to bless the nations through his descendants,
To make him numerous as grains of dust,
and to exalt his posterity like the stars,
Giving them an inheritance from sea to sea,
and from the River[a] to the ends of the earth.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.