Romans 4:17

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Romans 4:15–19 · Berean Standard Bible

15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.

16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the presence of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist.

18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”

19 Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) and the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb.

Greek words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

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Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Genesis 17:4

“As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.

Genesis 17:5

No longer will you be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.

Genesis 17:16

And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”

Genesis 17:20

As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.

Genesis 25:1

Now Abraham had taken another wife, named Keturah,

Genesis 25:2

and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

Genesis 25:3

Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites, and the Leummites.

Genesis 25:4

The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.

Genesis 25:5

Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac.

Genesis 25:6

But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.

Genesis 25:7

Abraham lived a total of 175 years.

Genesis 25:8

And at a ripe old age he breathed his last and died, old and contented, and was gathered to his people.

Genesis 25:9

His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.

Genesis 25:10

This was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah.

Genesis 25:11

After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near Beer-lahai-roi.

Genesis 25:12

This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham.

Genesis 25:13

These are the names of the sons of Ishmael in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,

Genesis 25:14

Mishma, Dumah, Massa,

Genesis 25:15

Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

Genesis 25:16

These were the sons of Ishmael, and these were their names by their villages and encampments—twelve princes of their tribes.

Genesis 25:17

Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. Then he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.

Genesis 25:18

Ishmael’s descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which is near the border of Egypt as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers.

Genesis 25:19

This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac,

Genesis 25:20

and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.

Genesis 25:21

Later, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.

Genesis 25:22

But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So Rebekah went to inquire of the LORD,

Genesis 25:23

and He declared to her: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

Genesis 25:24

When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb.

Genesis 25:25

The first one came out red, covered with hair like a fur coat; so they named him Esau.

Genesis 25:26

After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.

Genesis 25:27

When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.

Genesis 25:28

Because Isaac had a taste for wild game, he loved Esau; but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Genesis 25:29

One day, while Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the field and was famished.

Genesis 25:30

He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am famished.” (That is why he was also called Edom.)

Genesis 25:31

“First sell me your birthright,” Jacob replied.

Genesis 25:32

“Look,” said Esau, “I am about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”

Genesis 25:33

“Swear to me first,” Jacob said. So Esau swore to Jacob and sold him the birthright.

Genesis 25:34

Then Jacob gave some bread and lentil stew to Esau, who ate and drank and then got up and went away. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Genesis 28:3

May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.

Hebrews 11:12

And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

Romans 3:29

Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,

Romans 4:2

If Abraham was indeed justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God.

Romans 8:11

And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.

Matthew 3:9

And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

John 5:21

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes.

John 5:25

Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

John 6:63

The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.

1 Corinthians 15:45

So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.

Ephesians 2:1

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

Ephesians 2:2

in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

Ephesians 2:3

All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.

Ephesians 2:4

But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

Ephesians 2:5

made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!

1 Timothy 6:13

I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who made the good confession in His testimony before Pontius Pilate:

Romans 8:29

For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.

Romans 8:30

And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.

Romans 9:26

and, “It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

Isaiah 43:6

I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth—

Isaiah 44:7

Who then is like Me? Let him say so! Let him declare his case before Me, since I established an ancient people. Let him foretell the things to come, and what is to take place.

Isaiah 49:12

Behold, they will come from far away, from the north and from the west, and from the land of Aswan.”

Isaiah 55:12

You will indeed go out with joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Acts 15:18

that have been known for ages.’

1 Corinthians 1:28

He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,

Hebrews 11:7

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

1 Peter 2:10

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

2 Peter 3:8

Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.