Study Desk

Afterward the Lord asked Cain, "Where is your brother? Where is Abel?" "I don't know," Cain responded. "Am I my brother's guardian?"

And the Lord said, "I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them."

"Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die.

Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth."

Then God said, "I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come.

Then God said to Noah, "Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth."

I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession.

Go and walk through the land in every direction, for I am giving it to you."

that I will not take so much as a single thread or sandal thong from what belongs to you. Otherwise you might say, ‘I am the one who made Abram rich.'

Then the Lord told him, "I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession."

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.' Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life.

What's more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations.

I am going down to see if their actions are as wicked as I have heard. If not, I want to know."

Then Abraham spoke again. "Since I have begun, let me speak further to my Lord, even though I am but dust and ashes.

When God called me to leave my father's home and to travel from place to place, I told her, ‘Do me a favor. Wherever we go, tell the people that I am your brother.'"

And he said to Sarah, "Look, I am giving your ‘brother' 1,000 pieces of silver in the presence of all these witnesses. This is to compensate you for any wrong I may have done to you. This will settle any claim against me, and your reputation is cleared."

Some time later, God tested Abraham's faith. "Abraham!" God called. "Yes," he replied. "Here I am."

At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Yes," Abraham replied. "Here I am!"

"Here I am, a stranger and a foreigner among you. Please sell me a piece of land so I can give my wife a proper burial."

See, I am standing here beside this spring, and the young women of the town are coming out to draw water.