The angel continued,“ I will give you and your family many children. There will be more of them than anyone can count.”

又说：“我必使你的后裔极其繁多，甚至不可胜数”；

耶和华的使者对她说：“我必使你的后裔极其繁多，多到不可胜数。”

耶和华的使者对她说：“我必使你的后裔极其繁多，多到不可胜数。”

又说：“我必使你的后代多得不可胜数。”

耶和华的使者又对她说：“我必使你的后裔人丁兴旺，多到不可胜数。”

耶和华的使者又对她说：“我将使你的后裔大大增多，多得无法数清。”

又說：「我必使你的後裔極其繁多，甚至不可勝數」；

耶和華的使者對她說：「我必使你的後裔極其繁多，多到不可勝數。」

耶和華的使者對她說：「我必使你的後裔極其繁多，多到不可勝數。」

又說：「我必使你的後代多得不可勝數。」

耶和華的使者又對她說：“我必使你的後裔人丁興旺，多到不可勝數。”

永恆主的使者又對她說：『我必定使你的後裔大大增多，多到數不過來。』

耶和華的使者又對她說：「我將使你的後裔大大增多，多得無法數清。」

又曰、我必使爾苗裔繁衍、不可勝數、

又曰、我將增爾苗裔、生齒繁衍、不可勝數。

主之使者又曰、我必使爾後裔蕃衍、不可勝數、

The angel added,“ I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”

The angel of the Lord also said to her,“ I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.”

Then he added,“ I will give you more descendants than you can count.”

The angel of the LORD said to her,“ I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count.”

The angel of the Lord also said to her,“ I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.”

Then the Angel of the Lord said to her,“ I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.”

And the angel of Jehovah said unto her, I will greatly multiply thy seed, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.

The Angel of the Lord also said to her,“ I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count.”

And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.

I will greatly multiply your descendants,” the LORD’s angel added,“ so that they will be too numerous to count.”

Yahweh’s angel said to her,“ I will greatly multiply your offspring, that they will not be counted for multitude.”

I have heard what you said about Ishmael. I will surely bless him. I will make his family very large. He will be the father of 12 rulers. And I will make him into a great nation.

Their forces include the people of Edom, Ishmael, Moab and Hagar.They also include the people of Byblos, Ammon, Amalek, Philistia and Tyre.

I will also make the son of your slave into a nation. I will do it because he is your child.”

The angel of the Lord called out to Abraham from heaven a second time.He said,“ I am giving you my word that I will bless you. I will bless you because of what you have done,” announces the Lord.“ You have not held back your son, your only son.So I will certainly bless you. I will make the children born into your family as many as the stars in the sky. I will make them as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. They will take over the cities of their enemies.All nations on earth will be blessed because of your children. All these things will happen because you have obeyed me.”

Here is the story of the family line of Abraham’s son Ishmael. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael by Abraham. Hagar was Sarah’s slave from Egypt.Here are the names of the sons of Ishmael. They are listed in the order they were born. Nebaioth was Ishmael’s oldest son. Then came Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,Mishma, Dumah, Massa,Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah.All of them were Ishmael’s sons. They were rulers of 12 tribes. They all lived in their own settlements and camps.Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. Then he took his last breath and died. He joined the members of his family who had already died.His children settled in the area between Havilah and Shur. It was near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. Ishmael’s children weren’t friendly toward any of the tribes related to them.

Lift up the boy and take him by the hand. I will make him into a great nation.”

No one has ever seen God. But the One and Only is God and is at the Father’s side. The one at the Father’s side has shown us what God is like.

Then Israel gave Joseph his blessing. He said,“ May God bless these boys. He is the God of my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac. They walked faithfully with him. He is the God who has been my shepherd all my life right up to this day.He is the Angel who has saved me from all harm. May he bless these boys. May they be called by my name. May they also be called by the names of my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac. And may the number of them greatly increase on the earth.”

Even before Jacob was born, he was holding on to his brother’s heel. When he became a man, he struggled with God.At Peniel he struggled with the angel and won. Jacob wept and begged for his blessing. God also met with him at Bethel. He talked with him there.He is the Lord God who rules over all. His name is the Lord.

Then she sat down about as far away as a person can shoot an arrow. She thought,“ I can’t stand to watch the boy die.” As she sat there, she began to sob.

When they suffered, he suffered with them. He sent his angel to save them. He set them free because he is loving and kind. He lifted them up and carried them. He did it again and again in days long ago.

The angel of the Lord replied,“ Even if I stay, I will not eat any of your food. But if you still want to prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to the Lord.” Manoah didn’t realize it was the angel of the Lord.Then Manoah asked the angel of the Lord a question.“ What is your name?” he said.“ We want to honor you when your word comes true.”The angel replied,“ Why are you asking me what my name is? You would not be able to understand it.”Manoah got a young goat. He brought it along with the grain offering. He sacrificed it on a rock to the Lord. Then the Lord did an amazing thing. It happened while Manoah and his wife were watching.A flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven. The angel of the Lord rose up in the flame. When Manoah and his wife saw it, they fell with their faces to the ground.The angel of the Lord didn’t show himself again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah realized it was the angel of the Lord.“ We’re going to die!” he said to his wife.“ We’ve seen God!”

The Lord rules over all. His angel says to Israel,“ The Glorious One has sent me to punish the nations that have robbed you of everything. That’s because anyone who hurts you hurts those the Lord loves and guards.So I will raise my powerful hand to strike down your enemies. Their own slaves will rob them of everything. Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me.

The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim. There he said to the Israelites,“ I brought you up out of Egypt. I led you into this land. It is the land I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. At that time I said,‘ I will never break the covenant I made with you.So you must not make a covenant with the people of this land. Instead, you must tear down their altars.’ But you have disobeyed me. Why did you do it?I have said something else. I said,‘ I will not drive out those people to make room for you. They and their gods will become traps for you.’ ”

The angel of the Lord had a walking stick in his hand. With the tip of the stick he touched the meat and the bread. Fire blazed out of the rock. It burned up the meat and the bread. Then the angel of the Lord disappeared.Gideon realized it was the angel of the Lord. He cried out,“ Oh no, my Lord and King, I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”But the Lord said to him,“ May peace be with you! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”So Gideon built an altar there to honor the Lord. He called it The Lord Is Peace. It still stands in Ophrah to this day. Ophrah is in the territory that belongs to the family line of Abiezer.

The angel of the Lord came. He sat down under an oak tree in Ophrah. The tree belonged to Joash. He was from the family line of Abiezer. Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress at Ophrah. He was the son of Joash. Gideon was threshing in a winepress to hide the wheat from the Midianites.

So Jacob was left alone. A man wrestled with him until morning.The man saw that he couldn’t win. So he touched the inside of Jacob’s hip. As Jacob wrestled with the man, Jacob’s hip was twisted.Then the man said,“ Let me go. It is morning.” But Jacob replied,“ I won’t let you go unless you bless me.”The man asked him,“ What is your name?”“ Jacob,” he answered.Then the man said,“ Your name will not be Jacob anymore. Instead, it will be Israel. You have wrestled with God and with people. And you have won.”Jacob said,“ Please tell me your name.” But he replied,“ Why do you want to know my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there.So Jacob named the place Peniel. He said,“ I saw God face to face. But I’m still alive!”

The Lord answered,“ I will be with you. So you will strike down the Midianites. You will leave no one alive.”

There the angel of the Lord appeared to him from inside a burning bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire. But it didn’t burn up.So Moses thought,“ I’ll go over and see this strange sight. Why doesn’t the bush burn up?”The Lord saw that Moses had gone over to look. So God spoke to him from inside the bush. He called out,“ Moses! Moses!”“ Here I am,” Moses said.“ Do not come any closer,” God said.“ Take off your sandals. The place you are standing on is holy ground.”He continued,“ I am the God of your father. I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.” When Moses heard that, he turned his face away. He was afraid to look at God.

The angel of God said to me in the dream,‘ Jacob.’ I answered,‘ Here I am.’He said,‘ Look around you. See the male goats mating with the flock. All of them have stripes, speckles or spots. That’s because I have seen everything that Laban has been doing to you.I am the God of Bethel. That is where you poured olive oil on a sacred stone. There you made a promise to me. Now leave this land. Go back to your own land.’ ”

“ Forty years passed. Then an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush. This happened in the desert near Mount Sinai.When Moses saw the bush, he was amazed. He went over for a closer look. There he heard the Lord say,‘ I am the God of your fathers. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’( Exodus 3:6) Moses shook with fear. He didn’t dare to look.“ Then the Lord said to him,‘ Take off your sandals. You must do this because the place where you are standing is holy ground.I have seen my people beaten down in Egypt. I have heard their groans. I have come down to set them free. Now come. I will send you back to Egypt.’( Exodus 3:5, 7, 8, 10)“ This is the same Moses the two men of Israel would not accept. They had said,‘ Who made you ruler and judge?’ But God himself sent Moses to rule the people of Israel and set them free. He spoke to Moses through an angel. The angel had appeared to him in the bush.So Moses led them out of Egypt. He did wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for 40 years in the desert.“ This is the same Moses who spoke to the Israelites.‘ God will send you a prophet,’ he said.‘ He will be like me. He will come from your own people.’( Deuteronomy 18:15)Moses was with the Israelites in the desert. He was with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai. Moses was with our people of long ago. He received living words to pass on to us.

The Lord who rules over all says,“ I will send my messenger. He will prepare my way for me. Then suddenly the Lord you are looking for will come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant will come. He is the one you long for.”

God is the only one who can’t die. He lives in light that no one can get close to. No one has seen him. No one can see him. Honor and power belong to him forever. Amen.