Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son,
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.
and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.
For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.
“You are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead.
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”
Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com.