By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
Parallel translations
- WEB By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went.
- BSB By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.
- NKJV By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
- NASB By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he left, not knowing where he was going.
- NLT It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
When God called him, Abraham obeyed and left home for an unknown land promised as his inheritance. Genuine faith obeys God even without knowing the outcome.
Overview
Genesis 12 records God's call to Abraham to leave Ur for a land he had never seen. His obedience, going out "not knowing where," models faith that trusts God's promise more than visible certainty. Abraham becomes the father of all who believe (Romans 4), and the inheritance he sought ultimately points beyond Canaan to the heavenly city and the blessings secured in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 28
- Acts 7:2–4And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,
- Gen 12:1–4Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
- Matt 7:24–25Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
- Gen 15:7–8And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
- Gen 22:18And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
- Gen 12:7And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
- Jas 2:14–16What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
- Isa 41:2Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.
- Rom 10:16But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
- Ps 105:9–11Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac;
- Heb 11:33Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
- 1 Pet 4:17For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
- Gen 15:5And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
- Josh 24:3And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.
- Gen 13:15–17For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
- Isa 51:2Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
- Rom 1:5By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
- 1 Pet 1:22Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
- Rom 6:17But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
- Ezek 36:24For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
- Gen 17:8And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
- Deut 9:5Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- Gen 26:3Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
- Heb 5:9And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
- Gen 11:31And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
- 1 Pet 3:1Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;
- 2 Cor 10:5Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
- Neh 9:7–8Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;
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