This means ¹  it is not the children of the flesh ²  who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.

For this is what the promise declared: ¹  “About a year from now ²  I will return and Sarah will have a son.” ³ 

in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, ¹  so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.

But the scripture imprisoned ¹  everything and everyone ²  under sin so that the promise could be given – because of the faithfulness ³  of Jesus Christ – to those who believe.

But one, the son by the slave woman, was born by natural descent, ¹  while the other, the son by the free woman, was born through the promise.

namely, that through the gospel ¹  the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members ²  of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.

For “physical exercise ¹  has some value, but godliness is valuable in every way. It holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.”

From Paul, ¹  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to further the promise ²  of life in Christ Jesus,

Therefore we must be wary ¹  that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it.

In the same way ¹  God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, ²  and so he intervened with an oath,

But Melchizedek ¹  who does not share their ancestry ²  collected a tithe ³  from Abraham and blessed ⁴  the one who possessed the promise.

Although these false teachers promise ¹  such people ²  freedom, they themselves are enslaved to ³  immorality. ⁴  For whatever a person succumbs to, to that he is enslaved. ⁵ 

So King Zedekiah made a secret promise to Jeremiah and sealed it with an oath. He promised, ¹  “As surely as the Lord lives who has given us life and breath, ²  I promise you this: I will not kill you or hand you over to those men who want to kill you.” ³ 

Stay ¹  in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, ²  for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, ³  and I will fulfill ⁴  the solemn promise I made ⁵  to your father Abraham.

So now, promise me this with an oath sworn in the Lord’s name. ¹  Because I have shown allegiance to you, show allegiance to my family. ²  Give me a solemn pledge ³ 

That day Moses made this solemn promise: ¹  ‘Surely the land on which you walked ²  will belong to you and your descendants permanently, ³  for you remained loyal to the Lord your God.’

They said to him, “We have come down to take you prisoner so we can hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Promise me ¹  you will not kill ²  me.”

Wherever you die, I will die – and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I do not keep my promise! ¹  Only death will be able to separate me from you!” ² 

So her husband Elkanah said to her, “Do what you think best. ¹  Stay until you have weaned him. May the Lord fulfill his promise.” ²  So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

Visit ¹  King David and say to him, ‘My master, O king, did you not solemnly promise ²  your servant, “Surely your son Solomon will be king after me; he will sit on my throne”? So why has Adonijah become king?’