Biblical verses for meditation
These verses testify to the eternal promise and the inexorable link between the land of Israel and the Jewish people
Genesis
"Now the L-rd said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'" (12:1-3)
"for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring for ever." (12:7)
"Then he said to him, 'I am the L-rd who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.'" (15:7)
"But G-d said to Abraham, 'Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named after you." (21:12)
"And the L-rd stood beside him and said, 'I am the L-rd, the G-d of Abraham your father and the G-d of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring." (28:13)
"The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.'" (35:12)
"Then Joseph said to his brothers, 'I am about to die; but G-d will surely come to you, and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.'" (50:24)
Exodus
"'I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the L-rd.'" (6:8)
"Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, 'I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it for ever.'" (32:13)
Numbers
"If the L-rd is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey." (14:8)
"The L-rd spoke to Moses, saying: Command the Israelites, and say to them: When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan, defined by its boundaries), your south sector shall extend from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom. Your southern boundary shall begin from the end of the Dead Sea on the east; your boundary shall turn south of the ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its outer limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea; then it shall go on to Hazar-addar, and cross to Azmon; the boundary shall turn from Azmon to the Wadi of Egypt, and its termination shall be at the Sea." (34:1-5)
"For the western boundary, you shall have the Great Sea and its coast; this shall be your western boundary."
"This shall be your northern boundary: from the Great Sea you shall mark out your line to Mount Hor; from Mount Hor you shall mark it out to Lebo-hamath, and the outer limit of the boundary shall be at Zedad; then the boundary shall extend to Ziphron, and its end shall be at Hazar-enan; this shall be your northern boundary.ÊYou shall mark out your eastern boundary from Hazar-enan to Shepham; and the boundary shall continue down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; and the boundary shall go down, and reach the eastern slope of the sea of Chinnereth; and the boundary shall go down to the Jordan, and its end shall be at the Dead Sea. This shall be your land with its boundaries all round." (34:6-12)
Deuteronomy
"'See, I have set the land before you; go in and take possession of the land that I swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them.'" (1:8)
"'So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the L-rd, the G-d of your ancestors, is giving you.'" (4:1)
"The L-rd said to me, 'Get up, go on your journey at the head of the people, that they may go in and occupy the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them.'" (4:11)
"If you will diligently observe this entire commandment that I am commanding you, loving the L-rd your G-d, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him, then the L-rd will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and mightier than yourselves. Every place on which you set foot shall be yours; your territory shall extend from the wilderness to the Lebanon and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the Western Sea. No one will be able to stand against you; the L-rd your G-d will put the fear and dread of you on all the land on which you set foot, as he promised you."
"When you have come into the land that the L-rd your G-d is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the L-rd your G-d is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the L-rd your G-d will choose as a dwelling for his name." (4:22-27)
"You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, 'Today I declare to the L-rd your G-d that I have come into the land that the L-rd swore to our ancestors to give us'" (26:3)
"then the L-rd your G-d will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, gathering you again from all the peoples among whom the L-rd your G-d has scattered you. Even if you are exiled to the ends of the world, from there the L-rd your G-d will gather you, and from there he will bring you back. The L-rd your G-d will bring you into the land that your ancestors possessed, and you will possess it; he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors." (26:3-5)
"The L-rd said to him, 'This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.'" (34:4)
Joshua
"After the death of Moses the servant of the L-rd, the L-rd spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, 'My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. 4From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them." (1:1-5)
"Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, 'Pass through the camp, and command the people: 'Prepare your provisions; for in three days you are to cross over the Jordan, to go in to take possession of the land that the L-rd your G-d gives you to possess.'" (1:10-11)
"Thus the L-rd gave to Israel all the land that he swore to their ancestors that he would give them; and having taken possession of it, they settled there. And the L-rd gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their ancestors; not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the L-rd had given all their enemies into their hands. Not one of all the good promises that the L-rd had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass." (1:43-45)
Judges
"Now the angel of the L-rd went up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, 'I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you into the land that I had promised to your ancestors. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you.'" (2:1) |
Light to the Nations
