I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.

So his father Isaac said to him, “Indeed, your home will be away from the richness of the earth, and away from the dew of the sky above.

He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!”

The Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand toward heaven so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness so thick it can be felt.”

So Moses extended his hand toward heaven, and there was absolute darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days.

The Lord said to Moses: “Thus you will tell the Israelites: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you from heaven.

This very day I will begin to fill all the people of the earth with dread and to terrify them when they hear about you. They will shiver and shake in anticipation of your approach.”

You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, a mountain ablaze to the sky above it and yet dark with a thick cloud.

From heaven he spoke to you in order to teach you, and on earth he showed you his great fire from which you also heard his words.

He will hand over their kings to you and you will erase their very names from memory. Nobody will be able to resist you until you destroy them.

Stand aside and I will destroy them, obliterating their very name from memory, and I will make you into a stronger and more numerous nation than they are.”

Instead, the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy is one of hills and valleys, a land that drinks in water from the rains,

so that your days and those of your descendants may be extended in the land which the Lord promised to give to your ancestors, like the days of heaven itself.

by serving other gods and worshiping them – the sun, moon, or any other heavenly bodies which I have not permitted you to worship.

The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; it will come down on you from the sky until you are destroyed.

There will be very few of you left, though at one time you were as numerous as the stars in the sky, because you will have disobeyed the Lord your God.

Gather to me all your tribal elders and officials so I can speak to them directly about these things and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them.

The Philistine said to David, “Come here to me, so I can give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the field!”

Listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants’ claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve.

then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.