Luke 15:18

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I’ll get up, go to my father, and say to him, “Father, I have sinned

King James Version (1611)
I will arise and goe to my father, and will say vnto him, Father, I haue sinned against heauen and before thee.

King James Version
I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

English Standard Version
I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.

New American Standard Bible
'I will set out and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;

New Century Version
I will leave and return to my father and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against God and against you.

Amplified Bible
'I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;

Legacy Standard Bible
I will rise up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you.

Berean Standard Bible
I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.

Contemporary English Version
I will go to my father and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against God in heaven and against you.

Complete Jewish Bible
I'm going to get up and go back to my father and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you;

Darby Translation
I will rise up and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee;

Easy-to-Read Version
I will leave and go to my father. I will say to him: Father, I have sinned against God and have done wrong to you.

Geneva Bible (1587)
I wil rise and goe to my father, and say vnto him, Father, I haue sinned against heaue, and before thee,

George Lamsa Translation
I will rise and go to my father, and say to him, My father, I have sinned before heaven, and before you;

Good News Translation
I will get up and go to my father and say, "Father, I have sinned against God and against you.

Lexham English Bible
I will set out and go to my father and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight!

Literal Translation
Rising up, I will go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I sinned against Heaven and before you,

American Standard Version
I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight:

Bible in Basic English
I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have done wrong, against heaven and in your eyes:

Hebrew Names Version
I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.

International Standard Version
I will get up, go to my father, and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven[fn] and you.

Etheridge Translation
I will arise, go to my father, and say to him, My father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee,

Murdock Translation
I will arise and go to my father, and say to him: My father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
I wyll aryse, and go to my father, and wyll say vnto hym: Father, I haue sinned agaynst heauen, and before thee,

English Revised Version
I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight:

World English Bible
I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee:

Weymouth's New Testament
I will rise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you:

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Y schal rise vp, and go to my fadir, and Y schal seie to hym, Fadir, Y haue synned in to heuene, and bifor thee;

Update Bible Version
I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight:

Webster's Bible Translation
I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

New English Translation
I will get up and go to my father and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.

New King James Version
I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,

New Living Translation
I will go home to my father and say, "Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you,

New Life Bible
I will get up and go to my father. I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.

New Revised Standard
I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
I will arise, and go unto my father, and will say unto him - Father! I have sinned against heaven, and before thee:

Douay-Rheims Bible
I will arise and will go to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee.

Revised Standard Version
I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
I will aryse and goo to my father and will saye vnto him: father I have synned agaynst heven and before ye

Young's Literal Translation
having risen, I will go on unto my father, and will say to him, Father, I did sin -- to the heaven, and before thee,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
I wil get vp, and go to my father, and saye vnto him: Father, I haue synned agaynst heauen and before the,

Mace New Testament (1729)
I will depart, and go to my father, and say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven, and against thee;

Simplified Cowboy Version
I'll show up and say, 'Dad, I've made a terrible mistake. I messed up my life and my relationship with you!

Contextual Overview

¹¹Then he said, "There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what's coming to me.' "So the father divided the property between them. It wasn't long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any. "That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I'm going back to my father. I'll say to him, Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.' He got right up and went home to his father. "When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again.' "But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!' And they began to have a wonderful time. "All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day's work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, ‘Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.' "The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. The son said, ‘Look how many years I've stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!' "His father said, ‘Son, you don't understand. You're with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he's alive! He was lost, and he's found!'" ¹³The Story of the Lost Sheep By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, "He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends." Their grumbling triggered this story. "Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I've found my lost sheep!' Count on it—there's more joy in heaven over one sinner's rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue. "Or imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one. Won't she light a lamp and scour the house, looking in every nook and cranny until she finds it? And when she finds it you can be sure she'll call her friends and neighbors: ‘Celebrate with me! I found my lost coin!' Count on it—that's the kind of party God's angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God." Then he said, "There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what's coming to me.' "So the father divided the property between them. It wasn't long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any. "That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I'm going back to my father. I'll say to him, Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.' He got right up and went home to his father. "When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again.' "But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!' And they began to have a wonderful time. "All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day's work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, ‘Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.' "The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. The son said, ‘Look how many years I've stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!' "His father said, ‘Son, you don't understand. You're with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he's alive! He was lost, and he's found!'" ¹⁴The Story of the Lost Sheep By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, "He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends." Their grumbling triggered this story. "Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I've found my lost sheep!' Count on it—there's more joy in heaven over one sinner's rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue. "Or imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one. Won't she light a lamp and scour the house, looking in every nook and cranny until she finds it? And when she finds it you can be sure she'll call her friends and neighbors: ‘Celebrate with me! I found my lost coin!' Count on it—that's the kind of party God's angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God." Then he said, "There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what's coming to me.' "So the father divided the property between them. It wasn't long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any. "That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I'm going back to my father. I'll say to him, Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.' He got right up and went home to his father. "When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again.' "But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!' And they began to have a wonderful time. "All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day's work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, ‘Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.' "The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. The son said, ‘Look how many years I've stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!' "His father said, ‘Son, you don't understand. You're with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he's alive! He was lost, and he's found!'" ¹⁵The Story of the Lost Sheep By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, "He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends." Their grumbling triggered this story. "Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I've found my lost sheep!' Count on it—there's more joy in heaven over one sinner's rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue. "Or imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one. Won't she light a lamp and scour the house, looking in every nook and cranny until she finds it? And when she finds it you can be sure she'll call her friends and neighbors: ‘Celebrate with me! I found my lost coin!' Count on it—that's the kind of party God's angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God." Then he said, "There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what's coming to me.' "So the father divided the property between them. It wasn't long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any. "That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I'm going back to my father. I'll say to him, Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.' He got right up and went home to his father. "When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again.' "But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!' And they began to have a wonderful time. "All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day's work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, ‘Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.' "The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. The son said, ‘Look how many years I've stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!' "His father said, ‘Son, you don't understand. You're with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he's alive! He was lost, and he's found!'" ¹⁶The Story of the Lost Sheep By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, "He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends." Their grumbling triggered this story. "Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I've found my lost sheep!' Count on it—there's more joy in heaven over one sinner's rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue. "Or imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one. Won't she light a lamp and scour the house, looking in every nook and cranny until she finds it? And when she finds it you can be sure she'll call her friends and neighbors: ‘Celebrate with me! I found my lost coin!' Count on it—that's the kind of party God's angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God." Then he said, "There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what's coming to me.' "So the father divided the property between them. It wasn't long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any. ¹⁷"That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I'm going back to my father. I'll say to him, Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.' He got right up and went home to his father. "When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again.' "But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!' And they began to have a wonderful time. "All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day's work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, ‘Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.' "The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. The son said, ‘Look how many years I've stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!' "His father said, ‘Son, you don't understand. You're with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he's alive! He was lost, and he's found!'" ²¹The Story of the Lost Sheep By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, "He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends." Their grumbling triggered this story. "Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I've found my lost sheep!' Count on it—there's more joy in heaven over one sinner's rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue. "Or imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one. Won't she light a lamp and scour the house, looking in every nook and cranny until she finds it? And when she finds it you can be sure she'll call her friends and neighbors: ‘Celebrate with me! I found my lost coin!' Count on it—that's the kind of party God's angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God." Then he said, "There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what's coming to me.' "So the father divided the property between them. It wasn't long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any. "That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I'm going back to my father. I'll say to him, Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.' He got right up and went home to his father. "When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again.' ²²"But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!' And they began to have a wonderful time. ²⁵"All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day's work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, ‘Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.' ²⁸"The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. The son said, ‘Look how many years I've stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!'

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

will arise: 1 Kings 20:30, 1 Kings 20:31, 2 Kings 7:3, 2 Kings 7:4, 2 Chronicles 33:12, 2 Chronicles 33:13, 2 Chronicles 33:19, Psalms 32:5, Psalms 116:3-7, Jeremiah 31:6-9, Jeremiah 50:4, Jeremiah 50:5, Lamentations 3:18-22, Lamentations 3:29, Lamentations 3:40, Hosea 2:6, Hosea 2:7, Hosea 14:1-3, Jonah 2:4, Jonah 3:9

Father: Luke 11:2, Isaiah 63:16, Jeremiah 3:19, Jeremiah 31:20, Matthew 6:9, Matthew 6:14, Matthew 7:11

I have: Luke 18:13, Leviticus 26:40, Leviticus 26:41, 1 Kings 8:47, 1 Kings 8:48, Job 33:27, Job 33:28, Job 36:8-10, Psalms 25:11, Psalms 32:3-5, Psalms 51:3-5, Proverbs 23:13, Matthew 3:6, 1 John 1:8-10

against: Luke 15:21, Daniel 4:26

Reciprocal: Exodus 32:30 - Ye have Deuteronomy 32:6 - thy father 1 Samuel 7:6 - We have sinned 1 Chronicles 21:8 - I have sinned 2 Chronicles 6:37 - We have sinned 2 Chronicles 12:7 - the Lord Job 40:4 - Behold Job 42:6 - I Psalms 126:6 - shall doubtless Proverbs 5:13 - General Proverbs 21:29 - he directeth Proverbs 28:13 - whoso Ecclesiastes 7:14 - but Isaiah 65:24 - General Jeremiah 3:13 - acknowledge Jeremiah 14:20 - for Lamentations 1:20 - for Lamentations 3:42 - transgressed Ezekiel 18:28 - he considereth Daniel 9:15 - we have sinned Micah 7:9 - bear Zechariah 1:3 - Turn Matthew 15:27 - Truth Matthew 21:29 - he repented Luke 15:17 - How Luke 20:4 - from Luke 23:41 - we indeed 1 Corinthians 11:31 - General 2 Thessalonians 3:14 - that he

Cross-References

Genesis 12:7
God appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your children." Abram built an altar at the place God had appeared to him.

Genesis 15:1
After all these things, this word of God came to Abram in a vision: "Don't be afraid, Abram. I'm your shield. Your reward will be grand!"

Genesis 15:2
Abram said, " God , Master, what use are your gifts as long as I'm childless and Eliezer of Damascus is going to inherit everything?" Abram continued, "See, you've given me no children, and now a mere house servant is going to get it all."

Genesis 15:4
Then God 's Message came: "Don't worry, he won't be your heir; a son from your body will be your heir."

Genesis 15:7
God continued, "I'm the same God who brought you from Ur of the Chaldees and gave you this land to own."

Genesis 15:8
Abram said, "Master God , how am I to know this, that it will all be mine?"

Genesis 15:13
God said to Abram, "Know this: your descendants will live as outsiders in a land not theirs; they'll be enslaved and beaten down for 400 years. Then I'll punish their slave masters; your offspring will march out of there loaded with plunder. But not you; you'll have a long and full life and die a good and peaceful death. Not until the fourth generation will your descendants return here; sin is still a thriving business among the Amorites."

Genesis 15:17
When the sun was down and it was dark, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch moved between the split carcasses. That's when God made a covenant with Abram: "I'm giving this land to your children, from the Nile River in Egypt to the River Euphrates in Assyria—the country of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites."

Genesis 50:24
At the end, Joseph said to his brothers, "I am ready to die. God will most certainly pay you a visit and take you out of this land and back to the land he so solemnly promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

Deuteronomy 7:1
When God , your God, brings you into the country that you are about to enter and take over, he will clear out the superpowers that were there before you: the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Those seven nations are all bigger and stronger than you are. God , your God, will turn them over to you and you will conquer them. You must completely destroy them, offering them up as a holy destruction to God . Don't make a treaty with them. Don't let them off in any way.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

I will arise,.... This is the resolution which at last, through divine grace, he came into: he determines to quit the country, and his companions; he had left his harlots, and his old course of living before, but was in the same country still; for this a man may do, and yet remain unregenerate: but he is now for leaving the country itself, and his new acquaintance; he is now determined to drop his legal preacher, to be gone out of his fields, and from under his ministry, and to leave his swine and husks;

and go to my father: not to his old companions in debauchery and sin; nor to his elder brother, the Pharisees; he had made trial of both these to his cost already; nor to his father's servants, but to his father himself; to which he was moved and encouraged, from his being ready to perish, from the fulness of bread in his father's house and from the relation he stood in to him; notwithstanding, all that had passed, he was his father, and a kind and merciful one: this shows, that he knew him as his father, having now the Spirit of adoption sent down into him; and the way unto him, which lies through Christ the mediator:

and will say unto him, father; or, "my father", as the Syriac and Persic versions read:

I have sinned against heaven; by preferring earthly things to heavenly ones; and have sinned openly in the face of the heavens, who were witnesses against him; and against God, who dwells in heaven. It was usual with the Jews to call God, שמים, "heaven";

:-. They have this very phrase;

"there is a man, (say b they), who sins against earth, and he does not הטא בשמים, "sin against heaven"; against heaven, and he does not sin against earth: but he that speaks with an ill tongue sins against heaven and earth, as it is said, Psalms 73:9 "they set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue walketh through the earth."''

And so the sense is, that he had sinned against God himself, and not merely against men, and human laws. All sin is a transgression of the law of God; and the thought of sin being committed against a God of infinite holiness, justice, goodness, grace, and mercy, is cutting to a sensible sinner: and this being the case, this man determined to go to God his Father, and him only, for the pardon of his sin, against whom it was committed. It is added,

and before thee; for he was now convinced of his omniscience. Sin may be committed against a man, and not before him, or he not know it; but whatever is committed against God, is before him, it is in his sight, he knows it: he is God omniscient, though sinners take no notice of this perfection of his, but go on in sin, as if it was not seen, known, and observed by God. But when God works powerfully and effectually upon the heart of a sinner, he convinces him of his omniscience, as this man was convinced: hence he determined to go to God, and acknowledge his sin before him; and that it was committed before him, and was in his sight; and that he could not be justified in his sight by any righteousness of his own; and therefore humbly desires pardon at his hands. This man's sense of sin and sorrow for it, and confession of it, appear very right and genuine, which he determined to express; they appear to be the convictions of the Spirit of God: it was not a sense of sin, and sorrow for it, as done before men, but God; and the concern was not so much for the mischief that comes by sin, as for the evil that was in it; and this did not drive him to despair, as in the cases of Cain and Judas, but brought him home to his father; and his confession appears to be hearty, sincere, and without excuse.

b Midrash Kohclet, in c. 9. 12. fol. 79. 4.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I will arise - This is a common expression among the Hebrews to denote “entering on a piece of business.” It does not imply that he was “sitting,” but that he meant immediately to return. This should be the feeling of every sinner who is conscious of his guilt and danger.

To My father - To his father, although he had offended him, and treated him unkindly, and had provoked him, and dishonored him by his course of conduct. So the sinner. He has nowhere else to go but to “God.” He has offended him, but he may trust in his kindness. If “God” does not save him he cannot be saved. There is no other being that has an arm strong enough to deliver from sin; and though it is painful for a man to go to one whom he has offended - though he cannot go but with shame and confusion of face - yet, unless the sinner is willing to go to “God” and confess his faults, he can never be saved.

I have sinned - I have been wicked, dissipated, ungrateful, and rebellious.

Against heaven - The word “heaven” here, as it is often elsewhere, is put for God. I have sinned against “God.” See Matthew 21:25. It is also to be observed that one evidence of the genuineness of repentance is the feeling that our sins have been committed chiefly against “God.” Commonly we think most of our offences as committed against “man;” but when the sinner sees the true character of his sins, he sees that they have been aimed chiefly against “God,” and that the sins against “man” are of little consequence compared with those against God. So David, even after committing the crimes of adultery and murder after having inflicted the deepest injury on “man” - yet felt that the sin as committed against “God” shut every other consideration out of view: “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,” etc., Psalms 2:4.

Before thee - This means the same as “against” thee. The offences had been committed mainly against God, but they were to be regarded, also, as sins against his “father,” in wasting property which he had given him, in neglecting his counsels, and in plunging himself into ruin. He felt that he had “disgraced” such a father. A sinner will be sensible of his sins against his relatives and friends as well as against God. A true penitent will be as ready to “acknowledge” his offences against his fellow-men as those against his Maker.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Luke 15:18. Against heaven — εις τον ουρανον; that is, against God. The Jews often make use of this periphrasis in order to avoid mentioning the name of God, which they have ever treated with the utmost reverence. But some contend that it should be translated, even unto heaven; a Hebraism for, I have sinned exceedingly-beyond all description.