12 “When those who lived on earth began to multiply (and multiply they did—children, peoples, and many nations), they began again to act wickedly, even more so than the previous ones.
13 When they committed iniquity before you, you chose one from among them whose name was Abraham.
14 You loved him and showed him alone the end of times, secretly by night.
15 You made an eternal covenant with him, and you told him that you would never abandon his family line. You gave him Isaac, and you gave Jacob and Esau to Isaac.
16 You set Jacob apart for yourself, but you set Esau aside, and Jacob became a great multitude.
17 When you brought his descendants out of Egypt, you led them to Mount Sinai.
18 You bent down the heavens; you shook the earth; you moved the world; you made the abyss tremble; you made the whole cosmos shudder.