First Epistle to the Corinthians

Let us then approach Him with holiness of spirit, lifting up pure and undefiled hands to Him, loving our gracious and merciful Father, who has made us sharers in the blessings of His chosen ones. For it is written, “When the Most High divided the nations, when He scattered the sons of Adam, He fixed the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. His people Jacob became the portion of the Lord, and Israel the lot of His inheritance.” And in another place, the Scripture says, “Behold, the Lord takes for Himself a nation out of the midst of the nations, as a man takes the first-fruits of his threshing floor; and from that nation shall come forth the Most Holy.”