創世記 15
1 這事以後，耶和華在異象中有話對亞伯蘭說：「亞伯蘭，你不要懼怕！我是你的盾牌，必大大地賞賜你。」
After all this had happened, God spoke to Abram in a vision, telling him, “Don't be afraid, Abram! I am your protector, and your truly great reward!”
2 亞伯蘭說：「主耶和華啊，我既無子，你還賜我甚麼呢？並且要承受我家業的是大馬士革人以利以謝。」
But Abram replied, “Lord God, what good is whatever you give me? I don't have any children, and the heir to all that I have is Eliezer of Damascus.”
3 亞伯蘭又說：「你沒有給我兒子；那生在我家中的人就是我的後嗣。」
Abram went on to complain, “Look! You haven't given me any children, so a servant from my household has to be my heir!”
4 耶和華又有話對他說：「這人必不成為你的後嗣；你本身所生的才成為你的後嗣。」
But then the Lord told him, “This man won't be your heir. Your heir will be your very own son.”
5 於是領他走到外邊，說：「你向天觀看，數算眾星，能數得過來嗎？」又對他說：「你的後裔將要如此。」
The Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up at the sky. See if you can count the stars! That's how many descendants you will have!”
6 亞伯蘭信耶和華，耶和華就以此為他的義。
Abram trusted what the Lord said, and so the Lord counted Abram as being in a right relationship with him.
7 耶和華又對他說：「我是耶和華，曾領你出了迦勒底的吾珥，為要將這地賜你為業。」
The Lord also told him, “I am the Lord, who led you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land for you to own.”
8 亞伯蘭說：「主耶和華啊，我怎能知道必得這地為業呢？」
“But Lord God, how can I be certain that I will own it?” Abram asked.
9 他說：「你為我取一隻三年的母牛，一隻三年的母山羊，一隻三年的公綿羊，一隻斑鳩，一隻雛鴿。」
The Lord told him, “Bring me a cow, a goat, and a ram, all of them three years old, together with a dove and a young pigeon.”
10 亞伯蘭就取了這些來，每樣劈開，分成兩半，一半對着一半地擺列，只有鳥沒有劈開。
So Abram took and killed the three animals. Then he cut them in half, and placed each half opposite the other. However, he didn't cut the birds in half.
11 有鷙鳥下來，落在那死畜的肉上，亞伯蘭就把牠嚇飛了。
When vultures flew down on the carcasses, Abram frightened them off.
12 日頭正落的時候，亞伯蘭沉沉地睡了；忽然有驚人的大黑暗落在他身上。
As the sun went down, a deep sleep came over Abram, and at the same time a dense and terrifying darkness fell on him.
13 耶和華對亞伯蘭說：「你要的確知道，你的後裔必寄居別人的地，又服事那地的人；那地的人要苦待他們四百年。
The Lord explained to Abram, “You can be absolutely sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be slaves and mistreated for 400 years.
14 並且他們所要服事的那國，我要懲罰，後來他們必帶着許多財物從那裏出來。
However, I will punish the nation that makes them slaves, and later on they will leave, taking many valuable possessions with them.
15 但你要享大壽數，平平安安地歸到你列祖那裏，被人埋葬。
But as for you, you will die in peace and be buried, having lived a good long life.
16 到了第四代，他們必回到此地，因為亞摩利人的罪孽還沒有滿盈。」
Four generations later your descendants will come back here to live, because right now the sins of the Amorites have not reached their full extent.”
17 日落天黑，不料有冒煙的爐並燒着的火把從那些肉塊中經過。
After the sun set and it grew dark, suddenly a smoking furnace and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the animal carcasses.
18 當那日，耶和華與亞伯蘭立約，說：「我已賜給你的後裔，從埃及河直到幼發拉底大河之地，
This is how the Lord made an agreement with Abram that day and promised him, “I'm giving this land to your descendants. It extends from the Wadi of Egypt to the great Euphrates River,
19 就是基尼人、基尼洗人、甲摩尼人、
and includes the territory of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
20 赫人、比利洗人、利乏音人、
Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
21 亞摩利人、迦南人、革迦撒人、耶布斯人之地。」
Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
