Genesis 15
1 Now when these things were done, the word of the Lord came to Abram by a vision, saying: Fear not, Abram, I am thy protector, and thy reward exceeding great.
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 And Abram said: Lord God, what wilt thou give me? I shall go without children: and the son of the steward of my house is this Damascus Eliezer.
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 And Abram added: But to me thou hast not given seed: and lo my servant, born in my house, shall be my heir.
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 And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: He shall not be thy heir: but he that shall come out of thy bowels, him shalt thou have for thy heir.
But then the Lord told him, “This man won't be your heir. Your heir will be your very own son.”
5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to heaven and number the stars, if thou canst. And he said to him: So shall thy seed be.
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 Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.
Abram trusted what the Lord said, and so the Lord counted Abram as being in a right relationship with him.
7 And he said to him: I am the Lord who brought thee out from Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land, and that thou mightest possess it.
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 But he said: Lord God, whereby may I know that I shall possess it?
“But Lord God, how can I be certain that I will own it?” Abram asked.
9 And the Lord answered, and said: Take me a cow of three years old, and a she goat of three years, and a ram of three years, a turtle also, and a pigeon.
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 And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid the two pieces of each one against the other; but the birds he divided not.
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 And the fowls came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
When vultures flew down on the carcasses, Abram frightened them off.
12 And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great and darksome horror seized upon him.
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 And it was said unto him: Know thou beforehand that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own, and they shall bring them under bondage, and afflict them four hundred years.
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 But I will judge the nation which they shall serve, and after this they shall come out with great substance.
However, I will punish the nation that makes them slaves, and later on they will leave, taking many valuable possessions with them.
15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried in a good old age.
But as for you, you will die in peace and be buried, having lived a good long life.
16 But in the fourth generation they shall return hither: for as yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full until this present time.
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 And when the sun was set, there arose a dark mist, and there appeared a smoking furnace and a lamp of fire passing between those divisions.
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 That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: To thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt even to the great river Euphrates.
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 The Cineans and Cenezites, the Cedmonites,
and includes the territory of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
20 And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also,
Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
21 And the Amorrhites, and the Chanaanites, and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.
Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
