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 these things the word of YHWH has been to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I [am] a shield to you, your reward [is] exceedingly great.”

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.

And Abram says, “Lord YHWH, what do You give to me, and I am going childless? And an acquired son in my house is Demmesek Eliezer.”

3 And Abram added: But to me thou hast not given seed: and lo my servant, born in my house, shall be my heir.

And Abram says, “Behold, to me You have not given seed, and behold, a servant will 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.

And behold, the word of YHWH [is] to him, saying, “This [one] will not be your heir; but he who comes out from your bowels, he will be your heir”;

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.

and He brings him out outside and says, “Now look attentively toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them”; and He says to him, “Thus is your seed.”

6 Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.

And he has believed in YHWH, and He reckons it to him—righteousness.

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.

And He says to him, “I [am] YHWH who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldees, to give to you this land to possess it”;

8 But he said: Lord God, whereby may I know that I shall possess it?

and he says, “Lord YHWH, whereby do I know that I possess it?”

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.

And He says to him, “Take for Me a heifer of three years, and a female goat of three years, and a ram of three years, and a turtle-dove, and a young bird”;

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.

and he takes all these to Him, and separates them in the midst, and puts each piece opposite its fellow, but the bird he has not divided;

11 And the fowls came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

and the ravenous birds come down on the carcasses, and Abram causes them to turn back.

12 And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great and darksome horror seized upon him.

And the sun is about to go in, and deep sleep has fallen on Abram, and behold, a terror of great darkness is falling 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.

and He says to Abram, “knowing—know that your seed is a sojourner in a land not theirs, and they have served them, and they have afflicted them four hundred years,

14 But I will judge the nation which they shall serve, and after this they shall come out with great substance.

and the nation also whom they serve I judge, and after this they go out with great substance;

15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried in a good old age.

and you come to your fathers in peace; you are buried in a good old age;

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.

and the fourth generation turns back here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

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.

And it comes to pass—the sun has gone in, and thick darkness has been and behold, a furnace of smoke, and a lamp of fire, which has passed over between those pieces.

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.

In that day has YHWH made with Abram a covenant, saying, “To your seed I have given this land, from the River of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River,

19 The Cineans and Cenezites, the Cedmonites,

with the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite,

20 And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also,

and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,

21 And the Amorrhites, and the Chanaanites, and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.

and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.”