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 hath the word of Jehovah been unto Abram in a vision, saying, 'Fear not, Abram, I [am] a shield to thee, thy reward [is] exceeding 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 saith, 'Lord Jehovah, what dost Thou 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 saith, 'Lo, to me Thou hast not given seed, and lo, a domestic doth heir me.'

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 lo, the word of Jehovah [is] unto him, saying, 'This [one] doth not heir thee; but he who cometh out from thy bowels, he doth heir thee;'

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 bringeth him out without, and saith, 'Look attentively, I pray thee, towards the heavens, and count the stars, if thou art able to count them;' and He saith to him, 'Thus is thy seed.'

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

And he hath believed in Jehovah, and He reckoneth 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 saith unto him, 'I [am] Jehovah who brought thee out from Ur of the Chaldees, to give to thee this land to possess it;'

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

and he saith, 'Lord Jehovah, 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 saith unto him, 'Take for Me a heifer of three years, and a she-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 taketh to him all these, and separateth them in the midst, and putteth each piece over against its fellow, but the bird he hath not divided;

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

and the ravenous birds come down upon the carcases, and Abram causeth 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 hath fallen upon Abram, and lo, a terror of great darkness is falling upon 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 saith to Abram, 'knowing — know that thy 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 thou — thou comest in unto thy fathers in peace; thou art 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 doth turn back hither, 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 cometh to pass — the sun hath gone in, and thick darkness hath been — and lo, a furnace of smoke, and a lamp of fire, which hath 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 hath Jehovah made with Abram a covenant, saying, 'To thy seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Phrat,

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.'