< Genesis 15 >
1 And after these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I shield you, your reward shall be very great.
After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
2 And Abram said, Master [and] Lord, what will you give me? whereas I am departing without a child, but the son of Masek my home-born female slave, this Eliezer of Damascus [is mine heir.]
And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
3 And Abram said, [I am grieved] since you have given me no seed, but my home-born [servant] shall succeed me.
And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is my heir.
4 And immediately there was a voice of the Lord to him, saying, This shall not be your heir; but he that shall come out of you shall be your heir.
And, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, This shall not be thy heir; but he that shall come forth out of thy own loins shall be thy heir.
5 And he brought him out and said to him, Look up now to heaven, and count the stars, if you shall be able to number them fully, and he said, Thus shall your seed be.
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if thou art able to number them: and he said to him, So shall thy seed be.
6 And Abram believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.
And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
7 And he said to him, I am God that brought you out of the land of the Chaldeans, so as to give you this land to inherit.
And he said to him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
8 And he said, Master [and] Lord, how shall I know that I shall inherit it?
And he said, Lord GOD, by what shall I know that I shall inherit it?
9 And he said to him, Take for me an heifer in her third year, and a she-goat in her third year, and a ram in his third year, and a dove and a pigeon.
And he said to him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a female goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
10 So he took to him all these, and divided them in the midst, and set them opposite to each other, but the birds he did not divide.
And he took to him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds he did not divide.
11 And birds came down upon the bodies, [even] upon the divided parts of them, and Abram sat down by them.
And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
12 And about sunset a trance fell upon Abram, and behold! a great gloomy terror falls upon him.
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
13 And it was said to Abram, You shall surely know that your seed shall be a sojourner in a land not their won, and they shall enslave them, and afflict them, and humble them four hundred years.
And he said to Abram, Know certainly that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
14 And the nation whoever they shall serve I will judge; and after this, they shall come forth hither with much property.
And also that nation, which they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
15 But you shall depart to your fathers in peace, nourished in a good old age.
And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
16 And in the fourth generation they shall return hither, for the sins of the Amorites are not yet filled up, even until now.
But in the fourth generation they shall come here again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
17 And when the sun was about to set, there was a flame, and behold a smoking furnace and lamps of fire, which passed between these divided pieces.
And it came to pass, that, when the sun had gone down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
18 In that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your seed I will give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates.
In that same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, To thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:
19 The Kenites, and the Kenezites, and the Kedmoneans,
The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
20 and the Chettites, and the Pherezites, and the Raphaim,
And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
21 and the Amorites, and the Chananites, and the Evites, and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.
And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.