Genesis 15
1 After these things, came the word of Yahweh unto Abram, in a vision saying, —Do not fear Abram, I am a shield to thee, thine exceeding great reward.
Some time later, Abram had a vision in which Yahweh spoke to him and said, “Do not be afraid of (anything/your enemies). I will protect you [MTY], and I will give a great reward.”
2 And Abram said My Lord Yahweh, what canst thou give me, when, I, am going on childless, —and the heir of my house, is Eliezer, of Damascus,
But Abram replied, “Yahweh God, how can you give me what I truly want, because I have no children, and the one who will be like a son and inherit all my possessions is my servant Eliezer from Damascus!”
3 And Abram said—Lo, to me, hast thou not given seed, —And lo! a son of my household, is mine heir!
Abram added, “You have not given me any children, so think about this: A servant in my household will inherit all I own!”
4 And lo! the word of Yahweh [came] unto him, saying, This one, shall not be thine heir: But one who cometh forth of thy body—he shall be thine heir.
Yahweh replied, “No! He will not be the one who will inherit it. Instead, you yourself will be the father of the one who will inherit everything you own.”
5 And he brought him forth abroad and said—Look steadfastly. I pray thee towards the heavens, and number the stars, if thou be able to number, them, And he said to him, Thus, shall be thy seed.
Then Yahweh took Abram outside [of his tent] and said, “Look up at the sky! Can you count the stars? No, you cannot count them because there are so many of them, and your descendants will be as numerous as the stars.”
6 And he had faith in Yahweh, —so he reckoned it to him as righteousness.
Abram believed that what Yahweh said would happen. And because of that, Yahweh considered that Abram was righteous.
7 And he said unto him, —I, am Yahweh, who brought thee forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
Yahweh also said to him, “I am Yahweh. I am the one who brought you from Ur in Chaldea land. I brought you here to give you this land to possess.”
8 And he said, My Lord Yahweh, whereby, can I know that I shall inherit it?
But Abram replied, “Yahweh God, how can I know for sure that this land will belong to me?”
9 And he said unto him, Take for me a heifer three years old, and a she-goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle-dove and a young pigeon.
God said to him, “Bring a three-year-old heifer and a three-year-old goat to me, and a dove and a pigeon.”
10 So he took for him all these, and divided them, in the midst, and placed each piece over against its fellow, but the birds, divided he not.
So Abram brought all of them and killed them and cut each of the animals in half. He arranged the halves of each one, side by side. But he did not cut the pigeon and dove in half.
11 Then came down the birds of prey upon the carcass, and Abram drove them away.
Birds that eat dead flesh came down to eat the carcasses, but Abram shooed them away.
12 And it came to pass when, the sun, was about to go in, and, a deep sleep, had fallen upon Abram, lo! a terror a great darkness, was falling upon him.
As the sun was going down, Abram fell sound asleep, and suddenly everything around him became dark and frightening.
13 And he said to Abram—Thou must surely know, that, sojourners, will thy seed become in a land not theirs, and shall serve them and they will humble them, four hundred years;
Then God said to Abram, “I want you to know that your descendants will become foreigners living in a land that does not belong to them. They will become slaves of the owners of that land. The owners of the land will mistreat them for 400 years.
14 moreover also, the nation whom they will serve, I, am going to judge, and after that, shall they come forth with great substance.
But then I will punish the people of that country that made them become slaves, and then your descendants will leave that country, taking many possessions with them.
15 But, thou, shalt go in unto thy fathers in peace, thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
But as for you, you will die [EUP] peacefully when you are very old.
16 And, in the fourth generation, shall they return hither, —for not complete, is the iniquity of the Amorites, as yet,
After your descendants have been slaves for 400 years, they will return here, and take control of this land and defeat the Amor people-group. Those people will, because those people have not yet sinned enough to deserve to be punished now.”
17 So it came to pass when, the sun, had gone in, and, a thick darkness, had come on, that lo there was a smoking hearth and torch of fire, which passed through between these pieces.
When the sun had set and it had become dark, [unexpectedly] a blazing torch and a clay pot containing burning coals from which smoke was rising appeared and went between the halves of the animals.
18 In that day, did Yahweh solemnise with Abram a covenant, saying, —To thy seed, have I given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river—the river Euphrates:
And on that day Yahweh made an agreement with Abram. Yahweh told him, “I will give to your descendants all the land between the river that is on the eastern border of Egypt to the south, and north to the huge Euphrates River.
19 the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite;
That is the land where the Ken, the Keniz, the Kidmon,
20 and the Hittite and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim;
the Heth, the Periz, the Repha,
21 and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.
the Amor, the Canaan, the Girgash, and the Tebus people-groups live.”
