Genesis 15
1 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.”
And so, these things having been transacted, the word of the Lord came to Abram by a vision, saying: “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your protector, and your reward is exceedingly great.”
2 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!”
And Abram said: “Lord God, what will you give to me? I may go without children. And the son of the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus.”
3 Abram added, “You have not given me any children, so think about this: A servant in my household will inherit all I own!”
And Abram added: “Yet to me you have not given offspring. And behold, my servant born in my house will be my heir.”
4 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.”
And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: “This one will not be your heir. But he who will come from your loins, the same will you have for your heir.”
5 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.”
And he brought him outside, and he said to him, “Take in the heavens, and number the stars, if you can.” And he said to him, “So also will your offspring be.”
6 Abram believed that what Yahweh said would happen. And because of that, Yahweh considered that Abram was righteous.
Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.
7 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.”
And he said to him, “I am the Lord who led you away from Ur of the Chaldeans, so as to give you this land, and so that you would possess it.”
8 But Abram replied, “Yahweh God, how can I know for sure that this land will belong to me?”
But he said, “Lord God, in what way may I be able to know that I will possess it?”
9 God said to him, “Bring a three-year-old heifer and a three-year-old goat to me, and a dove and a pigeon.”
And the Lord responded by saying: “Take for me a cow of three years, and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years, also a turtle-dove and a pigeon.”
10 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.
Taking all these, he divided them through the middle, and placed both parts opposite one another. But the birds he did not divide.
11 Birds that eat dead flesh came down to eat the carcasses, but Abram shooed them away.
And birds descended upon the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was going down, Abram fell sound asleep, and suddenly everything around him became dark and frightening.
And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a dread, great and dark, invaded him.
13 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.
And it was said to him: “Know beforehand that your future offspring will be sojourners in a land not their own, and they will subjugate them in servitude and afflict them for four hundred years.
14 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.
Yet truly, I will judge the nation that they will serve, and after this they will depart with great substance.
15 But as for you, you will die [EUP] peacefully when you are very old.
But you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age.
16 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.”
But in the fourth generation, they will return here. For the iniquities of the Amorites are not yet completed, even to this present time.”
17 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.
Then, when the sun had set, there came a dark mist, and there appeared a smoking furnace and a lamp of fire passing between those divisions.
18 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.
On that day, God formed a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your offspring I will give this land, from the river of Egypt, even to the great river Euphrates:
19 That is the land where the Ken, the Keniz, the Kidmon,
the land of the Kenites and the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites
20 the Heth, the Periz, the Repha,
and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, likewise the Rephaim,
21 the Amor, the Canaan, the Girgash, and the Tebus people-groups live.”
and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
