Genesis 15
1 After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield and your very great reward.”
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.
2 Abram said, “Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, since I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
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.]
3 Abram said, “Since you have given me no descendant, see, the steward of my house is my heir.”
And Abram said, [I am grieved] since you have given me no seed, but my home-born [servant] shall succeed me.
4 Then, behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but rather the one who will come from your own body will be your heir.”
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.
5 Then he brought him outside, and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So will your descendants be.”
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.
6 He believed Yahweh, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
And Abram believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.
7 He said to him, “I am Yahweh, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”
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.
8 He said, “Lord Yahweh, how will I know that I will inherit it?”
And he said, Master [and] Lord, how shall I know that I shall inherit it?
9 Then he said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a dove, and a young pigeon.”
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.
10 He brought him all these, and cut them in two, and placed each half opposite the other, but he did not divide the birds.
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.
11 When the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
And birds came down upon the bodies, [even] upon the divided parts of them, and Abram sat down by them.
12 Then when the sun was going down, Abram fell sound asleep and, behold, a deep and terrifying darkness overwhelmed him.
And about sunset a trance fell upon Abram, and behold! a great gloomy terror falls upon him.
13 Then Yahweh said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.
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.
14 I will judge that nation that they will serve, and afterward they will come out with abundant possessions.
And the nation whoever they shall serve I will judge; and after this, they shall come forth hither with much property.
15 But you will go to your fathers in peace, and you will be buried in a good old age.
But you shall depart to your fathers in peace, nourished in a good old age.
16 In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.”
And in the fourth generation they shall return hither, for the sins of the Amorites are not yet filled up, even until now.
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between the pieces.
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.
18 On that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I hereby give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—
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.
19 the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
The Kenites, and the Kenezites, and the Kedmoneans,
20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaites,
and the Chettites, and the Pherezites, and the Raphaim,
21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
and the Amorites, and the Chananites, and the Evites, and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.
