Genesis 15

The Lord’s Covenant With Abram

1After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield,#15:1 Or sovereign

your very great reward.#15:1 Or shield; / your reward will be very great”

2But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit#15:2 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

4Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring#15:5 Or seed be.”

6Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

7He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”

8But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”

9So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

10Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

12As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

17When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi#15:18 Or river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— 19the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

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Berĕshith (Genesis) 15

1After these events the word of יהוה came to Aḇram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Aḇram. I am your shield, your reward is exceedingly great.”

2And Aḇram said, “Master יהוה, what would You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eli‛ezer of Dammeseq?”

3And Aḇram said, “See, You have given me no seed, and see, one born in my house is my heir!”

4And see, the word of יהוה came to him, saying, “This one is not your heir, but he who comes from your own body is your heir.”

5And He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward the heavens, and count the stars if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So are your seed.”

6And he believed in יהוה, and He reckoned it to him for righteousness.

7And He said to him, “I am יהוה, who brought you out of Ur-kasdim, to give you this land to inherit it.”

8And he said, “Master יהוה, whereby do I know that I possess it?”

9And He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, and a three-year-old female goat, and a three-year-old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

10And he took all these to Him and cut them in the middle, and placed each half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds.

11And the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Aḇram drove them away.

12And it came to be, when the sun was going down, and a deep sleep fell upon Aḇram, that see, a frightening great darkness fell upon him.

13And He said to Aḇram, “Know for certain that your seed are to be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years.

14“But the nation whom they serve I am going to judge, and afterward let them come out with great possessions.

15“Now as for you, you are to go to your fathers in peace, you are to be buried at a good old age.

16“Then, in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the crookedness of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

17And it came to be, when the sun went down and it was dark, that see, a smoking oven and a burning torch passing between those pieces.

18On the same day יהוה made a covenant with Aḇram, saying, “I have given this land to your seed, from the river of Mitsrayim to the great river, the River Euphrates,

19with the Qĕynite, and the Qenizzite, and the Qaḏmonite,

20and the Ḥittite, and the Perizzite, and the Repha’im,

21and the Amorite, and the Kena‛anite, and the Girgashite, and the Yeḇusite.”

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