Genesis 15
15
The Lord’s Covenant Promise to Abram
1Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.”
2But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. 3You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.”
4Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” 5Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”
6And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.
7Then the Lord told him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.”
8But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?”
9The Lord told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half. 11Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.
12As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him. 13Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 14But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. 15(As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) 16After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.”
17After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. 18So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt#15:18 Hebrew the river of Egypt, referring either to an eastern branch of the Nile River or to the Brook of Egypt in the Sinai (see Num 34:5). to the great Euphrates River— 19the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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Genesis 15
15
Genesis 15
1¶ After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram; I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
2¶ And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
3And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed; and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.
4And then the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thy heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thy heir.
5And he brought him forth abroad and said, Look now toward the heavens and count the stars, if thou art able to number them. And he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness.
7¶ And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it.
8And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
9And he said unto him, Take me a heifer three years old and a she goat three years old and a ram three years old and a turtledove and a young pigeon.
10And he took unto him all these and divided them in the midst and laid each piece one against another, but he did not divide the birds.
11And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
12¶ And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, behold, a horror of great darkness fell upon him.
13Then he said unto Abram, Know of a surety 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;
14and also that nation, whom they shall serve, I will judge; and afterward shall they come out with great riches.
15And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
16But in the fourth generation they shall come here again; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
17¶ And it came to pass that when the sun went down and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
18In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed shall I give this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
19the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite
20and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim
21and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.
The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International