Genesis 15
15
God’s Agreement with Abram
1After these things happened, the Lord spoke his word to Abram in a vision. God said, “Abram, don’t be afraid. I will defend you. And I will give you a great reward.”
2But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me? I have no son. So my slave Eliezer from Damascus will get everything I own after I die.” 3Abram said, “Look, you have given me no son. So a slave born in my house will inherit everything I have.”
4Then the Lord spoke his word to Abram. He said, “That slave will not be the one to inherit what you have. You will have a son of your own. And your son will inherit what you have.”
5Then God led Abram outside. God said, “Look at the sky. There are so many stars you cannot count them. And your descendants will be too many to count.”
6Abram believed the Lord. And the Lord accepted Abram’s faith, and that faith made him right with God.
7God said to Abram, “I am the Lord who led you out of Ur of Babylonia. I did that so I could give you this land to own.”
8But Abram said, “Lord God, how can I be sure that I will own this land?”
9The Lord said to Abram, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old goat and a three-year-old male sheep. Also bring me a dove and a young pigeon.”
10Abram brought them all to God. Then Abram killed the animals and cut each of them into two pieces. He laid each half opposite the other half. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11Later, large birds flew down to eat the animals. But Abram chased them away.
12As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep. While he was asleep, a very terrible darkness came. 13Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers and travel in a land they don’t own. The people there will make them slaves. And they will do cruel things to them for 400 years. 14But I will punish the nation where they are slaves. Then your descendants will leave that land, taking great wealth with them. 15Abram, you will live to be very old. You will die in peace and will be buried. 16After your great-great-grandchildren are born, your people will come to this land again. It will take that long, because the Amorites are not yet evil enough to punish.”
17The sun went down, and it was very dark. Suddenly a smoking firepot and a blazing torch passed between the halves of the dead animals.# This showed that God sealed the agreement between himself and Abram. 18So on that day the Lord made an agreement with Abram. The Lord said, “I will give this land to your descendants. I will give them the land between the river of Egypt and the great river Euphrates. 19This is the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”
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Genesis 15
15
The Abrahamic Covenant
1#Ge 26:24; Ps 3:3After this the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,
“Do not fear, Abram.
I am your shield,
your exceedingly great reward.#Or your reward will be great.”
2#Ac 7:5But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3#Ge 14:14Abram said, “Since You have not given me any children, my heir is a servant born in my house.”
4#Ge 17:16Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but a son that is from your own body will be your heir.” 5#Dt 1:10; Ge 22:17; Ex 32:13He brought him outside and said, “Look up toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So will your descendants be.”
6#Jas 2:23; Ps 106:31Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.
7#Ge 12:1; Ne 9:7–8He also said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess#Or inherit. it.”
8#Lk 1:18; Jdg 6:36–40But Abram said, “Lord God, how may I know that I will possess it?”
9So He said to 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.”
10#Lev 1:17; Jer 34:18–19Then Abram brought all of these to Him and cut them in two and laid each piece opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds in half. 11When the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12#Ge 2:21; Job 33:15As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and terror and a great darkness fell on him. 13#Gal 3:17; Ex 1:11Then He said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will live as strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. 14But I will judge the nation that they serve, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15#Job 5:26As for you, you will go to your fathers in peace and you will be buried at a good old age. 16#1Ki 21:26; Da 8:23In the fourth generation, your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
17#Jer 34:18–19When the sun went down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot with a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18#Ge 12:7; Nu 34:5On that same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great Euphrates River— 19the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaites, 21the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
Military Bible Association