Genesis 15
15
The Abrahamic Covenant
1After these events, the word of the Lord came#1Sm 15:10; 2Sm 7:4; 1Kg 6:11; Is 38:4; Jr 1:2 to Abram in a vision:
Do not be afraid,#Gn 26:24; Is 41:10; Jr 30:10; Lk 1:13,30 Abram.
I am your shield;#Dt 33:29; 2Sm 22:3,31; Ps 3:3; 7:10
your reward will be very great.
2But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” #15:2 Hb obscure 3Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in#15:3 Lit a son of my house will be my heir.”
4Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body#15:4 Lit loins will be your heir.” 5He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”#Gn 22:17; 26:4; Ex 32:13; Dt 1:10; 10:22; 1Ch 27:23; Rm 4:18; Heb 11:12
6Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.#Rm 4:3,9,22; Gl 3:6; Jms 2:23
7He also said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”#Gn 11:31; 12:1; Neh 9:7–8; Ac 7:2–4
8But he said, “Lord God, how can I know#Jdg 6:17; 2Kg 20:8; Ps 86:17; Is 7:11–13; Lk 1:18 that I will possess it?”
9He said to him, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
10So he brought all these to him, cut them in half, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut the birds#Lv 1:17 in half. 11Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. 12As the sun was setting, a deep sleep#Gn 2:21 came over Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.
13Then the Lord said to Abram,#Ac 7:6–7 “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens#Ex 22:21; 23:9 for four hundred years#Ex 12:40; Gl 3:17 in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and oppressed.#15:13 Lit will serve them and they will oppress them 14However, I will judge the nation they serve,#Ex 6:6; 7:4; 12:12 and afterward they will go out with many possessions.#Ex 3:22 15But you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.#Gn 25:8; 47:30 16In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”#15:16 Lit Amorites is not yet complete#Lv 18:24–28; Dn 8:23; Mt 23:32; 1Th 2:16
17When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals. 18On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring,#Gn 12:7; 13:15; 17:8; 24:7; 26:4; Nm 34:2; Dt 34:4; Jos 21:43; Neh 9:8; Ac 7:5 from the Brook of Egypt#Ex 23:31; Nm 34:1–15; Dt 1:7–8; 2Kg 24:7 to the great river, the Euphrates River: 19the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hethites, Perizzites, Rephaim, 21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Genesis 15
15
God's Covenant with Abram
1After this, Abram had a vision and heard the Lord say to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I will shield you from danger and give you a great reward.”
2But Abram answered, “Sovereign Lord, what good will your reward do me, since I have no children? My only heir is Eliezer of Damascus.#15.2: My … Damascus; Hebrew unclear. 3You have given me no children, and one of my slaves will inherit my property.”
4Then he heard the Lord speaking to him again: “This slave Eliezer will not inherit your property; your own son will be your heir.” 5#Ro 4.18; He 11.12 The Lord took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and try to count the stars; you will have as many descendants as that.”
6 #
1 Macc 2.52;
Ro 4.3; Ga 3.6; Jas 2.23 Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.
7Then the Lord said to him, “I am the Lord, who led you out of Ur in Babylonia, to give you this land as your own.”
8But Abram asked, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that it will be mine?”
9He answered, “Bring me a cow, a goat, and a ram, each of them three years old, and a dove and a pigeon.” 10Abram brought the animals to God, cut them in half, and placed the halves opposite each other in two rows; but he did not cut up the birds. 11Vultures came down on the bodies, but Abram drove them off.
12 #
Job 4.13,14 When the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and fear and terror came over him. 13#Ex 1.1-14; Ac 7.6 The Lord said to him, “Your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land; they will be slaves there and will be treated cruelly for four hundred years. 14#Ex 12.40,41; Ac 7.7 But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and when they leave that foreign land, they will take great wealth with them. 15You yourself will live to a ripe old age, die in peace, and be buried. 16It will be four generations before your descendants come back here, because I will not drive out the Amorites until they become so wicked that they must be punished.”
17When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch suddenly appeared and passed between the pieces of the animals. 18#Ac 7.5 Then and there the Lord made a covenant with Abram. He said, “I promise to give your descendants all this land from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River, 19including the lands of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)
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