Genesis 15
15
1After these things, the worde of the Lord came vnto Abram in a vision, saying, Feare not, Abram, I am thy buckler, and thine exceeding great reward. 2And Abram said, O Lord God, what wilt thou giue me, seeing I goe childlesse, and the steward of mine house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 3Againe Abram saide, Beholde, to me thou hast giuen no seede: wherefore loe, a seruant of mine house shalbe mine heire. 4Then beholde, the worde of the Lord came vnto him, saying, This man shall not be thine heire, but one that shall come out of thine owne bowels, he shalbe thine heire. 5Moreouer he brought him forth and said, Looke vp nowe vnto heauen, and tell ye starres, if thou be able to number them: and he said vnto him, So shall thy seede be. 6And Abram beleeued the Lord, and he counted that to him for righteousnesse. 7Againe he saide vnto him, I am the Lord, that brought thee out of Vr of the Caldees, to giue thee this land to inherite it. 8And he said, O Lord God, whereby shall I knowe that I shall inherite it? 9Then he said vnto him, Take me an heifer of three yeeres olde, and a shee goate of three yeeres olde, and a ramme of three yeeres olde, a turtle doue also and a pigeon. 10So he tooke all these vnto him, and deuided them into the middes, and laid euery piece one against an other: but the birdes deuided he not. 11Then foules fell on the carkases, and Abram droue them away. 12And when the sunne went downe, there fell an heauie sleepe vpon Abram: and loe, a very fearefull darkenes fell vpon him. 13Then he saide to Abram, Knowe for a suretie, that thy seede shalbe a stranger in a land, that is not theirs, foure hundreth yeeres, and shall serue them: and they shall intreate them euill. 14Notwithstanding the nation, whom they shall serue, will I iudge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15But thou shalt goe vnto thy fathers in peace, and shalt be buried in a good age. 16And in the fourth generation they shall come hither againe: for the wickednes of the Amorites is not yet full. 17Also when the sunne went downe, there was a darkenes: and behold, a smoking fornace, and a firebrand, which went betweene those pieces. 18In that same day the Lord made a couenant with Abram, saying, Vnto thy seede haue I giuen this lande, from the riuer of Egypt vnto the great riuer, the riuer Euphrates. 19The Kenites, and the Kenizites, and the Kadmonites, 20And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, 21The Amorites also, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Iebusites.
PUBLIC DOMAIN
Genesis 15
15
1After all this had happened, God spoke to Abram in a vision, telling him, “Don't be afraid, Abram! I am your protector, and your truly great reward!”
2But Abram replied, “Lord God, what good is whatever you give me? I don't have any children, and the heir to all that I have is Eliezer of Damascus.”#15:2. It was the practice of the time for childless couples to appoint their most trusted servant as their heir. 3Abram went on to complain, “Look! You haven't given me any children, so a servant from my household has to be my heir!”
4But then the Lord told him, “This man won't be your heir. Your heir will be your very own son.”
5The Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up at the sky. See if you can count the stars! That's how many descendants you will have!”
6Abram trusted what the Lord said, and so the Lord counted Abram as being in a right relationship with him.
7The Lord also told him, “I am the Lord, who led you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land for you to own.”
8“But Lord God, how can I be certain that I will own it?” Abram asked.
9The Lord told him, “Bring me a cow, a goat, and a ram, all of them three years old, together with a dove and a young pigeon.” 10So Abram took and killed the three animals. Then he cut them in half, and placed each half opposite the other. However, he didn't cut the birds in half. 11When vultures flew down on the carcasses, Abram frightened them off.
12As the sun went down, a deep sleep came over Abram, and at the same time a dense and terrifying darkness fell on him. 13The Lord explained to Abram, “You can be absolutely sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be slaves and mistreated for 400 years. 14However, I will punish the nation that makes them slaves, and later on they will leave, taking many valuable possessions with them. 15But as for you, you will die in peace and be buried, having lived a good long life. 16Four generations later your descendants will come back here to live, because right now the sins of the Amorites have not reached their full extent.”
17After the sun set and it grew dark, suddenly a smoking furnace and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the animal carcasses. 18This is how the Lord made an agreement with Abram that day and promised him, “I'm giving this land to your descendants. It extends from the Wadi of Egypt#15:18. “Wadi of Egypt”: Not the Nile, but what is known as the Wadi Arish today. See Numbers 34:5; Joshua 15:4, Joshua 15:47. to the great Euphrates River, 19and includes the territory of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com