Genesis 15
15
Yahweh Cuts a Covenant with Abram
1After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying,
“Do not fear, Abram,
I am a shield to you;
# 15:1 Or Your very great reward Your reward shall be very great.”
2And Abram said, “O Lord Yahweh, what will You give me, as I go on being childless, and the #15:2 Lit son of acquisitionheir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3And Abram said, “#15:3 Lit BeholdSince You have given no seed to me, behold, #15:3 Lit a son ofone born in my house is my heir.” 4Then behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, “This one will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own #15:4 Lit inward partsbody, he shall be your heir.” 5And He brought him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your seed be.” 6Then he believed in Yahweh; and He counted it to him as righteousness. 7And He said to him, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to #15:7 Or inheritpossess it.” 8And he said, “O Lord Yahweh, how may I know that I will #15:8 Or inheritpossess it?” 9So He said to him, “#15:9 Lit TakeBring 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.” 10Then he #15:10 Lit tookbrought all these to Him and split them into parts #15:10 Lit in the midstdown the middle and laid each part opposite the other; but he did not split apart the birds. 11Then the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
12Now it happened that when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, #15:12 Or a terror of great darknessterror and great darkness fell upon him. 13Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your seed will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, #15:13 Lit and shall serve them; and they shall afflict themand they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 14But I will also judge the nation to whom they are enslaved, and afterward they will come out with #15:14 Lit greatmany possessions. 15As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. 16Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
17Now it happened that the sun had set, and it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. 18On that day Yahweh cut a covenant with Abram, saying,
“To your seed I have given this land,
From the river of Egypt as far as 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.”
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Genesis 15
15
God’s Agreement With Abram
1After all these things happened, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. God said, “Abram, don’t be afraid. I will defend you and give you a great reward.”
2But Abram said, “Lord GOD, there is nothing you can give me that will make me happy, because I have no son. My slave Eliezer from Damascus will get everything I own after I die.” 3Abram said, “You have given me no son, so a slave born in my house will get everything I have.”
4Then the Lord spoke to Abram and said, “That slave will not be the one to get what you have. You will have a son who will get everything you own.”
5Then God led Abram outside and said, “Look at the sky. See the many stars. There are so many you cannot count them. Your family will be like that.”
6Abram believed the Lord, and because of this faith the Lord accepted him as one who has done what is right. 7He said to Abram, “I am the Lord who led you from Ur of Babylonia.#15:7 Ur of Babylonia Literally, “Ur of the Chaldeans.” A city in southern Babylonia. I did this so that I could give you this land. You will own this land.”
8But Abram said, “Lord GOD, how can I be sure that I will get this land?”
9God said to Abram, “We will make an agreement. Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old goat, a three-year-old ram, a dove, and a young pigeon.”
10Abram brought all these to God. Abram killed these animals and cut each of them into two pieces. Then he laid each half across from the other half. He did not cut the birds into two pieces. 11Later, large birds flew down to eat the animals, but Abram chased them away.
12The sun began to go down and Abram got very sleepy. While he was asleep, a very terrible darkness came over him. 13Then the Lord said to Abram, “You should know this: Your descendants will live in a country that is not their own. They will be strangers there. The people there will make them slaves and be cruel to them for 400 years. 14But then I will punish the nation that made them slaves. Your people will leave that land, and they will take many good things with them.
15“You yourself will live to be very old. You will die in peace and will be buried with your family. 16After four generations your people will come to this land again and defeat the Amorites. That will happen in the future because the Amorites are not yet guilty enough to lose their land.”
17After the sun went down, it got very dark. The dead animals were still on the ground, each animal cut into two pieces. Then a smoking firepot#15:17 firepot A clay pot in which burning coals were placed to be used for starting new fires. and a flaming torch passed between the halves of the dead animals.#15:17 passed between … animals This showed that God “signed” or “sealed” the agreement he made with Abram. People showed that they were sincere in making an agreement by walking between the parts of animals that had been cut into pieces and saying something like, “May this same thing happen to me if I don’t keep the agreement.”
18So on that day the Lord made a promise and an agreement with Abram. He said, “I will give this land to your descendants. I will give them the land between the River of Egypt#15:18 River of Egypt That is, the stream called “Wadi El-Arish.” and the great river Euphrates. 19This is the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
© 1987, 2004 Bible League International