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.”
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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.”
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