Genesis 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

God’s Covenant with Abram

1After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram #Gen. 15:4; 46:2; 1 Sam. 15:10; Dan. 10:1in a vision, saying, #Gen. 21:17; 26:24; Is. 41:10; Dan. 10:12“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your #Deut. 33:29; Ps. 3:3; 84:11; 91:4shield, your exceedingly #Num. 18:20; Ps. 58:11; Prov. 11:18great reward.”

2#Gen. 17:18But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, #Acts 7:5seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed #Gen. 14:14one born in my house is my heir!”

4And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who #2 Sam. 7:12; Gal. 4:28will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and #Gen. 22:17; 26:4; Deut. 1:10; Ps. 147:4count the #Jer. 33:22stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, #Ex. 32:13; Rom. 4:18; Heb. 11:12“So shall your #Gen. 17:19descendants be.”

6And he #Gen. 21:1; Rom. 4:3, 9, 22; Gal. 3:6; James 2:23believed in the Lord, and He #Ps. 32:2; 106:31accounted it to him for righteousness.

7Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who #Gen. 12:1brought you out of #Gen. 11:28, 31Ur of the Chaldeans, #Gen. 13:15, 17; Ps. 105:42, 44to give you this land to inherit it.”

8And he said, “Lord God, #Gen. 24:13, 14; Judg. 6:36–40; 1 Sam. 14:9, 10; Luke 1:18how shall I know that I will inherit 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.” 10Then he brought all these to Him and #Gen. 15:17; Jer. 34:18cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut #Lev. 1:17the birds in two. 11And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

12Now when the sun was going down, #Gen. 2:21; 28:11; Job 33:15a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 13Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly #Ex. 1:11; Acts 7:6that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and #Ex. 12:40they will afflict them four hundred years. 14And also the nation whom they serve #Ex. 6:6I will judge; afterward #Ex. 12:36they shall come out with great possessions. 15Now as for you, #Job 5:26you shall go #Gen. 25:8; 47:30to your fathers in peace; #Gen. 25:8you shall be buried at a good old age. 16But #Gen. 15:13; Ex. 12:41in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity #Gen. 48:22; Lev. 18:24–28; 1 Kin. 21:26of the Amorites #1 Kin. 11:12; Matt. 23:32is not yet complete.”

17And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that #Jer. 34:18, 19passed between those pieces. 18On the same day the Lord #Gen. 24:7made a covenant with Abram, saying:

#Gen. 12:7; 17:8; Ex. 23:31; Num. 34:3; Deut. 11:24; Josh. 1:4; 21:43; Acts 7:5“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— 19the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, 20the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

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