Genesis 15
1 After these things the LORD’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
Some time later, Abram had a vision in which Yahweh spoke to him and said, “Do not be afraid of (anything/your enemies). I will protect you [MTY], and I will give a great reward.”
2 Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”
But Abram replied, “Yahweh God, how can you give me what I truly want, because I have no children, and the one who will be like a son and inherit all my possessions is my servant Eliezer from Damascus!”
3 Abram said, “Behold, you have given no children to me: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.”
Abram added, “You have not given me any children, so think about this: A servant in my household will inherit all I own!”
4 Behold, the LORD’s word came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but he who will come out of your own body will be your heir.”
Yahweh replied, “No! He will not be the one who will inherit it. Instead, you yourself will be the father of the one who will inherit everything you own.”
5 The LORD brought him outside, and said, “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So your offspring will be.”
Then Yahweh took Abram outside [of his tent] and said, “Look up at the sky! Can you count the stars? No, you cannot count them because there are so many of them, and your descendants will be as numerous as the stars.”
6 He believed in the LORD, who credited it to him for righteousness.
Abram believed that what Yahweh said would happen. And because of that, Yahweh considered that Abram was righteous.
7 He said to Abram, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.”
Yahweh also said to him, “I am Yahweh. I am the one who brought you from Ur in Chaldea land. I brought you here to give you this land to possess.”
8 He said, “Lord GOD, how will I know that I will inherit it?”
But Abram replied, “Yahweh God, how can I know for sure that this land will belong to me?”
9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
God said to him, “Bring a three-year-old heifer and a three-year-old goat to me, and a dove and a pigeon.”
10 He brought him all these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not divide the birds.
So Abram brought all of them and killed them and cut each of the animals in half. He arranged the halves of each one, side by side. But he did not cut the pigeon and dove in half.
11 The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
Birds that eat dead flesh came down to eat the carcasses, but Abram shooed them away.
12 When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him.
As the sun was going down, Abram fell sound asleep, and suddenly everything around him became dark and frightening.
13 He said to Abram, “Know for sure that your offspring will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years.
Then God said to Abram, “I want you to know that your descendants will become foreigners living in a land that does not belong to them. They will become slaves of the owners of that land. The owners of the land will mistreat them for 400 years.
14 I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth;
But then I will punish the people of that country that made them become slaves, and then your descendants will leave that country, taking many possessions with them.
15 but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried at a good old age.
But as for you, you will die [EUP] peacefully when you are very old.
16 In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.”
After your descendants have been slaves for 400 years, they will return here, and take control of this land and defeat the Amor people-group. Those people will, because those people have not yet sinned enough to deserve to be punished now.”
17 It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
When the sun had set and it had become dark, [unexpectedly] a blazing torch and a clay pot containing burning coals from which smoke was rising appeared and went between the halves of the animals.
18 In that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:
And on that day Yahweh made an agreement with Abram. Yahweh told him, “I will give to your descendants all the land between the river that is on the eastern border of Egypt to the south, and north to the huge Euphrates River.
19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
That is the land where the Ken, the Keniz, the Kidmon,
20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
the Heth, the Periz, the Repha,
21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
the Amor, the Canaan, the Girgash, and the Tebus people-groups live.”
