Genesis 15

1 After 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!”

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great."

2 But 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.”

Abram said, "Lord, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"

3 Abram went on to complain, “Look! You haven't given me any children, so a servant from my household has to be my heir!”

Then Abram said, "Look, to me you have given no offspring, and look, one born in my house is my heir."

4 But then the Lord told him, “This man won't be your heir. Your heir will be your very own son.”

And look, the word of God came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir, but he who will come forth out of your own body will be your heir."

5 The 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!”

And he brought him outside, and said, "Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And he said to him, "So will your descendants be."

6 Abram trusted what the Lord said, and so the Lord counted Abram as being in a right relationship with him.

And he believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

7 The 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.”

And he said to him, "I am God, who brought you out of Ur Kasdim to give you this land to possess."

8 “But Lord God, how can I be certain that I will own it?” Abram asked.

But he said, "Lord, how can I know that I will possess it?"

9 The 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.”

And 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."

10 So 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.

He brought him all of these, and divided them in the middle, and placed each half opposite the other; but he did not divide the birds.

11 When vultures flew down on the carcasses, Abram frightened them off.

And the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun went down, a deep sleep came over Abram, and at the same time a dense and terrifying darkness fell on him.

When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And look, a terror of great darkness fell on him.

13 The 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.

And he said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs; and they will be enslaved there. And they will oppress them four hundred years.

14 However, I will punish the nation that makes them slaves, and later on they will leave, taking many valuable possessions with them.

But I will also judge that nation whom they will serve. And afterward they will come out with many possessions.

15 But as for you, you will die in peace and be buried, having lived a good long life.

But you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried in a good old age.

16 Four generations later your descendants will come back here to live, because right now the sins of the Amorites have not reached their full extent.”

In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."

17 After 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.

It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, look, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

18 This 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 to the great Euphrates River,

On that day God made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Perath:

19 and includes the territory of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,

the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,

the Hethites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."