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 Jehovah came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram. I am thy shield, thy exceedingly great reward.

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.”

And Abram said, O lord Jehovah, what will thou give me, since I go childless. And he who shall be possessor of my house 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!”

And Abram said, Behold, thou have given no seed to me. And, lo, a man 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, behold, the word of Jehovah came to him, saying, This man shall not be thine heir, but he who shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine 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 forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said to him, So shall thy seed 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 in Jehovah, and he reckoned it to him for 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 Jehovah who brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

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

And he said, O lord Jehovah, how shall I know that I shall inherit 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, Take a heifer three years old for me, and a she-goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle dove, 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.

And he took all these for him, and divided them in the midst, and laid 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 upon the carcasses, and 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.

And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram. And, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon 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 of a certainty that thy seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs. And shall serve them, and they shall afflict 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.

And also I will judge that nation, whom they shall serve, and afterward they shall come out with great substance.

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

But thou will go to thy fathers in peace; thou 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.”

And in the fourth generation they shall come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.

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.

And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that 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,

In that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, To thy seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:

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

the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite,

20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,

and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,

21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.