Genesis 15

1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am your shield, and your exceeding great reward.

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!”

2 And Abram said, LORD God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?

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.”

3 And Abram said, Behold, to me you have given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

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

4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be your heir; but he that shall come forth out of your own bowels shall be your heir.

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

5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if you be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall your seed be.

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!”

6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

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

7 And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.

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.”

8 And he said, LORD God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

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

9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

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.”

10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

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.

11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

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

12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

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

13 And he said unto Abram, Know certainly that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not their's, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

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.

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

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

15 And you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.

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

16 But in the fourth generation they shall come here again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

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.”

17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

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.

18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto your seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

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,

19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,

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

20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,

Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,

21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”