Genesis 15
1 After these things Davar Yahweh [Word of He sustains breathing] came to Avram [Exalted father] in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Avram [Exalted father]. I am your shield, your exceedingly 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 Avram [Exalted father] said, “Lord Adonai, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus [Bucket of blood]?”
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 Avram [Exalted father] said, “Behold, to me you have given no children: and, behold, one born in my house is my 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 Behold, Adonai’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.”
But then the Lord told him, “This man won't be your heir. Your heir will be your very own son.”
5 Adonai brought him outside, and said, “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Avram [Exalted father], “So will your offspring 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 He believed in Adonai, who credited 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 He said to Avram [Exalted father], “I am Adonai who 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 He said, “Lord Adonai, how will I know that I will inherit it?”
“But Lord God, how can I be certain that I will own it?” Abram asked.
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.”
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 He brought him all these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn’t divide the birds.
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 The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Avram [Exalted father] drove them away.
When vultures flew down on the carcasses, Abram frightened them off.
12 When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Avram [Exalted father]. Now terror and great darkness fell on 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 He said to Avram [Exalted father], “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.
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 I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth,
However, I will punish the nation that makes them slaves, and later on they will leave, taking many valuable 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 in peace and be buried, having lived a good long life.
16 In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite [Descendants of Talkers] 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 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.
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 that day Adonai made a covenant ·binding contract between two or more parties· with Avram [Exalted father], saying, “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt [Abode of slavery] to the great river, the river Euphrates [Fruitful]:
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 [Descendants of Acquisition], the Kenezites [Descendants of Purchase], the Kadmonites [Descendants of Ancients, Chiefs],
and includes the territory of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
20 the Hittites [Descendants of Trembling fear], the Perizzites [Descendants of Belonging to village], the Rephaim [Descendants of Terrible one],
Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
21 the Amorites [Descendants of Talkers], the Canaanites [Descendants of Humbled], the Girgashites [Descendants of Who arrives from pilgrimage], and the Jebusites [Descendants of Thresher].”
Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
