Genesis 15

Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.”

After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth.

But Abram said, ‘Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit^[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?’

You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.”

And Abram said, ‘You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.’

Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.”

Then the word of the Lord came to him: ‘This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.’

Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”

He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the sky and count the stars – if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring^[d] be.’

And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Then the Lord told him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.”

He also said to him, ‘I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.’

But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?”

But Abram said, ‘Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I shall gain possession of it?’

The Lord told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

So the Lord said to him, ‘Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.’

So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half.

Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half.

Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.

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

As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him.

As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.

Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years.

Then the Lord said to him, ‘Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and ill-treated there.

But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth.

But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterwards they will come out with great possessions.

(As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.)

You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.

After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.”

In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.’

After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses.

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking brazier with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.

So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt^[a] to the great Euphrates River—

On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi^[e] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates –

the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,

the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,

Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,

Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,

Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.’