Genesis 15

¹ After these things the LORD’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

² Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”

³ Abram said, “Behold, you have given no children to me: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.”

⁴ Behold, the LORD’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.”

⁵ The LORD brought him outside, and said, “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So your offspring will be.”

⁶ He believed in the LORD, who credited it to him for righteousness.

⁷ He said to Abram, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.”

⁸ He said, “Lord GOD, how will I know that I will inherit it?”

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.”

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.

¹¹ The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

¹² When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him.

¹³ He said to Abram, “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.

¹⁴ I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth;

¹⁵ but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried at a good old age.

¹⁶ In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.”

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.

¹⁸ In that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:

¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

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

¹ NNow when these things were done, the word of the Lord came to Abram by a vision, saying: Fear not, Abram, I am thy protector, and thy reward exceeding great.

² And Abram said: Lord God, what wilt thou give me? I shall go without children: and the son of the steward of my house is this Damascus Eliezer.

³ And Abram added: But to me thou hast not given seed: and lo my servant born in my house, shall be my heir.

⁴ And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: He shall not be thy heir: but he that shall come out of thy bowels, him shalt thou have for thy heir.

⁵ And he brought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to heaven and number the stars if thou canst. And he said to him: So shall thy seed be.

⁶ Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.

⁷ And he said to him: I am the Lord who brought thee out from Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land, and that thou mightest possess it.

⁸ But he said: Lord God, whereby may I know that I shall possess it?

⁹ And the Lord answered, and said: Take me a cow of three years old, and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years, a turtle also, and a pigeon.

¹⁰ And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid the two pieces of each one against the other: but the birds he divided not.

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

¹² And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great and darksome horror seized upon him.

¹³ And it was said unto him: Know thou beforehand that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own, and they shall bring them under bondage, and afflict them four hundred years.

¹⁴ But I will judge the nation which they shall serve, and after this they shall come out with great substance.

¹⁵ And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried in a good old age.

¹⁶ But in the fourth generation they shall return hither: for as yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full until this present time.

¹⁷ And when the sun was set, there arose a dark mist, and there appeared a smoking furnace, and a lamp of fire passing between those divisions.

¹⁸ That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: To thy seed will I give this land, from the river to Egypt even to the great river Euphrates.

¹⁹ The Cineans, and Cenezites, the Cedmonites,

²⁰ And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also,

²¹ And the Amorrhites, and the Chanaanites, and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.