Genesis 15:1–16:16

God’s Covenant with Abram

15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram ain a vision, saying, b“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your cshield, 1your exceedingly dgreat reward.”

2 eBut Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, fseeing I 2go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed gone 3born in my house is my heir!”

4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who hwill come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and icount the jstars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, k“So shall your ldescendants be.”

6 And he mbelieved in the Lord, and He naccounted it to him for righteousness.

7 Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who obrought you out of pUr of the Chaldeans, qto give you this land to inherit it.”

8 And he said, “Lord God, rhow shall I know that I will inherit it?”

9 So He said to 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.” 10 Then he brought all these to Him and scut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut tthe birds in two. 11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

12 Now when the sun was going down, ua deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly vthat your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and wthey will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation whom they serve xI will judge; afterward ythey shall come out with great possessions. 15 Now as for you, zyou shall 4go ato your fathers in peace; byou shall be buried at a good old age. 16 But cin the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity dof the Amorites eis not yet complete.”

17 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that fpassed between those pieces. 18 On the same day the Lord gmade a covenant with Abram, saying:

h“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—19 the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Hagar and Ishmael

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, ahad borne him no children. And she had ban Egyptian maidservant whose name was cHagar. 2 dSo Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord ehas restrained me from bearing children. Please, fgo in to my maid; perhaps I shall 1obtain children by her.” And Abram gheeded the voice of Sarai. 3 Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram hhad dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. 4 So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became idespised in her 2eyes.

5 Then Sarai said to Abram, 3“My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. jThe Lord judge between you and me.”

6 kSo Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, lshe fled from her presence.

7 Now the mAngel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, nby the spring on the way to oShur. 8 And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

9 The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and psubmit yourself under her hand.” 10 Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, q“I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” 11 And the Angel of the Lord said to her:

“Behold, you are with child,

rAnd you shall bear a son.

You shall call his name 4Ishmael,

Because the Lord has heard your affliction.

12 sHe shall be a wild man;

His hand shall be against every man,

And every man’s hand against him.

tAnd he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”

13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-5the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here 6seen Him uwho sees me?” 14 Therefore the well was called vBeer Lahai Roi; 7observe, it is wbetween Kadesh and Bered.

15 So xHagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.