Genesis 15

The Abrahamic Covenant

15After these events, the word of the Lord came ^uto Abram in a vision:

Do not be afraid, ^vAbram.

I am your shield; ^w

your reward will be very great.

²But Abram said, “Lord God, what can You give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ^x3Abram continued, “Look, You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in ^ymy house will be my heir.”

⁴Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body ^zwill be your heir.” ⁵He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.” ^a

⁶Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness. ^b

⁷He also said to him, “I am Yahweh who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” ^c

⁸But he said, “Lord God, how can I know ^dthat I will possess it?”

⁹He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

¹⁰So he brought all these to Him, split them down the middle, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut up the birds. ^e11Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. ¹²As the sun was setting, a deep sleep ^ffell on Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.

¹³Then the Lord said to Abram, ^g“Know this for certain: Your offspring will be foreigners ^hin a land that does not belong to them; they will be enslaved and oppressed ⁱ400 years. ^j14However, I will judge the nation they serve, ^kand afterward they will go out with many possessions. ^l15But you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age. ^m16In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” ^no

¹⁷When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals. ¹⁸On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring, ^pfrom the brook of Egypt ^qto the Euphrates River: ^r19the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, ²¹Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”