Genesis 15:1–16:16
1 After these things athe word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,
“bDo not fear, Abram,
I am ca shield to you;
1Your dreward shall be very great.”
2 Abram said, “O Lord 1God, what will You give me, since I 2am childless, and the 3heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3 And Abram said, “1Since You have given no 2offspring to me, 3one aborn in my house is my heir.”
4 Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; abut one who will come forth from your own 1body, he shall be your heir.”
5 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and acount the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “bSo shall your 1descendants be.”
6 aThen he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
7 And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of aUr of the Chaldeans, to bgive you this land to 1possess it.”
8 He said, “O Lord 1God, ahow may I know that I will 2possess it?”
9 So He said to him, “1Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
10 Then he 1brought all these to Him and acut them 2in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he bdid not cut the birds.
11 The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
12 Now when the sun was going down, aa deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, 1terror and great darkness fell upon him.
13 God said to Abram, “Know for certain that ayour 1descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, 2where bthey will be enslaved and oppressed cfour hundred years.
14 “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out awith 1many possessions.
15 “As for you, ayou shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.
16 “Then in athe fourth generation they will return here, for bthe iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
17 It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which apassed between these pieces.
18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,
“aTo your 1descendants I have given this land,
From bthe river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
19 athe Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite
20 and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim
21 and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.”
1 Now aSarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had ban Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.
2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. aPlease go in to my maid; perhaps I will 1obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
3 After Abram had 1lived aten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife.
4 He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight.
5 And Sarai said to Abram, “aMay the wrong done me be upon you. I gave my maid into your 1arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her 2sight. bMay the Lord judge between 3you and me.”
6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your 1power; do to her what is good in your 2sight.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and ashe fled from her presence.
7 Now athe angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to bShur.
8 He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, awhere have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”
9 Then the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself 1to her authority.”
10 Moreover, the aangel of the Lord said to her, “bI will greatly multiply your 1descendants so that 2they will be too many to count.”
11 The angel of the Lord said to her further,
“Behold, you are with child,
And you will bear a son;
And you shall call his name 1Ishmael,
Because athe Lord 2has given heed to your affliction.
12 “He will be a awild donkey of a man,
His hand will be against everyone,
And everyone’s hand will be against him;
And he will 1live 2bto the east of all his brothers.”
13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “1You are 2a God who sees”; for she said, “aHave I even 3remained alive here after seeing Him?”
14 Therefore the well was called 1Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between aKadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.
16 Abram was aeighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to 1him.