Genesis 15

Chapter 15

Abram Promised a Son

¹After 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.”

²Abram said, “O Lord ¹God, what will You give me, since I ²am childless, and the ³heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

³And Abram said, “¹Since You have given no ²offspring to me, ³one ^aborn in my house is my heir.”

⁴Then 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.”

⁵And 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.”

^6aThen he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

⁷And 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.”

⁸He said, “O Lord ¹God, ^ahow may I know that I will ²possess it?”

⁹So 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.”

¹⁰Then 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.

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

¹²Now when the sun was going down, ^aa deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, ¹terror and great darkness fell upon him.

¹³God 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.”

¹⁷It 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.

¹⁸On 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:

^19athe Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite

²⁰and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim

²¹and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.”