2But Abram said, “Lord and King, what can you give me? I still don’t have any children. My servant Eliezer comes from Damascus. When I die, he will get everything I own.” 3Abram continued, “You haven’t given me any children. So this servant of mine will get everything I own.”

4Then a message from the Lord came to Abram. The Lord said, “When you die, what you have will not go to this man. You will have a son of your own. He will get everything you have.” 5The Lord took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky. Count the stars, if you can.” Then he said to him, “That’s how many children will be born into your family.”

6Abram believed the Lord. The Lord was pleased with Abram because he believed. So Abram’s faith made him right with the Lord.

7He also said to Abram, “I am the Lord. I brought you out of Ur in the land of Babylon. I will give you this land to have as your very own.”

8But Abram said, “Lord and King, how can I know I will have this land as my own?”

9So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a young cow, a goat and a ram. Each must be three years old. Bring a dove and a young pigeon along with them.”

10Abram brought all of them to the Lord. Abram cut them in two and placed the halves opposite each other. But he didn’t cut the birds in half. 11Then large birds came down to eat the dead bodies of the animals and birds. But Abram chased the large birds away.

12As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep. A thick and scary darkness covered him. 13Then the Lord said to him, “You can be sure of what I am about to tell you. For 400 years, your family who comes after you will be strangers in another country. They will become slaves there and will be treated badly. 14But I will punish the nation that makes them slaves. After that, they will leave with many possessions. 15But you will die in peace. You will join the members of your family who have already died. And you will be buried when you are very old. 16Your children’s grandchildren will come back here. That’s because the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached the point where I must punish them.”

17The sun set and it became dark. Then a burning torch and a pot filled with smoking coals appeared. They passed between the pieces of the animals that had been cut in two. 18On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram. He said, “I am giving this land to your family who comes after you. It reaches from the River of Egypt to the great Euphrates River. 19It includes the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hittites, Perizzites and Rephaites. 21The Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites also live there.”

Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®

Learn More

Genesis 15

1¶ After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram; I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

2¶ And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?

3And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed; and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.

4And then the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thy heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thy heir.

5And he brought him forth abroad and said, Look now toward the heavens and count the stars, if thou art able to number them. And he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

6And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness.

7¶ And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it.

8And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

9And he said unto him, Take me a heifer three years old and a she goat three years old and a ram three years old and a turtledove and a young pigeon.

10And he took unto him all these and divided them in the midst and laid each piece one against another, but he did not divide the birds.

11And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

12¶ And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, behold, a horror of great darkness fell upon him.

13Then he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

14and also that nation, whom they shall serve, I will judge; and afterward shall they come out with great riches.

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

16But in the fourth generation they shall come here again; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

17¶ And it came to pass that when the sun went down and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

18In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed shall I give this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

19the 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.

The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International

Learn More

Choose your language

Genesis 15

Genesis 15