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®

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Genesis 15

1After these things the word of the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) came unto Avram (Exalted Father; Father Of Elevation) in a vision, saying, Fear not, Avram (Exalted Father; Father Of Elevation): I [am] youri shield, [and youri] exceeding great reward.

2And Avram (Exalted Father; Father Of Elevation) said, Lord-Adonai (Greatest Above All) GOD-Yehōvih [THE FATHER], what will youi give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house [is] this Eli’ezer [God is help] of Dammesek (Damascus) [silent is the sackcloth weaver]?

3And Avram (Exalted Father; Father Of Elevation) said, Behold, to me youi have given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is my heir.

4And, behold, the word of the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) [came] unto him, saying, This shall not be youri heir; but he that shall come forth out of youri own bowels (inward parts; affections) shall be youri heir.

5And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if youi be able to tell them: and he said unto him, So shall youri seed be.

6And he believed in the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate); and he counted it to him for righteousness.

7And he said unto him, I [am] the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) that brought youi out of ‘Ur of the Kasdim’ [The Fire of the Sorcerers], to give youi this land to inherit it.

8And he said, Lord-Adonai (Greatest Above All) GOD-Yehōvih [THE FATHER], whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

9And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of 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 the birds divided he not.

11And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Avram (Exalted Father; Father Of Elevation) drove them away.

12And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Avram (Exalted Father; Father Of Elevation); and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

13And he said unto Avram (Exalted Father; Father Of Elevation), Know of a surety that youri 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, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

15And youi shall go to youri fathers in peace; youi shall be buried in a good old age.

16But in the fourth generation they shall come to this place (till this point in time) again: for the iniquity of the Emorim (The Talkers) is not yet full.

17And 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-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) made a covenant with Avram (Exalted Father; Father Of Elevation), saying, Unto youri seed have I given this land, from the river of Mitzrayim [Egypt] (Double Distress or Double Stronghold, Black Land) unto the great river, the river Euphrates (the break forth, gush):

19The Keno (Merchants), and the Konini (possession, purchase), and the Kadmoni (ancients),

20And the Hitti (one who is broken; who fears), and the P’rizi (rustic or belonging to a village), and the Refa’im (giants, old tribe of giants; fearful; dead),

21And the Emorim (The Talkers), and the Kena’ani (low/humbled ones; merchants), and the Girgashi, and the Y’vusi (Trampled Underfoot).

For more information about the NMV, details about why the names of God are notated and translated as they are, or to learn about the special markings and translations used in this text, click below.

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Genesis 15

Genesis 15