2But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit#15:2 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

4Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring#15:5 Or seed be.”

6Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

7He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”

8But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”

9So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

10Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

12As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

17When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi#15:18 Or river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— 19the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®

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Genesis 15

1 And so, these things having been transacted, the word of the Lord came to Abram by a vision, saying: "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your protector, and your reward is exceedingly great."

2 And Abram said: "Lord God, what will you give to me? I may go without children. And the son of the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus."

3 And Abram added: "Yet to me you have not given offspring. And behold, my servant born in my house will be my heir."

4 And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: "This one will not be your heir. But he who will come from your loins, the same will you have for your heir."

5 And he brought him outside, and he said to him, "Take in the heavens, and number the stars, if you can." And he said to him, "So also will your offspring be."

6 Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.

7 And he said to him, "I am the Lord who led you away from Ur of the Chaldeans, so as to give you this land, and so that you would possess it."

8 But he said, "Lord God, in what way may I be able to know that I will possess it?"

9 And the Lord responded by saying: "Take for me a cow of three years, and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years, also a turtle-dove and a pigeon."

10 Taking all these, he divided them through the middle, and placed both parts opposite one another. But the birds he did not divide.

11 And birds descended upon the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

12 And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a dread, great and dark, invaded him.

13 And it was said to him: "Know beforehand that your future offspring will be sojourners in a land not their own, and they will subjugate them in servitude and afflict them for four hundred years.

14 Yet truly, I will judge the nation that they will serve, and after this they will depart with great substance.

15 But you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age.

16 But in the fourth generation, they will return here. For the iniquities of the Amorites are not yet completed, even to this present time."

17 Then, when the sun had set, there came a dark mist, and there appeared a smoking furnace and a lamp of fire passing between those divisions.

18 On that day, God formed a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your offspring I will give this land, from the river of Egypt, even to the great river Euphrates:

19 the land of the Kenites and the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites

20 and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, likewise the Rephaim,

21 and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

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The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

Genesis 15

Genesis 15