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

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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The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

Genesis 15

Genesis 15