Genesis 15
15
The Lord’s Covenant Promise to Abram
1Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.”
2But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. 3You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.”
4Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” 5Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”
6And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.
7Then the Lord told him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.”
8But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?”
9The Lord told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half. 11Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.
12As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him. 13Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 14But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. 15(As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) 16After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.”
17After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. 18So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt#15:18 Hebrew the river of Egypt, referring either to an eastern branch of the Nile River or to the Brook of Egypt in the Sinai (see Num 34:5). to the great Euphrates River— 19the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
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Genesis 15: NLT
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Bereshis 15
15
1After these things the Devar Hashem came unto Avram in a makhazeh, saying, Fear not, Avram; I am thy mogen, and thy exceeding great sachar (reward).
2And Avram said, Adonoi Hashem, what wilt Thou give me, since I go childless, and the Ben Meshek of my Bais is this Eli'ezer of Damesek (Damascus)?
3And Avram said, See, to me Thou hast given no zera; and, hinei, one born in my bais is my yoresh (heir).
4And, hinei, the Devar Hashem came unto him saying, This shall not be thy yoresh; but he that shall come forth out of thine own body shall be thy yoresh.
5And He brought him forth outside, and said, Look now toward Shomayim, and count the kokhavim, if thou be able to number them; and He said unto him, So shall thy zera be.
6And he believed in Hashem; and He credited [emunah (faith)] to him as tzedakah (righteousness).
7And He said unto him, I am Hashem Who brought thee out of Ur Kasdim, to give thee ha'aretz hazot to be the yoresh of it.
8And he said, Adonoi Hashem, how can I have da'as that I will be its yoresh?
9And He said unto him, Bring Me a heifer meshuleshet, and a she goat meshuleshet, and a ram meshulash, and a dove, and a pigeon.
10And he brought unto Him all these, and divided them in two, and laid each half one opposite another; but the birds divided he not.
11And when the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Avram drove them away.
12And when the shemesh was going down, a tardemah fell upon Avram; and, hinei, a horror of great darkness fell upon him.
13And Hashem said unto Avram, Know of a surety that thy zera shall be a ger in a land not their own, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them arba me'ot shanah;
14And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterward shall they come out with rechush gadol (great substance).
15And thou shalt go to thy avot in shalom; thou shalt be buried at a good old age.
16But in the fourth generation they shall come back here again; for the avon (iniquity) of the Emori (Amorite) is not yet full.
17And it came to pass, that, when the shemesh went down, and it was dark, hinei a smoking fire-pot, and a blazing torch passed between those pieces.
18On that day Hashem cut a brit (covenant) with Avram, saying, Unto thy zera have I given ha'aretz hazot, from the Wadi of Mitzrayim unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
19[the land of] the Keni, and the Kenizzi, and the Kadmoni,
20And the Chitti, and the Perizzi, and the Repha'im,
21And the Emori, and the Kena'ani, and the Girgashi, and the Yevusi.
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