1Some time later the word of Adonai came to Avram in a vision: “Don’t be afraid, Avram. I am your protector; your reward will be very great.” 2Avram replied, “Adonai, God, what good will your gifts be to me if I continue childless; and Eli‘ezer from Dammesek inherits my possessions? 3You haven’t given me a child,” Avram continued, “so someone born in my house will be my heir.” 4But the word of Adonai came to him: “This man will not be your heir. No, your heir will be a child from your own body.” 5Then he brought him outside and said, “Look up at the sky, and count the stars — if you can count them! Your descendants will be that many!” 6He believed in Adonai, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

(vi) 7Then he said to him, “I am Adonai, who brought you out from Ur-Kasdim to give you this land as your possession.” 8He replied, “Adonai, God, how am I to know that I will possess it?” 9He answered him, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a dove and a young pigeon.” 10He brought him all these, cut the animals in two and placed the pieces opposite each other; but he didn’t cut the birds in half. 11Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, but Avram drove them away.

12As the sun was about to set, a deep sleep fell on Avram; horror and great darkness came over him. 13Adonai said to Avram, “Know this for certain: your descendants will be foreigners in a land that is not theirs. They will be slaves and held in oppression there four hundred years. 14But I will also judge that nation, the one that makes them slaves. Afterwards, they will leave with many possessions. 15As for you, you will join your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16Only in the fourth generation will your descendants come back here, because only then will the Emori be ripe for punishment.”

17After the sun had set and there was thick darkness, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared, which passed between these animal parts. 18That day Adonai made a covenant with Avram: “I have given this land to your descendants — from the Vadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River — 19the territory of the Keni, the K’nizi, the Kadmoni, 20the Hitti, the P’rizi, the Refa’im, 21the Emori, the Kena‘ani, the Girgashi and the Y’vusi.”

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Genesis 15

1Now when these things were done, the word of the Lord came to Abram by a vision, saying: Fear not, Abram, I am thy protector, and thy reward exceeding great.

2And Abram said: Lord God, what wilt thou give me? I shall go without children: and the son of the steward of my house is this Damascus Eliezer.

3And Abram added: But to me thou hast not given seed: and lo, my servant, born in my house, shall be my heir.

4And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: He shall not be thy heir: but he that shall come out of thy bowels, him shalt thou have for thy heir.

5And he thought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to heaven, and number the stars, if thou canst. And he said to him: So shall thy seed be.

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

7And he said to him: I am the Lord who brought thee out from Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land, and that thou mightest possess it.

8But he said: Lord God, whereby may I know that I shall possess it?

9And the Lord answered, and said: Take me a cow of three years old, and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years, a turtle also, and a pigeon.

10And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid the two pieces of each one against the other; but the birds he divided not.

11And the fowls came down upon carcasses: and Abram drove them away.

12And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram: and a great and darksome horror seized upon him.

13And it was said unto him: Know thou beforehand that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own, and they shall bring them under bondage, and afflict them, four hundred years.

14But I will judge the nation which they shall serve, and after this they shall come out with great substance.

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

16But in the fourth generation they shall return hither: for as yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full, until this present time.

17And when the sun was set, there arose a dark mist; and there appeared a smoking furnace, and a lamp of fire passing between those divisions.

18That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: To thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt even to the great river Euphrates.

19The Cineans and Cenezites, the Cedmonites,

20And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also,

21And the Amorrhites, and the Chanaanits, and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.

An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.

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B'resheet (Gen) 15

Genesis 15