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.”

CJB brought to you by Messianic Jewish Publishers and Resources
For more information and to purchase a hard copy of the Complete Jewish Bible,

Learn More

Genesis 15

A Son Promised to Abram

1After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. 2And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eli-e´zer of Damascus? 3And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 4And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5#Rom 4.18; Heb 11.12. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6#Rom 4.3; Gal 3.6; Jas 2.23. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

7And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. 8And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? 9And he said unto him, Take me a 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, Abram drove them away.

12And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him. 13#Exod 1.1-14; Acts 7.6. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14#Exod 12.40,41; Acts 7.7. and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites 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. 18#Acts 7.5. In that same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphra´tes: 19the Kenites, and the Ken´izzites, and the Kad´monites, 20and the Hittites, and the Per´izzites, and the Reph´a-im, 21and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Gir´gashites, and the Jeb´usites.

Learn More

Choose your language

B'resheet (Gen) 15

Genesis 15