Genesis 15
15
God’s Agreement With Abram
1After all these things happened, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. God said, “Abram, don’t be afraid. I will defend you and give you a great reward.”
2But Abram said, “Lord GOD, there is nothing you can give me that will make me happy, because I have no son. My slave Eliezer from Damascus will get everything I own after I die.” 3Abram said, “You have given me no son, so a slave born in my house will get everything I have.”
4Then the Lord spoke to Abram and said, “That slave will not be the one to get what you have. You will have a son who will get everything you own.”
5Then God led Abram outside and said, “Look at the sky. See the many stars. There are so many you cannot count them. Your family will be like that.”
6Abram believed the Lord, and because of this faith the Lord accepted him as one who has done what is right. 7He said to Abram, “I am the Lord who led you from Ur of Babylonia.#15:7 Ur of Babylonia Literally, “Ur of the Chaldeans.” A city in southern Babylonia. I did this so that I could give you this land. You will own this land.”
8But Abram said, “Lord GOD, how can I be sure that I will get this land?”
9God said to Abram, “We will make an agreement. Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old goat, a three-year-old ram, a dove, and a young pigeon.”
10Abram brought all these to God. Abram killed these animals and cut each of them into two pieces. Then he laid each half across from the other half. He did not cut the birds into two pieces. 11Later, large birds flew down to eat the animals, but Abram chased them away.
12The sun began to go down and Abram got very sleepy. While he was asleep, a very terrible darkness came over him. 13Then the Lord said to Abram, “You should know this: Your descendants will live in a country that is not their own. They will be strangers there. The people there will make them slaves and be cruel to them for 400 years. 14But then I will punish the nation that made them slaves. Your people will leave that land, and they will take many good things with them.
15“You yourself will live to be very old. You will die in peace and will be buried with your family. 16After four generations your people will come to this land again and defeat the Amorites. That will happen in the future because the Amorites are not yet guilty enough to lose their land.”
17After the sun went down, it got very dark. The dead animals were still on the ground, each animal cut into two pieces. Then a smoking firepot#15:17 firepot A clay pot in which burning coals were placed to be used for starting new fires. and a flaming torch passed between the halves of the dead animals.#15:17 passed between … animals This showed that God “signed” or “sealed” the agreement he made with Abram. People showed that they were sincere in making an agreement by walking between the parts of animals that had been cut into pieces and saying something like, “May this same thing happen to me if I don’t keep the agreement.”
18So on that day the Lord made a promise and an agreement with Abram. He said, “I will give this land to your descendants. I will give them the land between the River of Egypt#15:18 River of Egypt That is, the stream called “Wadi El-Arish.” and the great river Euphrates. 19This is the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Genesis 15
15
God’s Covenant with Abram
1After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram #Gen. 15:4; 46:2; 1 Sam. 15:10; Dan. 10:1in a vision, saying, #Gen. 21:17; 26:24; Is. 41:10; Dan. 10:12“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your #Deut. 33:29; Ps. 3:3; 84:11; 91:4shield, your exceedingly #Num. 18:20; Ps. 58:11; Prov. 11:18great reward.”
2#Gen. 17:18But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, #Acts 7:5seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed #Gen. 14:14one born in my house is my heir!”
4And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who #2 Sam. 7:12; Gal. 4:28will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and #Gen. 22:17; 26:4; Deut. 1:10; Ps. 147:4count the #Jer. 33:22stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, #Ex. 32:13; Rom. 4:18; Heb. 11:12“So shall your #Gen. 17:19descendants be.”
6And he #Gen. 21:1; Rom. 4:3, 9, 22; Gal. 3:6; James 2:23believed in the Lord, and He #Ps. 32:2; 106:31accounted it to him for righteousness.
7Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who #Gen. 12:1brought you out of #Gen. 11:28, 31Ur of the Chaldeans, #Gen. 13:15, 17; Ps. 105:42, 44to give you this land to inherit it.”
8And he said, “Lord God, #Gen. 24:13, 14; Judg. 6:36–40; 1 Sam. 14:9, 10; Luke 1:18how shall I know that I will inherit it?”
9So He said to 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.” 10Then he brought all these to Him and #Gen. 15:17; Jer. 34:18cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut #Lev. 1:17the birds in two. 11And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12Now when the sun was going down, #Gen. 2:21; 28:11; Job 33:15a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 13Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly #Ex. 1:11; Acts 7:6that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and #Ex. 12:40they will afflict them four hundred years. 14And also the nation whom they serve #Ex. 6:6I will judge; afterward #Ex. 12:36they shall come out with great possessions. 15Now as for you, #Job 5:26you shall go #Gen. 25:8; 47:30to your fathers in peace; #Gen. 25:8you shall be buried at a good old age. 16But #Gen. 15:13; Ex. 12:41in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity #Gen. 48:22; Lev. 18:24–28; 1 Kin. 21:26of the Amorites #1 Kin. 11:12; Matt. 23:32is not yet complete.”
17And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that #Jer. 34:18, 19passed between those pieces. 18On the same day the Lord #Gen. 24:7made a covenant with Abram, saying:
#Gen. 12:7; 17:8; Ex. 23:31; Num. 34:3; Deut. 11:24; Josh. 1:4; 21:43; Acts 7:5“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— 19the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, 20the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.