Genesis 15

Abram Promised a Son

1After these things 1the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “2Do not fear, Abram, I am 3a shield to you; 4Your 5reward shall be very great.” 2Abram said, “O Lord 6God, what will You give me, since I 7am childless, and the 8heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3And Abram said, “9Since You have given no 10offspring to me, 11one 12born in my house is my heir.” 4Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; 13but one who will come forth from your own 14body, he shall be your heir.” 5And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and 15count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “16So shall your 17descendants be.” 618Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. 7And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of 19Ur of the Chaldeans, to 20give you this land to 21possess it.” 8He said, “O Lord 22God, 23how may I know that I will 24possess it?” 9So He said to him, “25Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10Then he 26brought all these to Him and 27cut them 28in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he 29did not cut the birds. 11The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

12Now when the sun was going down, 30a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, 31terror and great darkness fell upon him. 13God said to Abram, “Know for certain that 32your 33descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, 34where 35they will be enslaved and oppressed 36four hundred years. 14But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out 37with 38many possessions. 15As for you, 39you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. 16Then in 40the fourth generation they will return here, for 41the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

17It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which 42passed between these pieces. 18On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “43To your 44descendants I have given this land, From 45the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: 1946the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite 20and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim 21and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.”