Chapter 15

Chapter 15

1 After these events, the word of The Sovereign, The Self-Existent came to Abram in a visual manifestation:

“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be exceptionally vast.”

2 But Abram replied, “My Master, The Sovereign, The Self-Existent, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”

3 Abram continued, “Look, You have given me no offspring, so a servant born into my household will be my heir.”

4 Then the word of The Sovereign, The Self-Existent came to him immediately: “This man will not be your heir. A son who comes from your own body will be your heir.”

5 He took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if you can actually count them.” Then He told him, “That is how numerous your offspring will be.”

6 Abram trusted in The Sovereign, The Self-Existent, who credited it to him as right alignment.

7 He also said to him, “I am The Sovereign, The Self-Existent, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

8 But Abram asked, “My Master, The Sovereign, The Self-Existent, how can I know for certain that I will possess it?”

9 So He said to him, “Bring Me a 3-year-old heifer, a 3-year-old female goat, a 3-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

10 Abram brought all these to Him, cut them in half down the middle, and arranged the pieces opposite each other; however, he did not cut the birds in half.

11 When birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a terrifying, heavy darkness enveloped him.

13 Then He said to Abram, “Knowing, you shall know that your offspring will live as foreigners in a land that does not belong to them, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for 400 years.

14 But I will execute judgment against the nation they serve, and afterward they will leave with vast possessions.

15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.

16 In the 4th generation your offspring will return here, for the depravity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

17 When the sun had gone down and it was pitch dark, a smoking firepot and a blazing torch appeared and passed between the divided animal pieces.

18 On that exact day, The Sovereign, The Self-Existent finalized a binding agreement with Abram, saying:

“To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—

19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,

20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,

21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”