Genesis
Chapter 15
1 After these events, God spoke to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram: I am your protector and your very great reward.”
2 Abram said, “God, what will you give me since I have no children, and my house manager is Eliezer from Damascus?”
3 Abram said, “Look, you have given me no children. So, someone born in my house will inherit everything.”
4 Look, God’s message came to him, saying, “This person will not be your heir; but your own future child will be your heir.”
5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars if you can.” Then he said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have.”
6 He believed in God, and it was credited to him as being right.
7 He said to him, “I am God who took you from Ur of the Chaldees to give you this land to own it.”
8 He asked, “God, how can I know that I will receive it?”
9 He said to 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.”
10 He took all these animals, split them in half, and put the halves opposite each other, but he did not split the birds.
11 When birds landed on the dead bodies, Abram scared them off.
12 As the sun set, Abram fell into a deep sleep and suddenly, a terrifying darkness came over him.
13 He told Abram, “Be certain that your descendants will live in a foreign land where they are not the owners, and they will serve the people of that land. They will be treated badly for four hundred years.”
14 I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward, they will leave with many possessions.
15 You will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried when you have lived a long life.
16 In the fourth generation, they will come back here because the Amorites’ wrongdoing is not complete yet.
17 When the sun set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch moved between the pieces of the offering.
18 On that day, God made a promise to Abram, saying, “I have given your descendants this land, from the Egypt river to the big river, the Euphrates river.”
19 The Kenites, the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
20 The Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
21 The Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.