15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying,
“Do not fear, Abram,
I am a shield to you;
①Your reward shall be very great.”
▷ ①Or Your very great reward
15:2 But Abram said, “Lord ①GOD, what will You give me, since I ②am childless, and the ③heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
▷ ①Heb YHWH, usually rendered LORD ②Lit go ③Lit son of acquisition
15:3 Abram also said, “ ①Since You have given me no ②son, ③one who has been born in my house is my heir.”
▷ ①Lit Behold ②Lit seed ③Lit then behold, a son of my
15:4 Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come from your own ①body shall be your heir.”
▷ ①Lit inward parts
15:5 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your ①descendants be.”
▷ ①Lit seed
15:6 Then he believed in the LORD; and He ①credited it to him as righteousness.
▷ ①Or imputed
15:7 And He said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to ①possess it.”
▷ ①Or inherit
15:8 But he said, “Lord ①GOD, how may I know that I will ②possess it?”
▷ ①Heb YHWH, usually rendered LORD ②Or inherit
15:9 So He said to him, “ ①Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
▷ ①Lit Take
15:10 Then he ①brought all these to Him and cut them ②in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.
▷ ①Lit took ②Lit in the midst
15:11 And birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
15:12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, ①terror and great darkness fell upon him.
▷ ①Or a terror of great darkness
15:13 Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your ①descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, ②where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.
▷ ①Lit seed ②Lit and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them
15:14 But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with ①many possessions.
▷ ①Lit great
15:15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.
15:16 Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the wrongdoing of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
15:17 Now it came about, when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, a smoking oven and a flaming torch appeared which passed between these pieces.
15:18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying,
“To your ①descendants I have given this land,
From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
▷ ①Lit seed
15:19 the land of the Kenite, the Kenizzite, the Kadmonite,
15:20 the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Rephaim,
15:21 the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.”