Genesis 15

New International Version

TheLord’s Covenant With Abram

15 After this, the word of theLordcame to Abram^(A)in a vision:^(B)

² But Abram said, “SovereignLord,^(F)what can you give me since I remain childless^(G)and the one who will inherit^[c]my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?^(H)”³ And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant^(I)in my household^(J)will be my heir.”

⁴ Then the word of theLordcame to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.^(K)”⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars^(L)—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring^[d]be.”^(M)

⁶ Abram believed theLord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.^(N)

⁷ He also said to him, “I am theLord, who brought you out^(O)of Ur of the Chaldeans^(P)to give you this land to take possession of it.”^(Q)

⁸ But Abram said, “SovereignLord,^(R)how can I know^(S)that I will gain possession of it?”^(T)

⁹ So theLordsaid to him, “Bring me a heifer,^(U)a goat and a ram, each three years old,^(V)along with a dove and a young pigeon.^(W)”

¹⁰ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other;^(X)the birds, however, he did not cut in half.^(Y)11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses,^(Z)but Abram drove them away.

¹² As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep,^(AA)and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.¹³ Then theLordsaid to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years^(AB)your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved^(AC)and mistreated there.¹⁴ But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out^(AD)with great possessions.^(AE)15 You, however, will go to your ancestors^(AF)in peace and be buried at a good old age.^(AG)16 In the fourth generation^(AH)your descendants will come back here,^(AI)for the sin of the Amorites^(AJ)has not yet reached its full measure.”

¹⁷ When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch^(AK)appeared and passed between the pieces.^(AL)18 On that day theLordmade a covenant with Abram^(AM)and said, “To your descendants I give this land,^(AN)from the Wadi^[e]of Egypt^(AO)to the great river, the Euphrates^(AP)—¹⁹ the land of the Kenites,^(AQ)Kenizzites, Kadmonites,²⁰ Hittites,^(AR)Perizzites,^(AS)Rephaites,^(AT)21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”^(AU)