Genesis 15
Yahweh Cuts a Covenant with Abram
15After these things athe word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, “bDo not fear, Abram,I am ca shield to you;1Your dreward shall be very great.”
2And Abram said, “O Lord Yahweh, what will You give me, as I go on being childless, and the 1heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3And Abram said, “1Since You have given no seed to me, behold, 2one aborn in my house is my heir.” 4Then behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, “This one will not be your heir; abut one who will come forth from your own 1body, he shall be your heir.” 5And He brought him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and anumber the stars, if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “bSo shall your seed be.” 6aThen he believed in Yahweh; and He counted it to him as righteousness. 7And He said to him, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of aUr of the Chaldeans, to bgive you this land to 1possess it.” 8And he said, “O Lord Yahweh, ahow may I know that I will 1possess it?” 9So He said to him, “1Bring 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 1brought all these to Him and asplit them into parts 2down the middle and laid each part opposite the other; but he bdid not split apart the birds. 11Then the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
12Now it happened that when the sun was going down, aa deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, 1terror and great darkness fell upon him. 13Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that ayour seed will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, 1and bthey will be enslaved and mistreated cfour hundred years. 14“But I will also judge the nation to whom they are enslaved, and afterward they will come out awith 1many possessions. 15“As for you, ayou shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. 16“Then in athe fourth generation they will return here, for bthe iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
17Now it happened that the sun had set, and it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which apassed between these pieces. 18On that day Yahweh cut a covenant with Abram, saying, “aTo your seed I have given this land,From bthe river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
19athe 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.”