CHAPTER 15
After
these
events,
the word
of the LORD
came
to
Abram
in a vision:
“Do not
be afraid,
Abram.
I am
your shield,
your very
great
reward.”
But Abram
replied,
“O Lord
GOD,
what
can You give me,
since I
remain
childless,
and the heir
of my house
is Eliezer
of Damascus?”
Abram
continued,
“Behold,
You have given
me no
offspring,
so a servant
in my household
will be my heir.”
Then
the word
of the LORD
came to him,
saying,
“This
one will not
be your heir,
but
one
who
comes from
your own body
will be your heir.”
And the LORD took
him
outside
and said,
“Now
look
to the heavens
and count
the stars,
if you
are able.”
Then He declared,
“So shall
your offspring
be.”
The LORD also told
him,
“I
am the LORD,
who
brought you
out of Ur
of the Chaldeans
to give
you
this
land
to possess.”
And the LORD said
to him,
“Bring
Me
a heifer,
a goat,
and a ram,
each three years old,
along with a turtledove
and a young pigeon.”
So Abram brought
all
these to Him,
split
each of them
down the middle,
and laid
the halves
opposite
each
other.
The birds,
however,
he did not
cut.
As the sun
was
setting,
Abram
fell
into
a deep sleep,
and suddenly
great
terror
and darkness
overwhelmed
him.
Then the LORD said
to Abram,
“Know
for certain
that
your descendants
will be
strangers
in a land
that is not their own;
they will be enslaved
and mistreated
four
hundred
years.
But
I
will judge
the nation
they serve as slaves,
and afterward
they will depart
with many
possessions.
In the fourth
generation
your descendants will return
here,
for
the iniquity
of the Amorites
is not
yet
complete.”
When the sun
had set
and darkness
had fallen,
behold,
a smoking
firepot
and a flaming
torch
appeared and passed
between
the halves
of the carcasses.
On that
day
the LORD
made
a covenant
with
Abram,
saying,
“To your descendants
I have given
this
land—
from the river
of Egypt
to
the great
River
Euphrates—