Genesis 15  Legacy Standard Bible

Yahweh Cuts a Covenant with Abram

15 After these things ^(A)the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying,

² And Abram said, “O Lord Yahweh, what will You give me, as I go on being childless, and the ^[b]heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “^[c]Since You have given no seed to me, behold, ^[d]one ^(E)born in my house is my heir.” ⁴ Then behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, “This one will not be your heir; ^(F)but one who will come forth from your own ^[e]body, he shall be your heir.” ⁵ And He brought him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and ^(G)number the stars, if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “^(H)So shall your seed be.” ^6 (I)Then he believed in Yahweh; and He counted it to him as righteousness. ⁷ And He said to him, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of ^(J)Ur of the Chaldeans, to ^(K)give you this land to ^[f]possess it.” ⁸ And he said, “O Lord Yahweh, ^(L)how may I know that I will ^[g]possess it?” ⁹ So He said to him, “^[h]Bring 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.” ¹⁰ Then he ^[i]brought all these to Him and ^(M)split them into parts ^[j]down the middle and laid each part opposite the other; but he ^(N)did not split apart the birds. ¹¹ Then the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

¹² Now it happened that when the sun was going down, ^(O)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, ^[k]terror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that ^(P)your seed will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, ^[l]and ^(Q)they will be enslaved and mistreated ^(R)four hundred years. ¹⁴ But I will also judge the nation to whom they are enslaved, and afterward they will come out ^(S)with ^[m]many possessions. ¹⁵ As for you, ^(T)you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ Then in ^(U)the fourth generation they will return here, for ^(V)the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ Now it happened that the sun had set, and it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which ^(W)passed between these pieces. ¹⁸ On that day Yahweh cut a covenant with Abram, saying,

^19 (Z)the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite ²⁰ and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim ²¹ and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.”