Genesis 15

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1 After these things the word of Yehowah came to Abram in a vision, and said, Have no fear, Abram; I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great.

2 And Abram said, O Lord Yehowih, what wilt thou give me, since I am childless, and the steward of my house is a Damascene, Eliezer?

3 And Abram said, See, thou hast given me no children; and so one of my household has become my heir.

4 And then the word of Yehowah came to him, and he said, This one shall not be your heir; but one who will be born to you shall be your heir.

5 And he brought him outside, and said, Look now towards heaven and count the stars, if you can count them; and he said to him, So shall your descendants be.

6 And he believed in Yehowah, who counted it to him for righteousness.

7 And he said to him, I am Yehowah who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land for a possession.

8 And he said, O Lord Yehowih, how shall I know that I shall possess it?

9 And he said to him, Take for me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

10 And he took all these for him, and divided each of them down the middle and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not divide the birds.

11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

12 And when the sun had almost set, a deep sleep came over Abram; and then a horror and great darkness came over him.

13 And he said to Abram, Know for sure that your descendants will be settlers in a land which is not theirs, and will be slaves to those who are there, who will afflict them for four hundred years;

14 but I will also judge the nation which they will serve; and afterwards they will go out with great substance.

15 And you will come to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.

16 And the fourth generation will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.

17 Then when the sun had set and it was dark, he beheld a smoking furnace and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.

18 On that day Yehowah made a covenant with Abram, and said, To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:

19 the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

   
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Many thanks to the General Conference of the New Church for their permission for us to use this translation.