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Genesis 15

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1 After these words*, the word of Jehovah was to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram; I am a shield for thee, thy reward is multiplied exceedingly.

2 And Abram said, Lord Jehovih*, what wilt Thou give to me, and I am walking childless, and the son, the steward of my house, he is Eliezer the Damascene?

3 And Abram said, Lo, to me Thou hast not given seed, and behold a son of my house is the heir with me.

4 And behold the word of Jehovah was to him, saying, This one shall not be thine heir; for he that shall go·​·out from thy bowels shall be thine heir.

5 And He brought· him ·forth outside, and said, Look now toward the heavens, and number the stars, if thou be·​·able to number them; and He said to him, Thus shall thy seed be.

6 And he believed in Jehovah, and He reckoned* it to him for justice.

7 And He said to him, I am Jehovah who brought· thee ·out from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give to thee this land, to possess her.

8 And he said, Lord Jehovih, By what shall I know that I shall possess her?

9 And He said to him, Take for me a heifer of·​·three years, and a she-goat of·​·three years, and a ram of·​·three years, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

10 And he took to him all these and parted them in the midst, and put each part to meet its companion; and the birds he did not part.

11 And the swooping fowls came·​·down upon the corpses, and Abram caused them to fly* away.

12 And it was that the sun set* and a deep·​·sleep fell on Abram; and behold a terror of great darkness falling on him.

13 And He said to Abram, Knowing thou shalt know that thy seed shall be a sojourner in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.

14 And also upon the nation whom they shall serve will I make·​·judgment; and after thus shall they go·​·out with great acquisition.

15 And thou shalt come to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age*.

16 And in the fourth generation they shall return hither, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not consummated* even·​·until now.

17 And it was that the sun set*, and there was deep·​·darkness; and behold, a smoking oven, and a torch of fire that passed between those pieces that·​·were·​·severed.

18 In that day Jehovah cut a covenant with Abram, saying, To thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates;

19 the Kenite, and the Kenezzite, 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.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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The Word

  
A detail from the Winchester Bible, this shows God putting words in the mouth of Jeremiah.

Consider the beautiful but cryptic statements of John 1:1:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

God's love has always been and will always be infinite and perfect. That means the expression of God's love -- His truth -- has also always been and will always be infinite and perfect.

The Lord has shared this truth with us in various ways since the beginning of humanity. The earliest people received truth directly, flowing into the inner parts of their minds from heaven. Later, people understood it through nature seeing the Lord's love expressed in mountains, trees, rivers, and the sun, moon and stars. By using natural language as a container for spiritual language, the Lord expressed truth within the Bible inside its stories, laws and prophecies. When humanity reached its lowest point, God took on a human form and walked among us as Jesus. In this way, the Lord brought us Divine truths in an accessible and tangible way. By accepting and loving the Lord as Jesus we can open ourselves to His love.

Finally, the Heavenly Doctrine received through the pen of Emanuel Swedenborg are themselves a container for Divine Truth, both in speaking plainly about heaven and by unlocking the truth as it is contained in the Bible.

The Word itself is Divine Truth; the Lord's expression of love has and never will change.