Genesis 15

New King James Version

God’s Covenant with Abram^(A)

15 After these things the word of theLordcame to Abram^(B)in a vision, saying,^(C)“Do not be afraid, Abram. Iamyour^(D)shield,^[a]your exceedingly^(E)great reward.”

^2 (F)But Abram said, “LordGod, what will You give me,^(G)seeing I^[b]go childless, and the heir of my houseisEliezer of Damascus?”³ Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed^(H)one^[c]born in my house is my heir!”

⁴ And behold, the word of theLordcameto him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who^(I)will come from your own body shall be your heir.”⁵ Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and^(J)count the^(K)stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him,^(L)“So shall your^(M)descendants be.”

⁶ And he^(N)believed in theLord, and He^(O)accounted it to him for righteousness.

⁷ Then He said to him, “IamtheLord, who^(P)brought you out of^(Q)Ur of the Chaldeans,^(R)to give you this land to inherit it.”

⁸ And he said, “LordGod,^(S)how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

⁹ So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”¹⁰ Then he brought all these to Him and^(T)cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut^(U)the birds in two.¹¹ And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

¹² Now when the sun was going down,^(V)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horrorandgreat darkness fell upon him.¹³ Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly^(W)that your descendants will be strangers in a landthat isnot theirs, and will serve them, and^(X)they will afflict them four hundred years.¹⁴ And also the nation whom they serve^(Y)I will judge; afterward^(Z)they shall come out with great possessions.¹⁵ Now as for you,^(AA)you shall^[d]go^(AB)to your fathers in peace;^(AC)you shall be buried at a good old age.¹⁶ But^(AD)in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity^(AE)of the Amorites^(AF)isnot yet complete.”

¹⁷ And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that^(AG)passed between those pieces.¹⁸ On the same day theLord^(AH)made a covenant with Abram, saying:

^(AI)“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—¹⁹ the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites,²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”