The Abrahamic Covenant
1 After these events, the word of theLordcameto Abram in a vision:
Do not be afraid,Abram.
I am your shield;
your reward will be very great.
2 But Abram said, “LordGod, what can You give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? ”
3 Abram continued, “Look, You have given me no offspring, so a slave born inmy house will be my heir.”
4 Now the word of theLordcame to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own bodywill be your heir.”
5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”
6 Abram believed theLord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.
7 He also said to him, “I am Yahweh who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
8 But he said, “LordGod, how can I knowthat I will possess it? ”
9 He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
10 So he brought all these to Him, split them down the middle, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut up the birds.
11 Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was setting, a deep sleepfell on Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.
13 Then theLordsaid to Abram,“Know this for certain: Your offspring will be foreignersin a land that does not belong to them; they will be enslaved and oppressed400 years.
14 However, I will judge the nation they serve,and afterward they will go out with many possessions.
15 But you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.
16 In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
17 When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals.
18 On that day theLordmade a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring,from the brook of Egyptto the Euphrates River:
19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim,
21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/GEN/15-7dfaf1057ef85fb0ef96aa4e88d45bac.mp3?version_id=72—