A modern English translation drawn directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. Translated word-for-word where possible, by a committee with scholarly oversight.
Uses the same source texts as the ESV, NASB, and most academic Bibles, including the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Nestle-Aland critical edition.
Genesis 15
Genesis 15 is the fifteenth chapter of the book of Genesis and the chapter in which the LORD formally makes a covenant with Abram. The 21-verse chapter contains one of the Bible's most-quoted lines about faith, an unusual covenant ceremony, and a prophecy of slavery and return that will shape the rest of the Pentateuch.
The chapter opens with the word of the LORD coming to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." Abram replies that the LORD has given him no offspring, and that the heir of his house is Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in his household.
The LORD answers that the heir will come from Abram's own body. He takes Abram outside and says, "Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able." Then he tells him, "So shall your offspring be." The narrator records, "Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
The LORD then identifies himself as the one who brought Abram out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give him the land. Abram asks how he can know that he will possess it. The LORD instructs him to bring a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon. Abram brings all these, splits the larger animals in half, and lays the halves opposite each other. He drives away the birds of prey that descend on the carcasses.
As the sun is setting, Abram falls into a deep sleep, and great terror and darkness overwhelm him. The LORD tells him that his descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years, and will then come out with many possessions. Abram himself will live to a ripe old age and be buried in peace. In the fourth generation his descendants will return, "for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."
When the sun has set and darkness has fallen, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appear and pass between the halves of the carcasses. On that day the LORD makes a covenant with Abram, promising the land from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates. The covenant lists the peoples whose lands it covers: the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.
Verse 1. After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
Verse 2. But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
Verse 3. Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
Verse 4. Then the word of the LORD came to Abram, saying, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”
Verse 5. And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Verse 6. Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
Verse 7. The LORD also told him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
Verse 8. But Abram replied, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?”
Verse 9. And the LORD said to him, “Bring Me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon.”
Verse 10. So Abram brought all these to Him, split each of them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not cut in half.
Verse 11. And the birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
Verse 12. As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.
Verse 13. Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
Verse 14. But I will judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will depart with many possessions.
Verse 15. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.
Verse 16. In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
Verse 17. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the carcasses.
Verse 18. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
Verse 19. the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
Verse 20. Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
Verse 21. Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
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