Genesis

The first book of Moses, called Genesis, chapter 15, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 15 New English Translation

The Cutting of the Covenant

   1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram! I am your shield and the one who will reward you in great abundance."
   2 But Abram said, "O sovereign LORD, what will you give me since I continue to be childless, and my heir is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 Abram added, "Since you have not given me a descendant, then look, one born in my house will be my heir!"
   4 But look, the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but instead a son who comes from your own body will be your heir." 5 The LORD took him outside and said, "Gaze into the sky and count the stars - if you are able to count them!" Then he said to him, "So will your descendants be."
   6 Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD considered his response of faith as proof of genuine loyalty.
   7 The LORD said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess." 8 But Abram said, "O sovereign LORD, by what can I know that I am to possess it?"
   9 The LORD said to him, "Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon." 10 So Abram took all these for him and then cut them in two and placed each half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds in half. 11 When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
   12 When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, and great terror overwhelmed him. 13 Then the LORD said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. 14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15 But as for you, you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit."
   17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch passed between the animal parts. 18 That day the LORD made a covenant with Abram: "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River - 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites."

King James Version

   1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
   2 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
   3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
   4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
   5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
   6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
   7 And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
   8 And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
   9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
   10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.
   11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
   12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
   13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not their's, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
   14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
   15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
   16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
   17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
   18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
   19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
   20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
   21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.