God’s Covenant with Abram(A)

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

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

And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who (I)will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 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.”

And he (N)believed in the Lord, and He (O)accounted it to him for righteousness.

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

And he said, “Lord God, (S)how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

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, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly (W)that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not 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)is not 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 the Lord (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.”

Hagar and Ishmael

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, (AJ)had borne him no children. And she had (AK)an Egyptian maidservant whose name was (AL)Hagar. (AM)So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord (AN)has restrained me from bearing children. Please, (AO)go in to my maid; perhaps I shall [e]obtain children by her.” And Abram (AP)heeded the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram (AQ)had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became (AR)despised in her [f]eyes.

Then Sarai said to Abram, [g]“My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. (AS)The Lord judge between you and me.”

(AT)So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, (AU)she fled from her presence.

Now the (AV)Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, (AW)by the spring on the way to (AX)Shur. And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and (AY)submit yourself under her hand.” 10 Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, (AZ)“I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” 11 And the Angel of the Lord said to her:

“Behold, you are with child,
(BA)And you shall bear a son.
You shall call his name [h]Ishmael,
Because the Lord has heard your affliction.
12 (BB)He shall be a wild man;
His hand shall be against every man,
And every man’s hand against him.
(BC)And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”

13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-[i]the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here [j]seen Him (BD)who sees me?” 14 Therefore the well was called (BE)Beer Lahai Roi;[k] observe, it is (BF)between Kadesh and Bered.

15 So (BG)Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 15:1 Or your reward shall be very great
  2. Genesis 15:2 am childless
  3. Genesis 15:3 a servant
  4. Genesis 15:15 Die and join your ancestors
  5. Genesis 16:2 Lit. be built up from
  6. Genesis 16:4 sight
  7. Genesis 16:5 The wrong done to me be
  8. Genesis 16:11 Lit. God Hears
  9. Genesis 16:13 Heb. El Roi
  10. Genesis 16:13 Seen the back of
  11. Genesis 16:14 Lit. Well of the One Who Lives and Sees Me

Prayer and Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Righteous Judgments

To the Chief Musician. To the tune of [a]“Death of the Son.” A Psalm of David.

I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
I will be glad and (A)rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, (B)O Most High.

When my enemies turn back,
They shall fall and perish at Your presence.
For You have maintained my right and my cause;
You sat on the throne judging in righteousness.
You have rebuked the [b]nations,
You have destroyed the wicked;
You have (C)blotted out their name forever and ever.

O enemy, destructions are finished forever!
And you have destroyed cities;
Even their memory has (D)perished.
(E)But the Lord shall endure forever;
He has prepared His throne for judgment.
(F)He shall judge the world in righteousness,
And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.

The Lord also will be a (G)refuge[c] for the oppressed,
A refuge in times of trouble.
10 And those who (H)know Your name will put their trust in You;
For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.

11 Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion!
(I)Declare His deeds among the people.
12 (J)When He avenges blood, He remembers them;
He does not forget the cry of the [d]humble.

13 Have mercy on me, O Lord!
Consider my trouble from those who hate me,
You who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 That I may tell of all Your praise
In the gates of [e]the daughter of Zion.
I will (K)rejoice in Your salvation.

15 (L)The [f]nations have sunk down in the pit which they made;
In the net which they hid, their own foot is caught.
16 The Lord is (M)known by the judgment He executes;
The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.
(N)Meditation.[g] Selah

17 The wicked shall be turned into hell,
And all the [h]nations (O)that forget God.
18 (P)For the needy shall not always be forgotten;
(Q)The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.

19 Arise, O Lord,
Do not let man prevail;
Let the [i]nations be judged in Your sight.
20 Put them in fear, O Lord,
That the [j]nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 9:1 Heb. Muth Labben
  2. Psalm 9:5 Gentiles
  3. Psalm 9:9 Lit. secure height
  4. Psalm 9:12 afflicted
  5. Psalm 9:14 Jerusalem
  6. Psalm 9:15 Gentiles
  7. Psalm 9:16 Heb. Higgaion
  8. Psalm 9:17 Gentiles
  9. Psalm 9:19 Gentiles
  10. Psalm 9:20 Gentiles

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