Abram Promised a Son

15 After these things ^(A)the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,

² Abram said, “O Lord ^[b]God, what will You give me, since I ^[c]am childless, and the ^[d]heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “^[e]Since You have given no ^[f]offspring to me, ^[g]one ^(E)born in my house is my heir.” ⁴ Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; ^(F)but one who will come forth from your own ^[h]body, he shall be your heir.” ⁵ And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and ^(G)count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “^(H)So shall your ^[i]descendants be.” ^6 (I)Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. ⁷ And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of ^(J)Ur of the Chaldeans, to ^(K)give you this land to ^[j]possess it.” ⁸ He said, “O Lord ^[k]God, ^(L)how may I know that I will ^[l]possess it?” ⁹ So He said to him, “^[m]Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰ Then he ^[n]brought all these to Him and ^(M)cut them ^[o]in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he ^(N)did not cut the birds. ¹¹ The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

¹² Now when the sun was going down, ^(O)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, ^[p]terror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ God said to Abram, “Know for certain that ^(P)your ^[q]descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, ^[r]where ^(Q)they will be enslaved and oppressed ^(R)four hundred years. ¹⁴ But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out ^(S)with ^[s]many possessions. ¹⁵ As for you, ^(T)you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ Then in ^(U)the fourth generation they will return here, for ^(V)the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which ^(W)passed between these pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,

^19 (Z)the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite ²⁰ and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim ²¹ and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.”

The Wiles of the Harlot

Peter’s Mother-in-law and Many Others Healed

^14 (A)When Jesus came into Peter’s ^[a]home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. ¹⁵ He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and ^[b]waited on Him. ¹⁶ When evening came, they brought to Him many ^(B)who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and ^(C)healed all who were ill. ¹⁷ This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “^(D)He Himself took our infirmities and ^[c]carried away our diseases.”

Discipleship Tested

¹⁸ Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, ^(E)He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea. ^19 (F)Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” ²⁰ Jesus *said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the ^[d]air have ^[e]nests, but ^(G)the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” ²¹ Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” ²² But Jesus *said to him, “^(H)Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”

^23 (I)When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. ²⁴ And behold, there arose ^[f]a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. ²⁵ And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “^(J)Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” ²⁶ He *said to them, “Why are you ^[g]afraid, ^(K)you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and ^[h]it became perfectly calm. ²⁷ The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Jesus Casts Out Demons

^28 (L)When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were ^(M)demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. ²⁹ And they cried out, saying, “^[i](N)What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before ^[j]the time?” ³⁰ Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. ³¹ The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” ³² And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. ³³ The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, ^[k]including what had happened to the ^(O)demoniacs. ³⁴ And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, ^(P)they implored Him to leave their region.