Genesis 14:17-15:18

New International Version

¹⁷ After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer^(A) and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom^(B) came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).^(C)

¹⁸ Then Melchizedek^(D) king of Salem^(E) brought out bread^(F) and wine.^(G) He was priest of God Most High,^{(H) 19} and he blessed Abram,^(I) saying,

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.^(M)

²¹ The king of Sodom^(N) said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods^(O) for yourself.”

²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom,^(P) “With raised hand^(Q) I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High,^(R) Creator of heaven and earth,^{(S) 23} that I will accept nothing belonging to you,^(T) not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ ²⁴ I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre.^(U) Let them have their share.”

The Lord’s Covenant With Abram

15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram^(V) in a vision:^(W)

² But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,^(AA) what can you give me since I remain childless^(AB) and the one who will inherit^[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?^(AC)” ³ And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant^(AD) in my household^(AE) will be my heir.”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.^(AF)” ⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars^(AG)—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring^[d] be.”^(AH)

⁶ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.^(AI)

⁷ He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out^(AJ) of Ur of the Chaldeans^(AK) to give you this land to take possession of it.”^(AL)

⁸ But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,^(AM) how can I know^(AN) that I will gain possession of it?”^(AO)

⁹ So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer,^(AP) a goat and a ram, each three years old,^(AQ) along with a dove and a young pigeon.^(AR)”

¹⁰ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other;^(AS) the birds, however, he did not cut in half.^{(AT) 11} Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses,^(AU) but Abram drove them away.

¹² As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep,^(AV) and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. ¹³ Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years^(AW) your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved^(AX) and mistreated there. ¹⁴ But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out^(AY) with great possessions.^{(AZ) 15} You, however, will go to your ancestors^(BA) in peace and be buried at a good old age.^{(BB) 16} In the fourth generation^(BC) your descendants will come back here,^(BD) for the sin of the Amorites^(BE) has not yet reached its full measure.”

¹⁷ When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch^(BF) appeared and passed between the pieces.^{(BG) 18} On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram^(BH) and said, “To your descendants I give this land,^(BI) from the Wadi^[e] of Egypt^(BJ) to the great river, the Euphrates^(BK)—