Abram Promised a Son

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

² But Abram said, “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 Abram also said, “^[e]Since You have given me no ^[f]son, ^[g]one who has been ^(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 from your own ^[h]body 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 ^[j]credited 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 ^[k]possess it.” ⁸ But he said, “Lord ^[l]God, ^(L)how may I know that I will ^[m]possess it?” ⁹ So He said to him, “^[n]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 ^[o]brought all these to Him and ^(M)cut them ^[p]in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he ^(N)did not cut the birds. ¹¹ And 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, ^[q]terror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that ^(P)your ^[r]descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, ^[s]where ^(Q)they will be enslaved and oppressed for ^(R)four hundred years. ¹⁴ But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out ^(S)with ^[t]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 wrongdoing of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

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

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

The Lures of the Prostitute

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 And He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and ^[b]waited on Him. ¹⁶ Now 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 happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled: “^(D)He Himself took our illnesses 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 And Jesus *said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but ^(G)the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” ²¹ And another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.” ²² But Jesus *said to him, “^(H)Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Jesus Calms the Storm

^23 (I)When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. ²⁴ And behold, a ^[d]violent storm developed on the sea, so that the boat was being covered by 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 ^[e]afraid, ^(K)you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and ^[f]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 Sends Demons into Pigs

^28 (L)And when He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two ^(M)demon-possessed men confronted 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, “^[g](N)What business do You have with us, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before ^[h]the time?” ³⁰ Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding at a distance from them. ³¹ And the demons begged Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” ³² And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the pigs; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and ^[i]drowned in the waters. ³³ And the herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, ^[j]including what had happened to the ^(O)demon-possessed men. ³⁴ And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, ^(P)they pleaded with Him to leave their region.