God’s Covenant with Abram

15 After these things happened, the Lord spoke his word to Abram in a vision: “Abram, don’t be afraid. I will ·defend [^Lbe a shield to] you, and ·I will give you a great reward [^Lyour reward will be great].”

² But Abram said, “Lord God [^CHebrew Adonai Yahweh; combination of covenant name YHWH (2:4) with common Hebrew word for “sir,” “lord,” or “master”], what can you give me? I ·have no son [am childless], so my ·slave [servant] Eliezer from Damascus [^Ca major city in Syria] will ·get everything I own after I die [be my heir; ^Ca household servant would take care of a childless couple in their old age and in turn inherit their possessions].” ³ Abram said, “Look, you have given me no son, so a slave born in my house will ·inherit everything I have [be my heir].”

⁴ Then the Lord spoke his word to Abram: “He will not be the one to inherit what you have. You will have a son of your own who will inherit what you have.”

⁵ Then God led Abram outside and said, “Look at the ·sky [heavens]. There are so many stars you cannot count them. Your ·descendants [^Lseed] also will be too many to count.”

⁶ Abram ·believed [put his trust/faith in] the Lord. And the Lord ·accepted Abram’s faith, and that faith made him right with God [^Tcounted/credited it as righteousness; Rom. 4:3, 9, 22; Gal. 3:6; James 2:23].

⁷ God said to Abram, “I am the Lord who led you out of Ur of ·Babylonia [^Lthe Chaldeans] so that I could give you this land ·to own [^Las a possession; 12:1–3].”

⁸ But Abram said, “Lord God, how can I ·be sure [^Lknow] that I will ·own this land [possess/inherit it]?”

⁹ ·The Lord [^LHe] said to Abram, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old goat, a three-year-old ·male sheep [ram], a ·dove [turtledove], and a young pigeon.”

¹⁰ Abram brought them all to God. Then Abram ·killed the animals and cut each of them into two pieces [^Lsplit them down the middle], laying each half opposite the other half. But he did not cut the birds in half. ¹¹ Later, ·large birds [or birds of prey] flew down to eat the ·animals [^Lcarcasses], but Abram chased them away [^Cperhaps representing later enemies of Israel].

¹² As the sun was ·going down [setting], Abram fell into a deep sleep. While he was asleep, a very ·terrible [or frightening] darkness came. ¹³ Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your ·descendants [^Lseed] will be ·strangers [sojourners; wanderers; resident aliens] in a land they don’t own. The people there will make them slaves and ·be cruel to [oppress] them for four hundred years. ¹⁴ But I will ·punish [judge] the nation ·where they are slaves [^Lwhich they serve]. Then your ·descendants [^Lseed] will leave that land, taking great ·wealth [possessions] with them. ¹⁵ And you, Abram, will ·die [^Lgo to your fathers/ancestors] in peace and will be buried at an old age. ¹⁶ ·After your great-great-grandchildren are born [^LAfter the fourth generation], ·your people [^Lthey] will come ·to this land [^Lhere] again. It will take that long, because ·I am not yet going to punish the Amorites for their evil behavior [^Tthe iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete; ^CAmorites is one name for the pre-Israelite inhabitants of Canaan].”

¹⁷ After the sun went down, it was very dark. Suddenly a smoking firepot and a blazing torch [^Cfire and smoke often represent God] passed between the ·halves of the dead animals [^Lpieces; ^Ca self-curse ritual; by passing between the pieces of the sacrifice, one vowed to keep an agreement or suffer the same fate as the animals]. ¹⁸ So on that day the Lord ·made an agreement [^Lcut a covenant/treaty; 6:18] with Abram and said, “I will give to your ·descendants [^Lseed] the land between the river of Egypt and the great river Euphrates. ¹⁹ This is the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰ Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, ²¹ Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites [^Cthe name of peoples who lived in pre-Israelite Canaan].”