15 After all these things, this word of God came to Abram in a vision: “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I’m your shield. Your reward will be grand!”

2-3 Abram said, “God, Master, what use are your gifts as long as I’m childless and Eliezer of Damascus is going to inherit everything?” Abram continued, “See, you’ve given me no children, and now a mere house servant is going to get it all.”

Then God’s Message came: “Don’t worry, he won’t be your heir; a son from your body will be your heir.”

Then he took him outside and said, “Look at the sky. Count the stars. Can you do it? Count your descendants! You’re going to have a big family, Abram!”

And he believed! Believed God! God declared him “Set-Right-with-God.”

God continued, “I’m the same God who brought you from Ur of the Chaldees and gave you this land to own.”

Abram said, “Master God, how am I to know this, that it will all be mine?”

God said, “Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, and a dove and a young pigeon.”

10-12 He brought all these animals to him, split them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. But he didn’t split the birds. Vultures swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram scared them off. As the sun went down a deep sleep overcame Abram and then a sense of dread, dark and heavy.

13-16 God said to Abram, “Know this: your descendants will live as outsiders in a land not theirs; they’ll be enslaved and beaten down for 400 years. Then I’ll punish their slave masters; your offspring will march out of there loaded with plunder. But not you; you’ll have a long and full life and die a good and peaceful death. Not until the fourth generation will your descendants return here; sin is still a thriving business among the Amorites.”

17-21 When the sun was down and it was dark, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch moved between the split carcasses. That’s when God made a covenant with Abram: “I’m giving this land to your children, from the Nile River in Egypt to the River Euphrates in Assyria—the country of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

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God's Covenant with Abram

15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: (A)“Fear not, Abram, I am (B)your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue[a] childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and (C)a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; (D)your very own son[b] shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and (E)number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, (F)“So shall your offspring be.” And (G)he believed the Lord, and (H)he counted it to him as righteousness.

And he said to him, “I am the Lord who (I)brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans (J)to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord God, (K)how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, (L)cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But (M)he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was going down, a (N)deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain (O)that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and (P)they will be afflicted for (Q)four hundred years. 14 But (R)I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward (S)they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; (T)you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for (U)the iniquity of the Amorites (V)is not yet complete.”

17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, (W)“To your offspring I give[c] this land, from (X)the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 15:2 Or I shall die
  2. Genesis 15:4 Hebrew what will come out of your own loins
  3. Genesis 15:18 Or have given

Deus faz uma aliança com Abrão

15 Depois disso Abrão teve uma visão, e nela o Senhor lhe disse:

— Abrão, não tenha medo. Eu o protegerei de todo perigo e lhe darei uma grande recompensa.

Abrão respondeu:

— Ó Senhor, meu Deus! De que vale a tua recompensa se eu continuo sem filhos? Eliézer, de Damasco, é quem vai herdar tudo o que tenho. Tu não me deste filhos, e por isso um dos meus empregados, nascido na minha casa, será o meu herdeiro.

Então o Senhor falou de novo e disse:

— O seu próprio filho será o seu herdeiro, e não o seu empregado Eliézer.

Aí o Senhor levou Abrão para fora e disse:

— Olhe para o céu e conte as estrelas se puder. Pois bem! Será esse o número dos seus descendentes.

Abrão creu em Deus, o Senhor, e por isso o Senhor o aceitou. O Senhor disse também:

— Eu sou Deus, o Senhor; eu o tirei da Babilônia, da cidade de Ur, a fim de lhe dar esta terra para ser sua propriedade.

— Ó Senhor, meu Deus! — disse Abrão. — Como posso ter certeza de que esta terra será minha?

O Senhor respondeu:

— Traga para mim uma vaca, uma cabra e uma ovelha, todas de três anos, e também uma rolinha e um pombo.

10 Abrão levou esses animais para o Senhor, cortou-os pelo meio e colocou as metades uma em frente à outra, em duas fileiras; porém as aves ele não cortou. 11 Então os urubus começaram a descer sobre os animais mortos, mas Abrão os enxotava. 12 Quando começou a anoitecer, Abrão caiu num sono profundo. De repente, ficou com medo, e o pavor tomou conta dele. 13 Então o Senhor disse:

— Fique sabendo, com certeza, que os seus descendentes viverão num país estrangeiro; ali serão escravos e serão maltratados durante quatrocentos anos. 14 Mas eu castigarei a nação que os escravizar. E os seus descendentes, Abrão, sairão livres, levando muitas riquezas. 15 Você terá uma velhice abençoada, morrerá em paz, será sepultado e irá se reunir com os seus antepassados no mundo dos mortos. 16 Depois de quatro gerações, os seus descendentes voltarão para cá; pois eu não expulsarei os amorreus até que eles se tornem tão maus, que mereçam ser castigados.

17 A noite caiu, e veio a escuridão. De repente, apareceu um braseiro, que soltava fumaça, e uma tocha de fogo. E o braseiro e a tocha passaram pelo meio dos animais partidos. 18 Nessa mesma ocasião o Senhor Deus fez uma aliança com Abrão. Ele disse:

— Prometo dar aos seus descendentes esta terra, desde a fronteira com o Egito até o rio Eufrates, 19 incluindo as terras dos queneus, dos quenezeus, dos cadmoneus, 20 dos heteus, dos perizeus, dos refains, 21 dos amorreus, dos cananeus, dos girgaseus e dos jebuseus.