The Lord Helps His Troubled People

A Psalm of David ^(A)when he fled from Absalom his son.

God’s Covenant with Abram^(A)

15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram ^(B)in a vision, saying, ^(C)“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your ^(D)shield, ^[a]your exceedingly ^(E)great reward.”

^2 (F)But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, ^(G)seeing I ^[b]go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed ^(H)one^[c] born in my house is my heir!”

⁴ And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who ^(I)will come from your own body shall be your heir.” ⁵ Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and ^(J)count the ^(K)stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, ^(L)“So shall your ^(M)descendants be.”

⁶ And he ^(N)believed in the Lord, and He ^(O)accounted it to him for righteousness.

⁷ Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who ^(P)brought you out of ^(Q)Ur of the Chaldeans, ^(R)to give you this land to inherit it.”

⁸ And he said, “Lord God, ^(S)how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

⁹ So He said to him, “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 brought all these to Him and ^(T)cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut ^(U)the birds in two. ¹¹ And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

¹² Now when the sun was going down, ^(V)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly ^(W)that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and ^(X)they will afflict them four hundred years. ¹⁴ And also the nation whom they serve ^(Y)I will judge; afterward ^(Z)they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ Now as for you, ^(AA)you shall ^[d]go ^(AB)to your fathers in peace; ^(AC)you shall be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ But ^(AD)in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity ^(AE)of the Amorites ^(AF)is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that ^(AG)passed between those pieces.