The Steadfast Love of the Lord

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.” ² 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?” ³ And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and ^(C)a member of my household will be my heir.” ⁴ 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.” ⁵ 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.” ⁶ And ^(G)he believed the Lord, and ^(H)he counted it to him as righteousness.

⁷ 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.” ⁸ But he said, “O Lord God, ^(K)how am I to know that I shall possess it?” ⁹ 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,

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

^27 (A)And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, ^(B)Son of David.” ²⁸ When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” ^29 (C)Then he touched their eyes, saying, ^(D)“According to your faith be it done to you.” ³⁰ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, ^(E)“See that no one knows about it.” ^31 (F)But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.

Jesus Heals a Man Unable to Speak

³² As they were going away, behold, a ^(G)demon-oppressed man who was mute ^(H)was brought to him. ³³ And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds ^(I)marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” ³⁴ But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”