Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

15 Some time later the word of Adonai came to Avram in a vision: “Don’t be afraid, Avram. I am your protector; your reward will be very great.” ² Avram replied, “Adonai, God, what good will your gifts be to me if I continue childless; and Eli‘ezer from Dammesek inherits my possessions? ³ You haven’t given me a child,” Avram continued, “so someone born in my house will be my heir.” ⁴ But the word of Adonai came to him: “This man will not be your heir. No, your heir will be a child from your own body.” ⁵ Then he brought him outside and said, “Look up at the sky, and count the stars — if you can count them! Your descendants will be that many!” ⁶ He believed in Adonai, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

(vi) ⁷ Then he said to him, “I am Adonai, who brought you out from Ur-Kasdim to give you this land as your possession.” ⁸ He replied, “Adonai, God, how am I to know that I will possess it?” ⁹ He answered him, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a dove and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰ He brought him all these, cut the animals in two and placed the pieces opposite each other; but he didn’t cut the birds in half. ¹¹ Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, but Avram drove them away.

¹² As the sun was about to set, a deep sleep fell on Avram; horror and great darkness came over him. ¹³ Adonai said to Avram, “Know this for certain: your descendants will be foreigners in a land that is not theirs. They will be slaves and held in oppression there four hundred years. ¹⁴ But I will also judge that nation, the one that makes them slaves. Afterwards, they will leave with many possessions. ¹⁵ As for you, you will join your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ Only in the fourth generation will your descendants come back here, because only then will the Emori be ripe for punishment.”

¹⁷ After the sun had set and there was thick darkness, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared, which passed between these animal parts. ¹⁸ That day Adonai made a covenant with Avram: “I have given this land to your descendants — from the Vadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River —

³³ “If you make a tree good, its fruit will be good; and if you make a tree bad, its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴ You snakes! How can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what overflows from the heart. ³⁵ The good person brings forth good things from his store of good, and the evil person brings forth evil things from his store of evil. ³⁶ Moreover, I tell you this: on the Day of Judgment people will have to give account for every careless word they have spoken; ³⁷ for by your own words you will be acquitted, and by your own words you will be condemned.”