Some time later, the word of Yehovah came to Abram in a vision. He said, "Fear not Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great." But Abram said, " O Yehovah Elohim, what can You give me, seeing that I shall die childless, and the one in charge of my household is Dammeseq Eliezer!" Abram said further, "Since You have granted me no offspring, my steward will be my heir." The word of Yehovah came to him in reply, "That one shall not be your heir; none but your very own issue shall be your heir. He took him outside and said, "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He added, "So shall your offspring be." And because he put his trust in Yehovah, He reckoned it to his merit.
Then He said to him, "I am Yehovah who brought you out from Ur of the Kasdim to assign this land to you as a possession." And he said, "O Yehovah Elohim, how shall I know that I am to possess it?" He answered, "Bring Me a three year old heifer, a three year old she goat, a three year old ram, a turtledove, and a young bird." He brought Him all these and cut them in two, placing each half opposite the other; but he did not cut up the bird. Birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. As the sun was about to set, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great dark dread descended upon him. And He said to Abram, "Know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years; but I will execute judgment on the nation they shall serve, and in the end they shall go free with great wealth. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a ripe old age. And they shall return here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Emori is not yet complete."
When the sun set and it was very dark, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between those pieces. On that day Yehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your offspring I assign this land, from the river of Mitzramah to the great river, the river of Perath, the Qeni, the Qenizzi, the Qadmoni, the Chitti, the Perizzi, the Rapha, the Emori, the Kna'aniy, the Girgashi, and the Yebusi.
Chapter 15
THE WORD OF ELOHIM
GENESIS
