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Lunedi, 29 aprile 2024 - Santa Caterina da Siena ( Letture di oggi)

Genesis 15


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KING JAMES BIBLENEW JERUSALEM
1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.1 Some time later, the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram! I am yourshield and shal give you a very great reward.
2 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?2 'Lord Yahweh,' Abram replied, 'what use are your gifts, as I am going on my way childless? . . .
3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.3 Since you have given me no offspring,' Abram continued, 'a member of my household will be my heir.'
4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.4 Then Yahweh's word came to him in reply, 'Such a one wil not be your heir; no, your heir will be theissue of your own body.'
5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.5 Then taking him outside, he said, 'Look up at the sky and count the stars if you can. Just so wil yourdescendants be,' he told him.
6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.6 Abram put his faith in Yahweh and this was reckoned to him as uprightness.
7 And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.7 He then said to him, 'I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldaeans to give you thiscountry as your possession.'
8 And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?8 'Lord Yahweh,' Abram replied, 'how can I know that I shal possess it?'
9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.9 He said to him, 'Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat, a three-year-old ram, aturtledove and a young pigeon.'
10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.10 He brought him all these, split the animals down the middle and placed each half opposite the other;but the birds he did not divide.
11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.11 And whenever birds of prey swooped down on the carcases, Abram drove them off.
12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.12 Now, as the sun was on the point of setting, a trance fel on Abram, and a deep dark dreaddescended on him.
13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;13 Then Yahweh said to Abram, 'Know this for certain, that your descendants will be exiles in a land nottheir own, and be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.14 But I shal bring judgement on the nation that enslaves them and after this they wil leave, with manypossessions.
15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.15 For your part, you wil join your ancestors in peace; you wil be buried at a happy old age.
16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.16 In the fourth generation they wil come back here, for until then the iniquity of the Amorites wil nothave reached its ful extent.'
17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.17 When the sun had set and it was dark, there appeared a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passingbetween the animals' pieces.
18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:18 That day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram in these terms: 'To your descendants I give thiscountry, from the River of Egypt to the Great River, the River Euphrates,
19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,19 the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.'