Genesis 15

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
1 Some time after these events, this word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram! I am your shield; I will make your reward very great."	1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great."
2 But Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what good will your gifts be, if I keep on being childless and have as my heir the steward of my house, Eliezer?"	2 But Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"
3 Abram continued, "See, you have given me no offspring, and so one of my servants will be my heir."	3 And Abram said, "Behold, thou hast given me no offspring; and a slave born in my house will be my heir."
4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: "No, that one shall not be your heir; your own issue shall be your heir."	4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, "This man shall not be your heir; your own son shall be your heir."
5 He took him outside and said: "Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so," he added, "shall your descendants be."	5 And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be."
6 Abram put his faith in the LORD, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.	6 And he believed the LORD; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness.
7 He then said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as a possession."	7 And he said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess."
8 "O Lord GOD," he asked, "How am I to know that I shall possess it?"	8 But he said, "O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?"
9 He answered him, "Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon."	9 He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."
10 He brought him all these, split them in two, and placed each half opposite the other; but the birds he did not cut up.	10 And he brought him all these, cut them in two, and laid each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.
11 Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram stayed with them.	11 And when birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram, and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him.	12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram; and lo, a dread and great darkness fell upon him.
13 Then the LORD said to Abram: "Know for certain that your descendants shall be aliens in a land not their own, where they shall be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.	13 Then the LORD said to Abram, "Know of a surety that your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years;
14 But I will bring judgment on the nation they must serve, and in the end they will depart with great wealth.	14 but I will bring judgment on the nation which they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
15 You, however, shall join your forefathers in peace; you shall be buried at a contented old age.	15 As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.
16 In the fourth time-span the others shall come back here; the wickedness of the Amorites will not have reached its full measure until then."	16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."
17 When the sun had set and it was dark, there appeared a smoking brazier and a flaming torch, which passed between those pieces.	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 It was on that occasion that the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River (the Euphrates),	18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,
19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,	19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,	20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."	21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites."