Genesis 15

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
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.	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."
2 'Lord Yahweh,' Abram replied, 'what use are your gifts, as I am going on my way childless? . . .	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?"
3 Since you have given me no offspring,' Abram continued, 'a member of my household will be my heir.'	3 Abram continued, "See, you have given me no offspring, and so one of my servants will be my 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.'	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."
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.	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."
6 Abram put his faith in Yahweh and this was reckoned to him as uprightness.	6 Abram put his faith in the LORD, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.
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.'	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."
8 'Lord Yahweh,' Abram replied, 'how can I know that I shal possess it?'	8 "O Lord GOD," he asked, "How am I to know that I shall possess it?"
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.'	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."
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.	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.
11 And whenever birds of prey swooped down on the carcases, Abram drove them off.	11 Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram stayed with them.
12 Now, as the sun was on the point of setting, a trance fel on Abram, and a deep dark dreaddescended on him.	12 As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram, and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him.
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.	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.
14 But I shal bring judgement on the nation that enslaves them and after this they wil leave, with manypossessions.	14 But I will bring judgment on the nation they must serve, and in the end they will depart with great wealth.
15 For your part, you wil join your ancestors in peace; you wil be buried at a happy old age.	15 You, however, shall join your forefathers in peace; you shall be buried at a contented old age.
16 In the fourth generation they wil come back here, for until then the iniquity of the Amorites wil nothave reached its ful extent.'	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."
17 When the sun had set and it was dark, there appeared a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passingbetween the animals' pieces.	17 When the sun had set and it was dark, there appeared a smoking brazier and a flaming torch, which passed between those pieces.
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,	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),
19 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."