Genesis 15 Intro: God covenants with Abram -- Abram's vision -- The captivity foretold.
1 And it came to pass, that after these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying;
2 Fear not, Abram; I will be thy shield; I will be thy exceeding great reward. And according to the blessings of my servant, I will give unto thee.
3 And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and Eliezer of Damascus was made the steward of my house?
4 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed; and lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
5 And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him again, saying,
6 This shalt not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
7 And he brought him forth abroad, and he said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them.
8 And he said unto him, so shall thy seed be.
9 And Abram said, Lord God, how wilt thou give me this land for an everlasting inheritance?
10 And the Lord said, Though thou wast dead, yet am I not able to give it thee?
11 And if thou shalt die, yet thou shalt possess it, for the day cometh, that the Son of Man shall live; but how can he live if he be not dead? he must first be quickened.
12 And it came to pass that Abram looked forth and saw the days of the Son of Man, and was glad, and his soul found rest, and he believed in the Lord; and the Lord counted it unto him for righteousness.
13 And the Lord said unto him, I, the Lord, brought thee out of Ur, of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
14 And Abram said, Lord, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? yet he believed God. And the Lord said unto him, Take me a heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.
15 And he took unto him all these, and he divided them in the midst, and he laid each piece one against the other; but the birds divided he not.
16 And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a great horror of darkness fell upon him.
17 And the Lord spake, and he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land which shall not be theirs, and shall serve strangers; and they shall be afflicted, and serve them four hundred years; and also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge; and afterwards shall they come out with great substance.
18 And thou shalt die, and go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
19 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
20 And it came to pass, that when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp which passed between those pieces which Abram had divided.
21 And in that 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 Euphrates;
22 The Kenites, and the Kenazites, and the Kadmonites, and Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
