Genesis 15
God encourageth Abram.
Genesis 15:1 Now when these things were done, the word of the Lord came to Abram by a vision, saying: Fear not, Abram, I am thy protector, and thy reward exceeding great.
Abram complaineth for want of an heir.
Genesis 15:2 And Abram said: Lord God, what wilt thou give me? I shall go without children: and the son of the steward of my house is this Damascus Eliezer. Genesis 15:3 And Abram added: But to me thou hast not given seed: and lo my servant born in my house, shall be my heir.
God promiseth him a son, and a multiplying of his seed.
Genesis 15:4 And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: He shall not be thy heir: but he that shall come out of thy bowels, him shalt thou have for thy heir. Genesis 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to heaven and number the stars if thou canst. And he said to him: So shall thy seed be.
Abram is justified by faith.
Genesis 15:6 Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.
Canaan is promised again, and confirmed by a sign,
Genesis 15:7 And he said to him: I am the Lord who brought thee out from Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land, and that thou mightest possess it. Genesis 15:8 But he said: Lord God, whereby may I know that I shall possess it? Genesis 15:9 And the Lord answered, and said: Take me a cow of three years old, and a she goat of three years. and a ram of three years, a turtle also, and a pigeon. Genesis 15:10 And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid the two pieces of each one against the other: but the birds he divided not. Genesis 15:11 And the fowls came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
and a vision.
Genesis 15:12 And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great and darksome horror seized upon him. Genesis 15:13 And it was said unto him: Know thou beforehand that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own, and they shall bring them under bondage, and afflict them four hundred years. Genesis 15:14 But I will judge the nation which they shall serve, and after this they shall come out with great substance. Genesis 15:15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried in a good old age. Genesis 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall return hither: for as yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full until this present time. Genesis 15:17 And when the sun was set, there arose a dark mist, and there appeared a smoking furnace, and a lamp of fire passing between those divisions. Genesis 15:18 That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: To thy seed will I give this land, from the river to Egypt even to the great river Euphrates. Genesis 15:19 The Cineans, and Cenezites, the Cedmonites, Genesis 15:20 And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also, Genesis 15:21 And the Amorrhites, and the Chanaanites, and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.
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