The Scriptures (ISR 1998) 1After these events the word of יהוה came to Aḇram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Aḇram. I am your shield, your reward is exceedingly great.” 2And Aḇram said, “Master יהוה, what would You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eli‛ezer of Damascus?” 3And Aḇram said, “See, You have given me no seed, and see, one born in my house is my heir!” 4And see, the word of יהוה came to him, saying, “This one is not your heir, but he who comes from your own body is your heir.” 5And He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward the heavens, and count the stars if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So are your seed.” 6And he believed in יהוה, and He reckoned it to him for righteousness. 7And He said to him, “I am יהוה, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.” 8And he said, “Master יהוה, whereby do I know that I possess it?” 9And He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, and a three-year-old female goat, and a three-year-old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10And he took all these to Him and cut them in the middle, and placed each half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds. 11And the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Aḇram drove them away. 12And it came to be, when the sun was going down, and a deep sleep fell upon Aḇram, that see, a frightening great darkness fell upon him. 13And He said to Aḇram, “Know for certain that your seed are to be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years. 14“But the nation whom they serve I am going to judge, and afterward let them come out with great possessions. 15“Now as for you, you are to go to your fathers in peace, you are to be buried at a good old age. 16“Then, in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the crookedness of the Amorites is not yet complete.” 17And it came to be, when the sun went down and it was dark, that see, a smoking oven and a burning torch passing between those pieces. 18On the same day יהוה made a covenant with Aḇram, saying, “I have given this land to your seed, from the river of Mitsrayim to the great river, the River Euphrates, 19with the Qĕynite, and the Qenizzite, and the Qaḏmonite, 20and the Ḥittite, and the Perizzite, and the Repha’im, 21and the Amorite, and the Kena‛anite, and the Girgashite, and the Yeḇusite.” |