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New International Version (NIV) |
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1 After all these things, this word of God came to Abram in a vision: "Don't be afraid, Abram. I'm your shield. Your reward will be grand!"
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1 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."
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2 Abram said, "God, Master, what use are your gifts as long as I'm childless and Eliezer of Damascus is going to inherit everything?"
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2 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"
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3 Abram continued, "See, you've given me no children, and now a mere house servant is going to get it all."
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3 And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir."
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4 Then God's Message came: "Don't worry, he won't be your heir; a son from your body will be your heir."
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4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir."
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5 Then he took him outside and said, "Look at the sky. Count the stars. Can you do it? Count your descendants! You're going to have a big family, Abram!"
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5 He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
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6 And he believed! Believed God! God declared him "Set-Right-with-God."
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6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
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7 God continued, "I'm the same God who brought you from Ur of the Chaldees and gave you this land to own."
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7 He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it."
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8 Abram said, "Master God, how am I to know this, that it will all be mine?"
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8 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?"
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9 God said, "Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, and a dove and a young pigeon."
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9 So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."
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10 He brought all these animals to him, split them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. But he didn't split the birds.
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10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half.
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11 Vultures swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram scared them off.
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11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
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12 As the sun went down a deep sleep overcame Abram and then a sense of dread, dark and heavy.
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12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.
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13 God said to Abram, "Know this: your descendants will live as outsiders in a land not theirs; they'll be enslaved and beaten down for 400 years.
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13 Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
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14 Then I'll punish their slave masters; your offspring will march out of there loaded with plunder.
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14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.
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15 But not you; you'll have a long and full life and die a good and peaceful death.
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15 You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age.
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16 Not until the fourth generation will your descendants return here; sin is still a thriving business among the Amorites."
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16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."
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17 When the sun was down and it was dark, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch moved between the split carcasses.
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17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.
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18 That's when God made a covenant with Abram: "I'm giving this land to your children, from the Nile River in Egypt to the River Euphrates in Assyria -
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18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates--
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19 the country of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
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19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
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20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim,
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20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
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21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites."
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21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites."
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| Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved. (The Message Bible Online) |
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |
