The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Have no fear, Abram: I will keep you safe, and great will be your reward.
1
After this, Abram had a vision and heard the Lord say to him, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I will shield you from danger and give you a great reward."
2 And Abram said, What will you give me? for I have no child and this Eliezer of Damascus will have all my wealth after me.
2
But Abram answered, "Sovereign Lord, what good will your reward do me, since I have no children? My only heir is Eliezer of Damascus.
3 And Abram said, You have given me no child, and a servant in my house will get the heritage.
3
You have given me no children, and one of my slaves will inherit my property."
4 Then said the Lord, This man will not get the heritage, but a son of your body will have your property after you.
4
Then he heard the Lord speaking to him again: "This slave Eliezer will not inherit your property; your own son will be your heir."
5 And he took him out into the open air, and said to him, Let your eyes be lifted to heaven, and see if the stars may be numbered; even so will your seed be.
5
The Lord took him outside and said, "Look at the sky and try to count the stars; you will have as many descendants as that."
6 And he had faith in the Lord, and it was put to his account as righteousness.
6
Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.
7 And he said to him, I am the Lord, who took you from Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land for your heritage.
7
Then the Lord said to him, "I am the Lord, who led you out of Ur in Babylonia, to give you this land as your own."
8 And he said, O Lord God, how may I be certain that it will be mine?
8
But Abram asked, "Sovereign Lord, how can I know that it will be mine?"
9 And he said, Take a young cow of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a sheep of three years old, and a dove and a young pigeon.
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He answered, "Bring me a cow, a goat, and a ram, each of them three years old, and a dove and a pigeon."
10 All these he took, cutting them in two and putting one half opposite the other, but not cutting the birds in two.
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Abram brought the animals to God, cut them in half, and placed the halves opposite each other in two rows; but he did not cut up the birds.
11 And evil birds came down on the bodies, but Abram sent them away.
11
Vultures came down on the bodies, but Abram drove them off.
12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep came on Abram, and a dark cloud of fear.
12
When the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and fear and terror came over him.
13 And he said to Abram, Truly, your seed will be living in a land which is not theirs, as servants to a people who will be cruel to them for four hundred years;
13
The Lord said to him, "Your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land; they will be slaves there and will be treated cruelly for four hundred years.
14 But I will be the judge of that nation whose servants they are, and they will come out from among them with great wealth.
14
But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and when they leave that foreign land, they will take great wealth with them.
15 As for you, you will go to your fathers in peace; at the end of a long life you will be put in your last resting-place.
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You yourself will live to a ripe old age, die in peace, and be buried.
16 And in the fourth generation they will come back here; for at present the sin of the Amorite is not full.
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It will be four generations before your descendants come back here, because I will not drive out the Amorites until they become so wicked that they must be punished."
17 Then when the sun went down and it was dark, he saw a smoking fire and a flaming light which went between the parts of the bodies.
17
When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch suddenly appeared and passed between the pieces of the animals.
18 In that day the Lord made an agreement with Abram, and said, To your seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:
18
Then and there the Lord made a covenant with Abram. He said, "I promise to give your descendants all this land from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River,
19 The Kenite, the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite,
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including the lands of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
20 And the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,
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the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
21 And the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.
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the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.