Common English Bible CEB
The Message Bible MSG
1 After these events, the LORD's word came to Abram in a vision, "Don't be afraid, Abram. I am your protector. Your reward will be very great."
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!"
2 But Abram said, "LORD God, what can you possibly give me, since I still have no children? The head of my household is Eliezer, a man from Damascus."
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?"
3 He continued, "Since you haven't given me any children, the head of my household will be my heir."
3
Abram continued, "See, you've given me no children, and now a mere house servant is going to get it all."
4 The LORD's word came immediately to him, "This man will not be your heir. Your heir will definitely be your very own biological child."
4
Then God's Message came: "Don't worry, he won't be your heir; a son from your body will be your heir."
5 Then he brought Abram outside and said, "Look up at the sky and count the stars if you think you can count them. He continued, "This is how many children you will have."
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!"
6 Abram trusted the LORD, and the LORD recognized Abram's high moral character.
6
And he believed! Believed God! God declared him "Set-Right-with-God."
7 He said to Abram, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession."
7
God continued, "I'm the same God who brought you from Ur of the Chaldees and gave you this land to own."
8 But Abram said, "LORD God, how do I know that I will actually possess it?"
8
Abram said, "Master God, how am I to know this, that it will all be mine?"
9 He said, "Bring me a three-year-old female calf, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a dove, and a young pigeon."
9
God said, "Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, and a dove and a young pigeon."
10 He took all of these animals, split them in half, and laid the halves facing each other, but he didn't split the birds.
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.
11 When vultures swooped down on the carcasses, Abram waved them off.
11
Vultures swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram scared them off.
12 After the sun set, Abram slept deeply. A terrifying and deep darkness settled over him.
12
As the sun went down a deep sleep overcame Abram and then a sense of dread, dark and heavy.
13 Then the LORD said to Abram, "Have no doubt that your descendants will live as immigrants in a land that isn't their own, where they will be oppressed slaves for four hundred years.
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.
14 But after I punish the nation they serve, they will leave it with great wealth.
14
Then I'll punish their slave masters; your offspring will march out of there loaded with plunder.
15 As for you, you will join your ancestors in peace and be buried after a good long life.
15
But not you; you'll have a long and full life and die a good and peaceful death.
16 The fourth generation will return here since the Amorites' wrongdoing won't have reached its peak until then."
16
Not until the fourth generation will your descendants return here; sin is still a thriving business among the Amorites."
17 After the sun had set and darkness had deepened, a smoking vessel with a fiery flame passed between the split-open animals.
17
When the sun was down and it was dark, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch moved between the split carcasses.
18 That day the LORD cut a covenant with Abram: "To your descendants I give this land, from Egypt's river to the great Euphrates,
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 -
19 together with the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
19
the country of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
20
Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim,
21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."
21
Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites."