Good News Translation GNT
World English Bible WEB
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."
1
After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Don't be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."
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.
2
Abram said, "Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"
3 You have given me no children, and one of my slaves will inherit my property."
3
Abram said, "Behold, to me you have given no seed: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir."
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."
4
Behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir, but he who will come forth out of your own body will be your heir."
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."
5
Yahweh brought him outside, and said, "Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." He said to Abram, "So shall your seed be."
6 Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.
6
He believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.
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."
7
He said to him, "I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it."
8 But Abram asked, "Sovereign Lord, how can I know that it will be mine?"
8
He said, "Lord Yahweh, whereby will I know that I will inherit it?"
9 He answered, "Bring me a cow, a goat, and a ram, each of them three years old, and a dove and a pigeon."
9
He said to him, "Take me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon."
10 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.
10
He took him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn't divide the birds.
11 Vultures came down on the bodies, but Abram drove them off.
11
The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
12 When the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and fear and terror came over him.
12
When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him.
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.
13
He said to Abram, "Know for sure that your seed will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years.
14 But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and when they leave that foreign land, they will take great wealth with them.
14
I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great substance.
15 You yourself will live to a ripe old age, die in peace, and be buried.
15
But you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried in a good old age.
16 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."
16
In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full."
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.
17
It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
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,
18
In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:
19 including the lands of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
19
the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
20
the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."
21
the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.