God’s Covenant with Abram
1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a svision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your tshield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I ucontinue1 childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; vyour very own son2 shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the wstars, xif you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, y“So shall your offspring be.” 6 zAnd he believed the Lord, and he acounted it to him as righteousness.
7 And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out bfrom Ur of the Chaldeans cto give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord God, dhow am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, ecut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. fBut he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 gAs the sun was going down, a hdeep sleep fell on Abram. iAnd behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that jyour offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be kafflicted for lfour hundred years. 14 But mI will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward nthey shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; oyou shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And pthey shall come back here in the fourth generation, for qthe iniquity of the Amorites is rnot yet complete.”
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 sOn that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give3 this land, tfrom the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord lappeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God mAlmighty;1 nwalk before me, and be oblameless, 2 that I may pmake my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the qfather of a multitude of nations. 5 rNo longer shall your name be called Abram,2 sbut your name shall be Abraham,3 for tI have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly ufruitful, and I will make you into nations, and vkings shall come from you. 7 And I will westablish my covenant between me and you and xyour offspring after you throughout their generations for an yeverlasting covenant, zto be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And aI will give to you band to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, call the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and dI will be their God.”
9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 eThis is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: fEvery male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a gsign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is height days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house ior bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an jeverlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be kcut off from his people; he has lbroken my covenant.”
