The Lord’s Covenant With Abram
1After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,15:1 Or sovereign
your very great reward.15:1 Or shield; / your reward will be very great”
2But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit15:2 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
4Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring15:5 Or seed be.”
6Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
7He 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.”
8But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”
9So 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.”
10Abram 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. 11Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
17When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi15:18 Or river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— 19the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”
Pangano la Mulungu ndi Abramu
1Zitatha izi, Yehova anayankhula ndi Abramu mʼmasomphenya nati:
“Usaope Abramu.
Ine ndili ngati chishango chokutchinjiriza.
Mphotho yako idzakhala yayikulu.”
2Koma Abramu anati, “Haa! Ambuye Yehova, mukhoza kundipatsa chiyani popeza ndikanali wopanda mwana ndipo amene adzatenge chuma changa ndi Eliezara wa ku Damasiko? 3Inu simunandipatse ana kotero kuti wantchito wa ku nyumba kwanga ndiye amene adzalowe mʼmalo mwanga.”
4Yehova anayankhula naye nati: “Munthu uyu sadzalowa mʼmalo mwako, koma mwana wako weniweni wamwamuna, wobereka wekha ndiye adzalowe mʼmalo mwako.” 5Yehova anapita naye Abramu panja nati, “Tayangʼana kumwambaku, ndipo chifukwa cha chimenechi uwerenge nyenyezi ngati ungathe kuziwerenga.” Ndipo anamuwuza kuti, “Ndi mmene adzakhalire ana ako ndi zidzukulu zako.”
6Abramu anakhulupirira Yehova, ndipo ichi chinamuchititsa kukhala wolungama.
7Ndipo anamuwuza kuti, “Ine ndine Yehova amene ndinakuchotsa iwe ku mzinda wa Uri wa ku Akaldeya kuti ndikupatse dziko ili kuti likhale lako.”
8Koma Abramu anati, “Haa! Ambuye Yehova, kodi ndingadziwe bwanji kuti lidzakhaladi langa?”
9Kotero Yehova anati kwa iye, “Kanditengere kamsoti kangʼombe ka zaka zitatu, kamsoti ka mbuzi ka zaka zitatu, ndi nkhosa yayimuna ya zaka zitatu pamodzi ndi nkhunda ndi kamwana ka njiwa.”
10Abramu anabweretsadi zonsezi nadula chilichonse pakati nʼkuzindandalika, chidutswa chilichonse kuyangʼanana ndi chinzake; koma njiwa ndi nkhunda sanazidule pakati. 11Pamene miphamba inabwera kuti itole nyama ija, Abramu anayipirikitsa.
12Pamene dzuwa limalowa Abramu anagona tulo tofa nato ndipo mdima wandiweyani ndi wochititsa mantha unamuphimba. 13Tsono Yehova anati kwa iye, “Uyenera kudziwa mosakayika kuti zidzukulu zako zidzakhala alendo mʼdziko lachilendo ndipo zidzakhala akapolo ndi kuzunzidwa zaka 400. 14Koma ndidzalanga dziko limene zidzukulu zako zidzagwireko ukapolo ndipo pambuyo pake iwo adzatulukamo ndi chuma chambiri. 15Komabe iweyo udzamwalira mu mtendere ndi kuyikidwa mʼmanda utakalamba bwino. 16Patapita mibado inayi, adzukulu ako adzabwereranso kuno popeza tchimo la Aamori silinafike pachimake kuti alangidwe.”
17Dzuwa litalowa ndipo mdima utagwa, panaoneka mʼphika wofuka nthunzi ya moto ndi sakali yoyaka ndipo zinadutsa pakati pa zidutswa za nyama zija. 18Pa tsiku limenelo, Yehova anachita pangano ndi Abramu nati, “Ndikulonjeza kuti ndidzapereka dziko ili kwa zidzukulu zako, kuchokera ku mtsinje wa ku Igupto mpaka ku mtsinje waukulu wa Yufurate. 19Ndidzakupatsani dziko la Akeni, Akenizi, Akadimoni, 20Ahiti, Aperezi, Arefaimu, 21Aamori, Akanaani, Agirigasi ndi Ayebusi.”
