上帝与亚伯兰立约
1这些事以后，耶和华在异象中对亚伯兰说：“亚伯兰，你不要害怕，我是你的盾牌，我要大大赏赐你。” 2亚伯兰说：“主耶和华啊，你要赐我什么呢？我没有儿子，继承我家业的人是大马士革人以利以谢。” 3亚伯兰又说：“你没有赐我后裔，我家中的仆人将继承我的产业。” 4耶和华对他说：“这人不会成为你的继承人，你亲生的儿子才是你的继承人。” 5耶和华把亚伯兰带到外面，对他说：“你抬头看看天空，数数繁星，你能数得尽吗？”接着又对他说：“你的后裔必这么多。” 6亚伯兰信耶和华，耶和华便算他为义人。
7耶和华又对他说：“我是耶和华，我带你离开了迦勒底的吾珥，为要把这片土地赐给你作产业。” 8亚伯兰说：“主耶和华啊，我怎么知道我会得到这片土地呢？” 9耶和华说：“你要给我预备三岁的母牛、母山羊和公绵羊各一头，斑鸠和雏鸽各一只。” 10亚伯兰一一照办，把牲畜都劈成两半，一半对着一半地摆列，但没有劈开鸟。 11有鸷鸟飞到那些尸体上，亚伯兰赶走了它们。
12太阳下山的时候，亚伯兰睡得很沉，忽然有可怕的黑暗笼罩着他。 13耶和华对他说：“你要清楚知道，你的后裔必流落异乡，被奴役和虐待四百年。 14但我必惩罚那奴役他们的国家，之后他们必带着大量财物离开那里。 15而你必享长寿，得到安葬，归到列祖那里。 16到了第四代15:16 “代”希伯来文可能指人一生的年日。，你的子孙必重回此地，因为亚摩利人现在还没有恶贯满盈。”
17太阳下山，夜幕降临，突然有冒烟的火炉和点着的火炬在肉块中经过。 18就在那天，耶和华跟亚伯兰立约，说：“我必将这片土地赐给你的后裔，从埃及河一直延伸到幼发拉底大河， 19就是基尼人、基尼洗人、甲摩尼人、 20赫人、比利洗人、利乏音人、 21亚摩利人、迦南人、革迦撒人和耶布斯人的土地。”
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.”
