God’s Covenant with Abram (Romans 4:1–12; Hebrews 11:8–19)
1 CPDV And so, these things having been transacted, the word of the Lord came to Abram by a vision, saying: “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your protector, and your reward is exceedingly great.” BSB BSB: After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
3 CPDV And Abram added: “Yet to me you have not given offspring. And behold, my servant born in my house will be my heir.” BSB BSB: Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
4 CPDV And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: “This one will not be your heir. But he who will come from your loins, the same will you have for your heir.” BSB BSB: Then the word of the LORD came to Abram, saying, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”
5 CPDV And he brought him outside, and he said to him, “Take in the heavens, and number the stars, if you can.” And he said to him, “So also will your offspring be.” BSB BSB: And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 CPDV Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice. BSB BSB: Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
7 CPDV And he said to him, “I am the Lord who led you away from Ur of the Chaldeans, so as to give you this land, and so that you would possess it.” BSB BSB: The LORD also told him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
God Confirms His Promise (Numbers 34:1–15; Romans 4:13–25)
8 CPDV But he said, “Lord God, in what way may I be able to know that I will possess it?” BSB BSB: But Abram replied, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?”
9 CPDV And the Lord responded by saying: “Take for me a cow of three years, and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years, also a turtle-dove and a pigeon.” BSB BSB: And the LORD said to him, “Bring Me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon.”
10 CPDV Taking all these, he divided them through the middle, and placed both parts opposite one another. But the birds he did not divide. BSB BSB: So Abram brought all these to Him, split each of them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not cut in half.
11 CPDV And birds descended upon the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. BSB BSB: And the birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12 CPDV And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a dread, great and dark, invaded him. BSB BSB: As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.
13 CPDV And it was said to him: “Know beforehand that your future offspring will be sojourners in a land not their own, and they will subjugate them in servitude and afflict them for four hundred years. BSB BSB: Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
14 CPDV Yet truly, I will judge the nation that they will serve, and after this they will depart with great substance. BSB BSB: But I will judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will depart with many possessions.
15 CPDV But you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. BSB BSB: You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.
17 CPDV Then, when the sun had set, there came a dark mist, and there appeared a smoking furnace and a lamp of fire passing between those divisions. BSB BSB: When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the carcasses.
18 CPDV On that day, God formed a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your offspring I will give this land, from the river of Egypt, even to the great river Euphrates: BSB BSB: On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
19 CPDV the land of the Kenites and the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites BSB BSB: the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
20 CPDV and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, likewise the Rephaim, BSB BSB: Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
21 CPDV and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.” BSB BSB: Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”