God’s Covenant with Abram (Romans 4:1–12; Hebrews 11:8–19)
1 UDB Some time later, Abram had a vision in which Yahweh spoke to him and said, "Do not be afraid of anything, I will protect you and I will give a great reward." 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 UDB Abram also said, "You have not given me any children, so a servant in my household will inherit everything that I own!" BSB BSB: Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
4 UDB Yahweh replied, "No! He will not be the one who will inherit it. Instead, you yourself will be the father of the one who will inherit everything you own." 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 UDB Then Yahweh took Abram outside of his tent and said, "Look up at the sky! Can you count the stars? No, you cannot count them because there are so many of them, and your descendants will be as numerous as the stars." 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 UDB Abram believed that what Yahweh said would happen. Because of that, Yahweh considered him as good. BSB BSB: Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
7 UDB Yahweh also said to him, "I am Yahweh. I am the one who brought you from Ur in the land of Chaldea. I brought you here to give you this land to possess." 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 UDB But Abram replied, "Lord Yahweh, how can I know for sure that this land will belong to me?" BSB BSB: But Abram replied, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?”
9 UDB God said to him, "Bring a three year old heifer and a three year old goat to me, and a 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 UDB So Abram brought all of them. He killed them and cut each of the animals in half. He arranged the halves of each one, side by side. But he did not cut the pigeon and dove in half. 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 UDB Birds that eat dead animals came down to eat the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. BSB BSB: And the birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12 UDB As the sun was going down, Abram fell sound asleep, and suddenly everything around him became dark and frightening. BSB BSB: As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.
13 UDB Then Yahweh said to Abram, "I want you to know that your descendants will become foreigners living in a land that does not belong to them. They will become slaves of the owners of that land. The owners of the land will mistreat 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 UDB But then I will punish the people of that country where they are slaves. Then your descendants will leave that country, taking many possessions with them. BSB BSB: But I will judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will depart with many possessions.
15 UDB But as for you, you will die peacefully and be buried when you are very old. BSB BSB: You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.
17 UDB When the sun had set and it was dark, unexpectedly a blazing torch and a clay pot containing burning coals from which smoke was rising appeared and went between the halves of the animals. 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 UDB On that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram. Yahweh told him, "I will give to your descendants all the land between the river that is on the eastern border of Egypt to the south, and north to the Euphrates River. 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 UDB That is the land where the Ken, the Keniz, the Kidmon, BSB BSB: the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
20 UDB the Heth, the Perez, the Repha, BSB BSB: Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
21 UDB the Amor, the Canaan, the Girgash, and the Jebus peoples live." BSB BSB: Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”