Bible Gateway passage: Genesis 15 - New International Version (2025)

The Lord’s Covenant With Abram

15After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram^(A) in a vision:^(B)

“Do not be afraid,^(C) Abram.
I am your shield,^[a](D)
your very great reward.^[b](E)”

²But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,^(F) what can you give me since I remain childless^(G) and the one who will inherit^[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?^(H)” ³And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant^(I) in my household^(J) 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.^(K)” ⁵He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars^(L)—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring^[d] be.”^(M)

⁶Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.^(N)

⁷He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out^(O) of Ur of the Chaldeans^(P) to give you this land to take possession of it.”^(Q)

⁸But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,^(R) how can I know^(S) that I will gain possession of it?”^(T)

⁹So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer,^(U) a goat and a ram, each three years old,^(V) along with a dove and a young pigeon.^(W)”

¹⁰Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other;^(X) the birds, however, he did not cut in half.^{(Y) 11}Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses,^(Z) but Abram drove them away.

¹²As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep,^(AA) and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. ¹³Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years^(AB) your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved^(AC) and mistreated there. ¹⁴But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out^(AD) with great possessions.^{(AE) 15}You, however, will go to your ancestors^(AF) in peace and be buried at a good old age.^{(AG) 16}In the fourth generation^(AH) your descendants will come back here,^(AI) for the sin of the Amorites^(AJ) has not yet reached its full measure.”

¹⁷When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch^(AK) appeared and passed between the pieces.^{(AL) 18}On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram^(AM) and said, “To your descendants I give this land,^(AN) from the Wadi^[e] of Egypt^(AO) to the great river, the Euphrates^(AP)— ¹⁹the land of the Kenites,^(AQ) Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰Hittites,^(AR) Perizzites,^(AS) Rephaites,^{(AT) 21}Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”^(AU)

Footnotes

1. Genesis 15:1 Or sovereign
2. Genesis 15:1 Or shield; / your reward will be very great
3. Genesis 15:2 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
4. Genesis 15:5 Or seed
5. Genesis 15:18 Or river

Cross references

1. Genesis 15:1 : 1Sa 15:10; 2Sa 7:4; 1Ki 6:11; 12:22; Jer 1:13; Eze 3:16; Da 10:1
2. Genesis 15:1 : Ge 46:2; Nu 12:6; 24:4; Ru 1:20; Job 33:15
3. Genesis 15:1 : Ge 21:17; 26:24; 46:3; Ex 14:13; 20:20; 2Ki 6:16; 2Ch 20:15, 17; Ps 27:1; Isa 7:4; 41:10, 13-14; 43:1, 5; Jer 1:8; Hag 2:5
4. Genesis 15:1 : Dt 33:29; 2Sa 22:3, 31; Ps 3:3; 5:12; 18:2; 28:7; 33:20; 84:11; 119:114; 144:2; Pr 2:7; 30:5
5. Genesis 15:1 : Ps 18:20; 37:25; 58:11; Isa 3:10
6. Genesis 15:2 : ver 8; Isa 49:22; Jer 44:26; Eze 5:11; 16:48
7. Genesis 15:2 : Ac 7:5
8. Genesis 15:2 : S Ge 14:15
9. Genesis 15:3 : Ge 24:2, 34
10. Genesis 15:3 : S Ge 12:5
11. Genesis 15:4 : Gal 4:28
12. Genesis 15:5 : Job 11:8; 35:5; Ps 8:3; 147:4; Jer 33:22
13. Genesis 15:5 : S Ge 12:2; S Jer 30:19; Ro 4:18*; Heb 11:12
14. Genesis 15:6 : Ps 106:31; Ro 4:3*, 20-24*; Gal 3:6*; Jas 2:23*
15. Genesis 15:7 : Ge 12:1; Ex 20:2; Ac 7:3; Heb 11:8
16. Genesis 15:7 : S Ge 11:28; Ac 7:4
17. Genesis 15:7 : S Ge 13:17; 17:8; 28:4; 35:12; 48:4; Ex 6:8; Dt 9:5
18. Genesis 15:8 : S ver 2
19. Genesis 15:8 : Lk 1:18
20. Genesis 15:8 : Dt 12:20; 19:8
21. Genesis 15:9 : Nu 19:2; Dt 21:3; Hos 4:16; Am 4:1
22. Genesis 15:9 : 1Sa 1:24
23. Genesis 15:9 : Lev 1:14; 5:7, 11; 12:8
24. Genesis 15:10 : ver 17; Jer 34:18
25. Genesis 15:10 : Lev 1:17; 5:8
26. Genesis 15:11 : Dt 28:26; Jer 7:33
27. Genesis 15:12 : S Ge 2:21
28. Genesis 15:13 : ver 16; Ex 12:40; Nu 20:15; Ac 7:6, 17; Gal 3:17
29. Genesis 15:13 : Ex 1:11; 3:7; 5:6, 10-14, 18; 6:5; Dt 5:15; Job 3:18
30. Genesis 15:14 : Ge 50:24; Ex 3:8; 6:6-8; 12:25; Nu 10:29; Jos 1:2; Ac 7:7*
31. Genesis 15:14 : Ex 12:32-38
32. Genesis 15:15 : Ge 47:30; 49:29; Dt 31:16; 2Sa 7:12; 1Ki 1:21; Ps 49:19
33. Genesis 15:15 : Ge 25:8; 35:29; Ex 23:26; Dt 34:7; Jos 14:11; Jdg 8:32; 1Ch 29:28; Job 5:26; 21:23; 42:17; Ps 91:16; Pr 3:16; 9:11; Isa 65:20
34. Genesis 15:16 : S ver 13; Ex 12:40
35. Genesis 15:16 : Ge 28:15; 46:4; 48:21; 50:24; Ex 3:8, 17
36. Genesis 15:16 : Lev 18:28; Jos 13:4; Jdg 10:11; 1Ki 21:26; 2Ki 16:3; 21:11; Eze 16:3
37. Genesis 15:17 : Jdg 7:16, 20; 15:4, 5
38. Genesis 15:17 : S ver 10
39. Genesis 15:18 : Ge 17:2, 4, 7; Ex 6:4; 34:10, 27; 1Ch 16:16; Ps 105:9
40. Genesis 15:18 : S Ge 12:7
41. Genesis 15:18 : Nu 34:5; Jos 15:4, 47; 1Ki 8:65; 2Ki 24:7; 2Ch 7:8; Isa 27:12; Jer 37:5; 46:2; La 4:17; Eze 30:22; 47:19
42. Genesis 15:18 : S Ge 2:14
43. Genesis 15:19 : Nu 24:21; Jdg 1:16; 4:11, 17; 5:24; 1Sa 15:6; 27:10; 30:29; 1Ch 2:55
44. Genesis 15:20 : S Ge 10:15; S Dt 7:1
45. Genesis 15:20 : S Ge 13:7
46. Genesis 15:20 : S Ge 14:5
47. Genesis 15:21 : S Ge 10:16; Jos 3:10; 24:11; Ne 9:8