Genesis:15-17

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* After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision , saying , "Do not be afraid , Abram . I am your shield , your exceedingly great reward ." * But Abram said , "Lord GOD , what will You give me , seeing I go childless , and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus ?" * Then Abram said , "Look , You have given me no offspring ; indeed one born in my house is my heir !" * And behold , the word of the LORD came to him , saying , "This one shall not be your heir , but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir ." * Then He brought him outside and said , "Look now toward heaven , and count the stars if you are able to number them ." And He said to him , "So shall your descendants be ." * And he believed in the LORD , and He accounted it to him for righteousness . * Then He said to him , "I am the LORD , who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans , to give you this land to inherit it ." * And he said , "Lord GOD , how shall I know that I will inherit it ?" * So He said to him , "Bring Me a three-year-old heifer , a three-year-old female goat , a three-year-old ram , a turtledove , and a young pigeon ." * Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two , down the middle , and placed each piece opposite the other ; but he did not cut the birds in two . * And when the vultures came down on the carcasses , Abram drove them away . * Now when the sun was going down , a deep sleep fell upon Abram ; and behold , horror and great darkness fell upon him . * Then He said to Abram : "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs , and will serve them , and they will afflict them four hundred years . * And also the nation whom they serve I will judge ; afterward they shall come out with great possessions . * Now as for you , you shall go to your fathers in peace ; you shall be buried at a good old age . * But in the fourth generation they shall return here , for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete ." * And it came to pass , when the sun went down and it was dark , that behold , there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces . * On the same 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 , the River Euphrates -- * the Kenites , the Kenezzites , the Kadmonites , * the Hittites , the Perizzites , the Rephaim , * the Amorites , the Canaanites , the Girgashites , and the Jebusites ." * Now Sarai , Abram 's wife , had borne him no children . And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar . * So Sarai said to Abram , "See now , the LORD has restrained me from bearing children . Please , go in to my maid ; perhaps I shall obtain children by her ." And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai . * Then Sarai , Abram 's wife , took Hagar her maid , the Egyptian , and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife , after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan . * So he went in to Hagar , and she conceived . And when she saw that she had conceived , her mistress became despised in her eyes . * Then Sarai said to Abram , "My wrong be upon you ! I gave my maid into your embrace ; and when she saw that she had conceived , I became despised in her eyes . The LORD judge between you and me ." * So Abram said to Sarai , "Indeed your maid is in your hand ; do to her as you please ." And when Sarai dealt harshly with her , she fled from her presence . * Now the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness , by the spring on the way to Shur . * And He said , "Hagar , Sarai 's maid , where have you come from , and where are you going ?" She said , "I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai ." * The Angel of the LORD said to her , "Return to your mistress , and submit yourself under her hand ." * Then the Angel of the LORD said to her , "I will multiply your descendants exceedingly , so that they shall not be counted for multitude ." * And the Angel of the LORD said to her : "Behold , you are with child , And you shall bear a son . You shall call his name Ishmael , Because the LORD has heard your affliction . * He shall be a wild man ; His hand shall be against every man , And every man 's hand against him . And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren ." * Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her , You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees ; for she said , "Have I also here seen Him who sees me ?" * Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi ; observe , it is between Kadesh and Bered . * So Hagar bore Abram a son ; and Abram named his son , whom Hagar bore , Ishmael . * Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram . * When Abram was ninety-nine years old , the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him , "I am Almighty God ; walk before Me and be blameless . * And I will make My covenant between Me and you , and will multiply you exceedingly ." * Then Abram fell on his face , and God talked with him , saying : * "As for Me , behold , My covenant is with you , and you shall be a father of many nations . * No longer shall your name be called Abram , but your name shall be Abraham ; for I have made you a father of many nations . * I will make you exceedingly fruitful ; and I will make nations of you , and kings shall come from you . * And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations , for an everlasting covenant , to be God to you and your descendants after you . * Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger , all the land of Canaan , as an everlasting possession ; and I will be their God ." * And God said to Abraham : "As for you , you shall keep My covenant , you and your descendants after you throughout their generations . * This is My covenant which you shall keep , between Me and you and your descendants after you : Every male child among you shall be circumcised ; * and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins , and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you . * He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised , every male child in your generations , he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant . * He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised , and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant . * And the uncircumcised male child , who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin , that person shall be cut off from his people ; he has broken My covenant ." * Then God said to Abraham , "As for Sarai your wife , you shall not call her name Sarai , but Sarah shall be her name . * And I will bless her and also give you a son by her ; then I will bless her , and she shall be a mother of nations ; kings of peoples shall be from her ." * Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed , and said in his heart , "Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old ? And shall Sarah , who is ninety years old , bear a child ?" * And Abraham said to God , "Oh , that Ishmael might live before You !" * Then God said : "No , Sarah your wife shall bear you a son , and you shall call his name Isaac ; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant , and with his descendants after him . * And as for Ishmael , I have heard you . Behold , I have blessed him , and will make him fruitful , and will multiply him exceedingly . He shall beget twelve princes , and I will make him a great nation . * But My covenant I will establish with Isaac , whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year ." * Then He finished talking with him , and God went up from Abraham . * So Abraham took Ishmael his son , all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money , every male among the men of Abraham 's house , and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day , as God had said to him . * Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin . * And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin . * That very same day Abraham was circumcised , and his son Ishmael ; * and all the men of his house , born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner , were circumcised with him . * Then the LORD appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre , as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day .

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