Genesis:15-17

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* After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision , saying , Fear not , Abram : I am thy shield , and thy exceeding great reward . * And Abram said , Lord GOD , what wilt thou give me , seeing I go childless , and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus ? * And Abram said , Behold , to me thou hast given no seed : and , lo , one born in my house is mine heir . * And , behold , the word of the LORD came unto him , saying , This shall not be thine heir ; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir . * And he brought him forth abroad , and said , Look now toward heaven , and tell the stars , if thou be able to number them : and he said unto him , So shall thy seed be . * And he believed in the LORD ; and he counted it to him for righteousness . * And he said unto him , I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees , to give thee this land to inherit it . * And he said , Lord GOD , whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it ? * And he said unto him , Take me an heifer of three years old , and a she goat of three years old , and a ram of three years old , and a turtledove , and a young pigeon . * And he took unto him all these , and divided them in the midst , and laid each piece one against another : but the birds divided he not . * And when the fowls came down upon the carcases , Abram drove them away . * And when the sun was going down , a deep sleep fell upon Abram ; and , lo , an horror of great darkness fell upon him . * And he said unto Abram , Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs , and shall serve them ; and they shall afflict them four hundred years ; * And also that nation , whom they shall serve , will I judge : and afterward shall they come out with great substance . * And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace ; thou shalt be buried in a good old age . * But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again : for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full . * And it came to pass , that , when the sun went down , and it was dark , behold a smoking furnace , and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces . * In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram , saying , Unto thy seed have I given this land , from the river of Egypt unto the great river , the river Euphrates : * The Kenites , and the Kenizzites , and the Kadmonites , * And the Hittites , and the Perizzites , and the Rephaims , * And the Amorites , and the Canaanites , and the Girgashites , and the Jebusites . * Now Sarai Abram 's wife bare him no children : and she had an handmaid , an Egyptian , whose name was Hagar . * And Sarai said unto Abram , Behold now , the LORD hath restrained me from bearing : I pray thee , go in unto my maid ; it may be that I may obtain children by her . And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai . * And Sarai Abram 's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian , after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan , and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife . * And he went in unto Hagar , and she conceived : and when she saw that she had conceived , her mistress was despised in her eyes . * And Sarai said unto Abram , My wrong be upon thee : I have given my maid into thy bosom ; and when she saw that she had conceived , I was despised in her eyes : the LORD judge between me and thee . * But Abram said unto Sarai , Behold , thy maid is in thy hand ; do to her as it pleaseth thee . And when Sarai dealt hardly with her , she fled from her face . * And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness , by the fountain in the way to Shur . * And he said , Hagar , Sarai 's maid , whence camest thou ? and whither wilt thou go ? And she said , I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai . * And the angel of the LORD said unto her , Return to thy mistress , and submit thyself under her hands . * And the angel of the LORD said unto her , I will multiply thy seed exceedingly , that it shall not be numbered for multitude . * And the angel of the LORD said unto her , Behold , thou art with child , and shalt bear a son , and shalt call his name Ishmael ; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction . * And he will be a wild man ; his hand will be against every man , and every man 's hand against him ; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren . * And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her , Thou God seest me : for she said , Have I also here looked after him that seeth me ? * Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi ; behold , it is between Kadesh and Bered . * And Hagar bare Abram a son : and Abram called his son 's name , which Hagar bare , Ishmael . * And Abram was fourscore and six years old , when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram . * And when Abram was ninety years old and nine , the LORD appeared to Abram , and said unto him , I am the Almighty God ; walk before me , and be thou perfect . * And I will make my covenant between me and thee , and will multiply thee exceedingly . * And Abram fell on his face : and God talked with him , saying , * As for me , behold , my covenant is with thee , and thou shalt be a father of many nations . * Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram , but thy name shall be Abraham ; for a father of many nations have I made thee . * And I will make thee exceeding fruitful , and I will make nations of thee , and kings shall come out of thee . * And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant , to be a God unto thee , and to thy seed after thee . * And I will give unto thee , and to thy seed after thee , the land wherein thou art a stranger , all the land of Canaan , for an everlasting possession ; and I will be their God . * And God said unto Abraham , Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore , thou , and thy seed after thee in their generations . * This is my covenant , which ye shall keep , between me and you and thy seed after thee ; Every man child among you shall be circumcised . * And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin ; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you . * And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you , every man child in your generations , he that is born in the house , or bought with money of any stranger , which is not of thy seed . * He that is born in thy house , and he that is bought with thy money , must needs be circumcised : and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant . * And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised , that soul shall be cut off from his people ; he hath broken my covenant . * And God said unto Abraham , As for Sarai thy wife , thou shalt not call her name Sarai , but Sarah shall her name be . * And I will bless her , and give thee a son also of her : yea , I will bless her , and she shall be a mother of nations ; kings of people shall be of her . * Then Abraham fell upon his face , and laughed , and said in his heart , Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old ? and shall Sarah , that is ninety years old , bear ? * And Abraham said unto God , O that Ishmael might live before thee ! * And God said , Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed ; and thou shalt call his name Isaac : and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant , and with his seed after him . * And as for Ishmael , I have heard thee : Behold , I have blessed him , and will make him fruitful , and will multiply him exceedingly ; twelve princes shall he beget , and I will make him a great nation . * But my covenant will I establish with Isaac , which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year . * And he left off talking with him , and God went up from Abraham . * And Abraham took Ishmael his son , and all that were born in his house , and all that were bought with his money , every male among the men of Abraham 's house ; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day , as God had said unto him . * And Abraham was ninety years old and nine , 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 . * In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised , and Ishmael his son . * And all the men of his house , born in the house , and bought with money of the stranger , were circumcised with him . * And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre : and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day ;

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