Genesis 15:7-17:6

New King James Version

⁷ Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who ^(A)brought you out of ^(B)Ur of the Chaldeans, ^(C)to give you this land to inherit it.”

⁸ And he said, “Lord God, ^(D)how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

⁹ 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.” ¹⁰ Then he brought all these to Him and ^(E)cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut ^(F)the birds in two. ¹¹ And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

¹² Now when the sun was going down, ^(G)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly ^(H)that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and ^(I)they will afflict them four hundred years. ¹⁴ And also the nation whom they serve ^(J)I will judge; afterward ^(K)they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ Now as for you, ^(L)you shall ^[a]go ^(M)to your fathers in peace; ^(N)you shall be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ But ^(O)in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity ^(P)of the Amorites ^(Q)is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ 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 ^(R)passed between those pieces. ¹⁸ On the same day the Lord ^(S)made a covenant with Abram, saying:

^(T)“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— ¹⁹ the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Hagar and Ishmael

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, ^(U)had borne him no children. And she had ^(V)an Egyptian maidservant whose name was ^(W)Hagar. ^2 (X)So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord ^(Y)has restrained me from bearing children. Please, ^(Z)go in to my maid; perhaps I shall ^[b]obtain children by her.” And Abram ^(AA)heeded the voice of Sarai. ³ Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram ^(AB)had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. ⁴ So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became ^(AC)despised in her ^[c]eyes.

⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, ^[d]“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. ^(AD)The Lord judge between you and me.”

^6 (AE)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, ^(AF)she fled from her presence.

⁷ Now the ^(AG)Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, ^(AH)by the spring on the way to ^(AI)Shur. ⁸ 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.”

⁹ The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and ^(AJ)submit yourself under her hand.” ¹⁰ Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, ^(AK)“I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” ¹¹ And the Angel of the Lord said to her:

¹³ Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-^[f]the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here ^[g]seen Him ^(AO)who sees me?” ¹⁴ Therefore the well was called ^(AP)Beer Lahai Roi;^[h] observe, it is ^(AQ)between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ So ^(AR)Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

The Sign of the Covenant^(AS)

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord ^(AT)appeared to Abram and said to him, ^(AU)“I am ^[i]Almighty God; ^(AV)walk before Me and be ^(AW)blameless. ² And I will make My ^(AX)covenant between Me and you, and ^(AY)will multiply you exceedingly.” ³ Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: ⁴ “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be ^(AZ)a father of ^[j]many nations. ⁵ No longer shall ^(BA)your name be called ^[k]Abram, but your name shall be ^[l]Abraham; ^(BB)for I have made you a father of ^[m]many nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make ^(BC)nations of you, and ^(BD)kings shall come from you.