DaySpring Hope & Encouragement Bible - Flipbook - Page 37
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G enesis 15
brought Abram some bread and wine. 19 Melchizedek blessed Abram with
this blessing:
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“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
And blessed be God Most High,
who has defeated your enemies for you.”
Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.
21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give back my people who were captured. But you may keep for yourself all the goods you have recovered.”
22 Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I solemnly swear to the Lord,
God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not take so much
as a single thread or sandal thong from what belongs to you. Otherwise you
might say, ‘I am the one who made Abram rich.’ 24 I will accept only what my
young warriors have already eaten, and I request that you give a fair share of
the goods to my allies—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre.”
The Lord’s Covenant Promise to Abram
Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to
him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your
reward will be great.”
2 But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings
when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of
Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. 3 You have
given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.”
4 Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for
you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” 5 Then the Lord took
Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if
you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”
6 And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous
because of his faith.
7 Then the Lord told him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of
the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.”
8 But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?”
9 The Lord told 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 So
Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal
down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut
the birds in half. 11 Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but
Abram chased them away.
12 As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying
darkness came down over him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be
sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they
will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 14 But I will punish the nation that
enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. 15 (As
for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) 16 After four
generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of
the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.”
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