the Fourth Week of Advent
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Bishop's Bible
Genesis 15
1 After these thynges, the worde of the Lorde came vnto Abram in a vision, saying: feare not Abram I am thy shielde [and] thy exceedyng great rewarde.
2 And Abram sayde: Lorde God what wylt thou geue me when I go chyldelesse, the chylde of the stewardship of my house is this Eleazer of Damasco?3 And Abram saide: See, to me thou hast geuen no seede: lo [borne] in my house is myne heire.4 And beholde, the worde of the Lorde came vnto hym, saying, he shall not be thine heire: but one that shall come out of thine own bowels shalbe thine heire.5 And he brought hym out, and sayde: loke vp vnto heauen, and tell the starres, if thou be able to number them. And he sayde vnto hym: euen so shall thy seede be.6 And [Abram] beleued the Lord, & that counted he to hym for righteousnesse.
7 And agayne he saide vnto him: I am the Lorde that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to geue thee this lande, & that thou myghtest inherite it.8 And he sayde: Lorde God wherby shall I knowe that I shall inherite it?9 He aunswered vnto hym: Take an Heyfer of three yere olde, & a she Goate of three yere olde, and a three yere olde Ramme, a turtle Doue also, & a young Pigeon.10 He toke therefore all these vnto hym, and deuided them in the middes, and layde euery peece one ouer agaynst another: but the birdes deuided he not.11 And when the foules fell on the carkases, Abram droue them away.
12 And whe the sunne was downe, there fell a deepe sleepe vpon Abram: and lo, an horrour of great darknesse fell vpon hym.13 And he sayde vnto Abram: Knowe this of a suertie, that thy seede shalbe a straunger in a lande that is not theirs, and shall serue them, and they shall entreate them euyll foure hundreth yeres.14 But the nation whom they shall serue wyll I iudge: and afterward shall they come out with great substaunce.15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and shalt be buried in a good olde age.16 But in the fourth generation they shal come hyther agayne: for the wickednesse of the Amorites is not yet full.
17 And so it was, that when the sonne went downe, and it was twylyght, beholde a smokyng furnesse and a fire brande goyng betweene the said peeces.18 In that same day the Lorde made a couenaunt with Abram, saying: vnto thy seede haue I geuen this lande, fro the ryuer of Egypt, euen vnto the great ryuer, the ryuer of Euphrates.19 The Kenites and the Kenizites, and the Cadmonites,20 And the Hethites, and the Perizites, and the Giauntes,21 The Amorites also, and the Chanaanites, and Girgasites, & the Iebusites.