Genesis 15
God promiseth seed to Abram. His faith, sacrifice and vision.
His itaque transactis, factus est sermo Domini ad Abram per visionem dicens: Noli timere, Abram: ego protector tuus sum, et merces tua magna nimis.
Now when these things were done, the word of the Lord came to Abram by a vision, saying: Fear not, Abram, I am thy protector, and thy reward exceeding great.
Dixitque Abram: Domine Deus, quid dabis mihi? ego vadam absque liberis, et filius procuratoris domus meæ iste Damascus Eliezer.
And Abram said: Lord God, what wilt thou give me? I shall go without children: and the son of the steward of my house is this Damascus Eliezer.
Addiditque Abram: Mihi autem non dedisti semen, et ecce vernaculus meus, hæres meus erit.
And Abram added: But to me thou hast not given seed: and lo my servant born in my house, shall be my heir.
Statimque sermo Domini factus est ad eum, dicens: Non erit hic hæres tuus, sed qui egredietur de utero tuo, ipsum habebis hæredem.
And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: He shall not be thy heir: but he that shall come out of thy bowels, him shalt thou have for thy heir.
Eduxitque eum foras, et ait illi: Suspice cælum, et numera stellas, si potes. Et dixit ei: Sic erit semen tuum.
And he brought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to heaven and number the stars if thou canst. And he said to him: So shall thy seed be.
Credidit Abram Deo, et reputatum est illi ad justitiam.
Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.
Dixitque ad eum: Ego Dominus qui eduxi te de Ur Chaldæorum ut darem tibi terram istam, et possideres eam.
And he said to him: I am the Lord who brought thee out from Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land, and that thou mightest possess it.
At ille ait: Domine Deus, unde scire possum quod possessurus sim eam?
But he said: Lord God, whereby may I know that I shall possess it?
Et respondens Dominus: Sume, inquit, mihi vaccam triennem, et capram trimam, et arietem annorum trium, turturem quoque et columbam.
And the Lord answered, and said: Take me a cow of three years old, and a she-goat of three years. and a ram of three years, a turtle also, and a pigeon.
Qui tollens universa hæc, divisit ea per medium, et utrasque partes contra se altrinsecus posuit; aves autem non divisit.
And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid the two pieces of each one against the other: but the birds he divided not.
Descenderuntque volucres super cadavera, et abigebat eas Abram.
And the fowls came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
Cumque sol occumberet, sopor irruit super Abram, et horror magnus et tenebrosus invasit eum.
And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great and darksome horror seized upon him.
Dictumque est ad eum: Scito prænoscens quod peregrinum futurum sit semen tuum in terra non sua, et subjicient eos servituti, et affligent quadringentis annis.
And it was said unto him: Know thou beforehand that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own, and they shall bring them under bondage, and afflict them four hundred years.
Verumtamen gentem, cui servituri sunt, ego judicabo: et post hæc egredientur cum magna substantia.
But I will judge the nation which they shall serve, and after this they shall come out with great substance.
Tu autem ibis ad patres tuos in pace, sepultus in senectute bona.
And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried in a good old age.
Generatione autem quarta revertentur huc: necdum enim completæ sunt iniquitates Amorrhæorum usque ad præsens tempus.
But in the fourth generation they shall return hither: for as yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full until this present time.
Cum ergo occubuisset sol, facta est caligo tenebrosa, et apparuit clibanus fumans, et lampas ignis transiens inter divisiones illas.
And when the sun was set, there arose a dark mist, and there appeared a smoking furnace, and a lamp of fire passing between those divisions.
In illo die pepigit Dominus fœdus cum Abram, dicens: Semini tuo dabo terram hanc a fluvio Ægypti usque ad fluvium magnum Euphraten,
That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: To thy seed will I give this land, from the river to Egypt even to the great river Euphrates.
Cinæos, et Cenezæos, Cedmonæos,
The Cineans, and Cenezites, the Cedmonites,
et Hethæos, et Pherezæos, Raphaim quoque,
And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also,
et Amorrhæos, et Chananæos, et Gergesæos, et Jebusæos.
And the Amorrhites, and the Chanaanites, and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.