Bible / Genesis
Genesis 15
Douay-Rheims Bible, Challoner revision (1749–1752), the traditional Catholic English Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate. If you read a modern Bible, this is the same Scripture in older English; some names are spelled differently (Cesarea for Caesarea, Apocalypse for Revelation). About this translation
1 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.
2 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.
3 And Abram added: But to me thou hast not given seed: and lo my servant born in my house, shall be my heir.
4 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.
5 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.
6 Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.
7 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.
8 But he said: Lord God, whereby may I know that I shall possess it?
9 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.
10 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.
11 And the fowls came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
12 And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great and darksome horror seized upon him.
13 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.
14 But I will judge the nation which they shall serve, and after this they shall come out with great substance.
15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried in a good old age.
16 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.
17 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.
18 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.
19 The Cineans, and Cenezites, the Cedmonites,
20 And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also,
21 And the Amorrhites, and the Chanaanites, and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.
This chapter in the Catechism and the early Church
Where the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites these verses (from its footnotes on vatican.va), and where the earliest Church Fathers quote them (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, public domain). Short quotes only; follow the links for the full text. The Catechism uses modern verse numbers, so these are listed by chapter.
Read the Catechism and Fathers
- CCC 288 “Thus the revelation of creation is inseparable from the revelation and forging of the covenant of the one God with his People.…”
- CCC 762 “The remote preparation for this gathering together of the People of God begins when he calls Abraham and promises that he will…”
- CCC 146 “Abraham thus fulfils the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1: "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things…”
“And Abram believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.”
Quoted in First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Clement of Rome (c. AD 96), Chapter X. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
“… last times was made visible and passible, and spake with the human race, that He might from the stones raise up children unto Abraham, and fulfil the promise which God had given him, and that He might make his seed as the stars of heaven,”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter VII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
Read the Catechism and Fathers
- CCC 762 “The remote preparation for this gathering together of the People of God begins when he calls Abraham and promises that he will…”
- CCC 2571 “Because Abraham believed in God and walked in his presence and in covenant with him, The patriarch is ready to welcome a…”
- CCC 146 “Abraham thus fulfils the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1: "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things…”
“And Abram believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.”
Quoted in First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Clement of Rome (c. AD 96), Chapter X. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
“Because thou hast believed, it is imputed to thee for righteousness: behold, I have made thee the father of those nations who believe in the Lord while in [a state of] uncircumcision.”
Quoted in The Letter of Barnabas, Unknown author (early 2nd century), Chapter XIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
“For before he was circumcised the following statement was made regarding him: Abraham believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness.”
Quoted in Dialogue with Trypho, St. Justin Martyr (c. AD 160), Chapter XCII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Genesis 15:13 in modern Bibles
Read the Fathers
“… of God, and was unwilling to appear to receive from men, what God had promised to give him, when He said again to him as follows: "I will give this land to thy seed, from the river of Egypt even unto the great river Euphrates.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXXII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
A modern English Catholic translation will be added once its publisher grants permission.