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Hello, this is Father Paul and I'm glad we're taking this journey together to read the Bible

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in a year.

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Yesterday we read about the promise God made to Noah after the flood and how his descendants

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came and some of them began to build the Tower of Babel and how God came and confused the

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tongues of the builders and how all this ended.

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Today we're going to read about the first of the great patriarchs, about the early life

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of Abraham who begins his life with the name Abram the son of Tyrrhan.

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Alright, let's begin.

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Today's reading is from Genesis chapters 12 to 15.

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Chapter 12.

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Now the Lord had said to Abram, Get out of your country, from your family and from your

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father's house, to a land that I will show you.

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I will make you a great nation, I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall

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be a blessing.

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I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you, and in you all the

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families of the earth shall be blessed.

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So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him.

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And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

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Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son and all their possessions that

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they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran.

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And they departed to go to the land of Canaan.

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So they came to the land of Canaan.

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Abram passed through the land to the place of Shesham, as far as the turban tree of Mori,

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and the Canaanites were then in the land.

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Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said to your descendants, I will give this land.

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And there he built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him, and he moved from there

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to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on

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the east.

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There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

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So Abram journeyed going on still toward the south.

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Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the

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famine was severe in the land.

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And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his

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wife, Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance.

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Therefore it will happen when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, This is his wife,

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and they will kill me, but they will let you live.

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Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I

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may live because of you.

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So it was when Abram came into Egypt that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was

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very beautiful.

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The princes of Pharaoh also saw her, and commended her to Pharaoh.

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And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house.

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He treated Abram well for her sake.

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He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

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But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's

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wife.

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And Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this you have done to me?

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Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?

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Why did you say she is my sister?

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I might have taken her as my wife.

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Now therefore here is your wife, take her and go your way.

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So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all

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that he had.

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Chapter 13 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his

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wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the south.

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Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold.

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And he went on his journey from the south as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent

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had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he

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had made there at first, and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.

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Lot also who went with Abram had flocks and herds and tents.

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Now the land was not able to support them that they might dwell together, for their

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possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.

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And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of

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Lot's livestock.

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The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.

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So Abram said to Lot, Please let there be no strife between you and me and between my

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herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brethren.

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Is not the whole land before you?

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Please separate from me.

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If you take the left, then I will go to the right, or if you go to the right, then I will

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go to the left.

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And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere,

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like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zohar.

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Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, and they separated

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from each other.

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Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and he pitched

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his tent even as far as Sodom.

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But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.

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And the Lord said to Abram, After Lot had separated from him, lift your eyes now and

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look from the place where you are, northward, southward, eastward, and westward, for all

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the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever, and I will make your

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descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if a man could number the dust of the earth,

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then your descendants also could be numbered.

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Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.

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Then Abram moved his tent and went and dwelt by the turban trees of Mamri, which are in

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Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord.

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Chapter 14

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And it came to pass in the days of Amrathal king of Shinar, Ariok king of Elysa, Kaedor

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Leomar king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations, that they made war with Bera king of Sodom,

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Bersha king of Gomorrah, Shinnab king of Adma, Shember king of Zeboeim, and the king of Bela,

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that is Zuwar.

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All these joined together in the valley of Sidim, that is the salt sea.

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12 years they served Kaedor Leomar, and in the 13th year they rebelled.

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In the 14th year Kaedor Leomar and the kings that were with him came and attacked the Rifayim

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in Ash-Jaroth Kar Naim, the Zuzeem in Hameem, the Imim in Shave Kirya Taim, and the Horites

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in their mountain of Seir, as far as El Paran which is by the wilderness.

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Then they turned back and came to Ain Mishpat, that is Kaddish, and attacked all the country

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of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazesan Tamar.

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And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Adma, the king of Zeboeim, and

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the king of Bela, that is Zuwar, went out and joined together in battle in the valley

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of Sidim against Kaedor Leomar king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, Amraphel king of Shinar,

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and Eryak king of Elaser, four kings against five.

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Now the valley of Sidim was full of asphalt pits, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah

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fled, some fell there and the remainder fled to the mountains.

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Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions and went

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their way.

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They also took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods and departed.

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Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the turban trees

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of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Ishkol and the brother of Anar, and they were allies

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with Abram.

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Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his 318 trained servants

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who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

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He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and

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pursued them as far as Hoba, which is north of Damascus.

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So he brought back all the goods and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods,

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as well as the women and the people.

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And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh, that is the king's

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valley, after his return from the defeat of Kador-Leomar and the kings who were with him.

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Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine.

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He was the priest of God Most High, and he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of

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God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered

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your enemies into your hand.

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And he gave him a tithe of all.

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Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.

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But Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High,

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the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal

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strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say I have made

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Abram rich, except only what the young men have eaten, and a portion of the men who went

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with me, Aner, Ishkol, and Mamri.

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Let them take their portion.

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Chapter 15 After these things, the word of the Lord came

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to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not be afraid, Abram.

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I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.

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But Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of

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my house is Eleazar of Damascus?

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Then Abram said, Look, you have given me no offspring.

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Indeed, one born in my house is my heir.

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And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, This one shall not be your heir, but

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one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.

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Then he brought him outside and said, Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if

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you are able to number them.

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And he said to him, So shall your descendants be.

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Then he believed in the Lord, and he accounted it to him for righteousness.

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Then he said to him, I am the Lord, who brought you out of the ore of the Chaldeans, to give

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you this land to inherit it.

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And he said, Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?

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So he said to him, Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old

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ram, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.

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Then he brought all these to him, and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each

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side opposite the other.

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But he did not cut the birds in two.

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And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

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Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and behold, horror and great

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darkness fell upon him.

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Then he said to Abram, Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land

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that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.

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And also the nation whom they serve I will judge.

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Afterward, they shall come out with great possessions.

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Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace.

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You shall be buried at a good old age.

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But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is

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not yet complete.

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And it came to pass when the sun went down, and it was dark, that behold, there appeared

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a smoking oven, and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.

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On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying, To your descendants I have given

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this land, from the river of Egypt, to the great river, the river Euphrates.

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The Canites, the Canizites, the Cadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

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the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebisites.

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I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as I did, and I look forward to seeing you

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again tomorrow to continue on our journey.

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God bless you and have a great day.