Genesis 15

Genesis 15 read aloud, in a fresh direct translation from the Hebrew — plain modern English, nothing added. Translator's notes: • Genesis 15:2 — אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה (Adonai YHWH): chose "Adonai Elohim". Alternatives: "my Lord Adonai" (the two names read separately). Why: the text sets "my Lord" directly before the divine name, and the traditional read-aloud form joins them as "Adonai Elohim" rather than doubling "Adonai." • Genesis 15:2 — בֶן־מֶשֶׁק בֵּיתִי (ben-meshek beiti): chose "the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus". Alternatives: "the steward of my house is Eliezer of Damascus", "Damascus Eliezer will possess my house". Why: the phrase is compressed and its exact construction is disputed; the rendering takes it in the sense Abram's next sentence confirms — the household man who stands to inherit from him. • Genesis 15:9 — מְשֻׁלֶּשֶׁת (meshuleshet): chose "a three-year-old heifer". Alternatives: "three heifers" (the word read as a count of three animals), "a heifer, one of three". Why: the word is built on the number three and attaches to each animal in turn; the age reading takes each animal as three years old, the sense the parallel structure most plainly gives.