^1. AFTER these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, « Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; [1] Your reward shall be very great.»

^2. Abram said, «O Lord [4] GOD, what will You give me, since I [3] am childless, and the [2] heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?»

^3. And Abram said, « [7] Since You have given no [6] offspring to me, [5] one born in my house is my heir.»

^4. Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, «This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own [8] body, he shall be your heir.»

^5. And He took him outside and said, «Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.» And He said to him, « So shall your [9] descendants be.»

^6. Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

^7. And He said to him, «I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to [10] possess it.»

^8. He said, «O Lord [12] GOD, how may I know that I will [11] possess it?»

^9. So He said to him, « [13] Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.»

^10. Then he [15] brought all these to Him and cut them [14] in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.

^11. The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

^12. Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, [16] terror and great darkness fell upon him.

^13. God said to Abram, «Know for certain that your [18] descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, [17] where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.

^14. «But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with [19] many possessions.

^15. «As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.

^16. «Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.»

^17. It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.

^18. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, « To your [20] descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:

^19. the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite

^20. and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim

^21. and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.»