1 After these things, the worde of the Lord came vnto Abram in a vision, saying, Feare not, Abram, I am thy buckler, and thine exceeding great reward. 2 And Abram said, O Lord God, what wilt thou giue me, seeing I goe childlesse, and the steward of mine house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 3 Againe Abram saide, Beholde, to me thou hast giuen no seede: wherefore loe, a seruant of mine house shalbe mine heire. 4 Then beholde, the worde of the Lord came vnto him, saying, This man shall not be thine heire, but one that shall come out of thine owne bowels, he shalbe thine heire. 5 Moreouer he brought him forth and said, Looke vp nowe vnto heauen, and tell ye starres, if thou be able to number them: and he said vnto him, So shall thy seede be. 6 And Abram beleeued the Lord, and he counted that to him for righteousnesse. 7 Againe he saide vnto him, I am the Lord, that brought thee out of Vr of the Caldees, to giue thee this land to inherite it. 8 And he said, O Lord God, whereby shall I knowe that I shall inherite it? 9 Then he said vnto him, Take me an heifer of three yeeres olde, and a shee goate of three yeeres olde, and a ramme of three yeeres olde, a turtle doue also and a pigeon. 10 So he tooke all these vnto him, and deuided them into the middes, and laid euery piece one against an other: but the birdes deuided he not. 11 Then foules fell on the carkases, and Abram droue them away. 12 And when the sunne went downe, there fell an heauie sleepe vpon Abram: and loe, a very fearefull darkenes fell vpon him. 13 Then he saide to Abram, Knowe for a suretie, that thy seede shalbe a stranger in a land, that is not theirs, foure hundreth yeeres, and shall serue them: and they shall intreate them euill. 14 Notwithstanding the nation, whom they shall serue, will I iudge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15 But thou shalt goe vnto thy fathers in peace, and shalt be buried in a good age. 16 And in the fourth generation they shall come hither againe: for the wickednes of the Amorites is not yet full. 17 Also when the sunne went downe, there was a darkenes: and behold, a smoking fornace, and a firebrand, which went betweene those pieces. 18 In that same day the Lord made a couenant with Abram, saying, Vnto thy seede haue I giuen this lande, from the riuer of Egypt vnto the great riuer, the riuer Euphrates. 19 The Kenites, and the Kenizites, and the Kadmonites, 20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, 21 The Amorites also, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Iebusites.
God's Covenant with Abram
1 After this, Abram had a vision and heard the Lord say to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I will shield you from danger and give you a great reward.”
2 But Abram answered, “Sovereign Lord, what good will your reward do me, since I have no children? My only heir is Eliezer of Damascus. 3 You have given me no children, and one of my slaves will inherit my property.”
4 Then he heard the Lord speaking to him again: “This slave Eliezer will not inherit your property; your own son will be your heir.” 5 The Lord took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and try to count the stars; you will have as many descendants as that.”
6 Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.
7 Then the Lord said to him, “I am the Lord, who led you out of Ur in Babylonia, to give you this land as your own.”
8 But Abram asked, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that it will be mine?”
9 He answered, “Bring me a cow, a goat, and a ram, each of them three years old, and a dove and a pigeon.” 10 Abram brought the animals to God, cut them in half, and placed the halves opposite each other in two rows; but he did not cut up the birds. 11 Vultures came down on the bodies, but Abram drove them off.
12 When the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and fear and terror came over him. 13 The Lord said to him, “Your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land; they will be slaves there and will be treated cruelly for four hundred years. 14 But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and when they leave that foreign land, they will take great wealth with them. 15 You yourself will live to a ripe old age, die in peace, and be buried. 16 It will be four generations before your descendants come back here, because I will not drive out the Amorites until they become so wicked that they must be punished.”
17 When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch suddenly appeared and passed between the pieces of the animals. 18 Then and there the Lord made a covenant with Abram. He said, “I promise to give your descendants all this land from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River, 19 including the lands of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”