After these things athe word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, " bDo not fear, Abram, I am ca shield to you; 1Your dreward shall be very great."
2Abram said, "O Lord 1GOD, what will You give me, since I 2am childless, and the 3heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"
3And Abram said, " 1Since You have given no 2offspring to me, 3one aborn in my house is my heir."
4Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir; abut one who will come forth from your own 1body, he shall be your heir."
5And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and acount the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, " bSo shall your 1descendants be."
6aThen he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
7And He said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you out of aUr of the Chaldeans, to bgive you this land to 1possess it."
8He said, "O Lord 1GOD, ahow may I know that I will 2possess it?"
9So He said to him, " 1Bring 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."
10Then he 1brought all these to Him and acut them 2in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he bdid not cut the birds.
11The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
12Now when the sun was going down, aa deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, 1terror and great darkness fell upon him.
13God said to Abram, "Know for certain that ayour 1descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, 2where bthey will be enslaved and oppressed cfour hundred years.
14"But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out awith 1many possessions.
15"As for you, ayou shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.
16"Then in athe fourth generation they will return here, for bthe iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete."
17It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which apassed between these pieces.
18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, " aTo your 1descendants I have given this land, From bthe river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
19athe Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite
20and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim
21and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite."