1After these things the word of Jehovah came unto Abram in a vision , saying , Fear not , Abram: I am thy shield , and thy exceeding great reward . 2And Abram said, O Lord Jehovah , what wilt thou give me , seeing I go childless , and he that shall be possessor of my house is Eliezer of Damascus ? 3And Abram said, Behold , to me thou hast given no seed : and , lo , one born in my house is mine heir . 4And , behold , the word of Jehovah came unto him , saying , This man shall not be thine heir ; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir . 5And he brought him forth abroad , and said , Look now toward heaven , and number the stars , if thou be able to number them : and he said unto him , So shall thy seed be . 6And he believed in Jehovah ; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness .
The Righteousness of Faith
7And he said unto him , I am Jehovah that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees , to give thee this land to inherit it . 8And he said, O Lord Jehovah , whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it ? 9And he said unto him , Take me a heifer three years old , and a she-goat three years old , and a ram three years old , and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon . 10And he took him all these , and divided them in the midst , and laid each half over against the other : but the birds divided he not . 11And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses , and Abram drove them away . 12And when the sun was going down , a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and , lo , a horror of great darkness fell upon him .
The Covenant Ceremony
13And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them ; and they shall afflict them four hundred years ; 14and also that nation , whom they shall serve , will I judge : and afterward shall they come out with great substance . 15But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace ; thou shalt be buried in a good old age . 16And in the fourth generation they shall come hither again : for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full . 17And it came to pass , that , when the sun went down, and it was dark , behold , a smoking furnace , and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces . 18In that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river , the river Euphrates : 19the 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 .