1After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision , saying , Fear not, Abram : I am thy shield , and thy exceeding great reward . 2And Abram said , Lord GOD , what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless , and the steward of my house is this 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 the LORD came unto him, saying , This 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 tell the stars , if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6And he believed in the LORD ; and he counted it to him for righteousness .
The Righteousness of Faith
7And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees , to give thee this land to inherit it. 8And he said , Lord GOD , whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it ? 9And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old , and a she goat of three years old , and a ram of three years old , and a turtledove , and a young pigeon . 10And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst , and laid each piece one against another : but the birds divided he not. 11And when the fowls came down upon the carcases , Abram drove them away . 12And when the sun was going down , a deep sleep fell upon Abram ; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
The Covenant Ceremony
13And he said unto Abram , Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger 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 . 15And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace ; thou shalt be buried in a good old age . 16But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again : for the iniquity of the Amorites 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 burning lamp that passed between those pieces . 18In the same day the LORD 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 Kenites , and the Kenizzites , and the Kadmonites , 20And the Hittites , and the Perizzites , and the Rephaims , 21And the Amorites , and the Canaanites , and the Girgashites , and the Jebusites .