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.” 2 But Abram said, “Lord ¹GOD, what will You give me, since I ²am childless, and the ³heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram also said, “¹Since You have given me no ²son, ³one who has been ^aborn 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; ^abut one who will come from your own ¹body shall be your heir.” 5 And 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.” 6 ^aThen he believed in the LORD; and He ¹credited it to him as righteousness. 7 And 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.” 8 But he said, “Lord ¹GOD, ^ahow may I know that I will ²possess it?” 9 So He said to him, “¹Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 Then 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. 11 And birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

12 Now when the sun was going down, ^aa deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, ¹terror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then God 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 for ^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 wrongdoing of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

17 Now it came about, when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, a smoking oven and a flaming torch appeared which ^apassed between these pieces. 18 On 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: 19 ^athe land of the Kenite, the Kenizzite, the Kadmonite, 20 the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.”