The Abrahamic Covenant

1After these events, the word of the LORD camea to Abram in a vision:

Do not be afraid,b Abram.

I am your shield;c

your reward will be very great.

2But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? ”d 3Abram continued, “Look, You have given me no •offspring, so a slave born ine my house will be my heir.”

4Now the word of the LORD came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own bodyf will be your heir.” 5He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”g

6Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness.h

7He also said to him, “I am •Yahweh who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”i

8But he said, “Lord GOD, how can I knowj that I will possess it? ”

9He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

10So he brought all these to Him, split them down the middle, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut up the birds.k 11Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. 12As the sun was setting, a deep sleepl fell on Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.

13Then the LORD said to Abram,m “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be foreignersn in a land that does not belong to them; they will be enslaved and oppressedo 400 years.p 14However, I will judge the nation they serve,q and afterward they will go out with many possessions.r 15But you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.s 16In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”t, u

17When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals. 18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring,v from the brook of Egyptw to the Euphrates River:x 19the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, 21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”