God's Covenant with Abram
Genesis 15, verse 1. After these things the Word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield and will be your exceedingly great reward.” Genesis 15, verse 2. But Abram said, “Lord, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus, the son of Masek, my domestic maidservant?” Genesis 15, verse 3. Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed, my household servant is my heir.” Genesis 15, verse 4. And immediately the Voice of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but the One who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Genesis 15, verse 5. Then He brought him outside and said to him, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your seed be.” Genesis 15, verse 6. And Abram believed God, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. Genesis 15, verse 7. Then He said to him, “I am the God who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.” Genesis 15, verse 8. And he said, “Master and Lord, how will I know I will inherit it?” Genesis 15, verse 9. So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” Genesis 15, verse 10. So he brought all these to Him and cut them in half, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. Genesis 15, verse 11. And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. Genesis 15, verse 12. Now around sunset, a trance fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. Genesis 15, verse 13. Then He said to Abram, “Know for certain that your seed will be strangers in a land not their own, and will serve them; and they will afflict and humble them four hundred years. Genesis 15, verse 14. Also, the nation they serve I will judge; and afterward, they shall come out with great possessions. Genesis 15, verse 15. But as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace, buried in a good old age. Genesis 15, verse 16. Then in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the sin of the Amorites is not yet filled up.” Genesis 15, verse 17. And it came to pass, when the sun went down, that there was a flame, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and lamps of fire that passed between those divided pieces. Genesis 15, verse 18. On the same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I will give this land to your seed, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— Genesis 15, verse 19. the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, Genesis 15, verse 20. the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, Genesis 15, verse 21. the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Euaites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”