Genesis 15

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; Your reward [for obedience] shall be very great."
2
Abram said, "Lord [1]GOD, what reward will You give me, since I am [leaving this world] childless, and he who will be the owner and heir of my house is this [servant] Eliezer from Damascus?"
3
And Abram continued, "Since You have given no child to me, one (a servant) born in my house is my heir."
4
Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man [Eliezer] will not be your heir but he who shall come from your own body shall be your heir."
5
And the LORD brought Abram outside [his tent into the night] and said, "Look now toward the heavens and count the stars—if you are able to count them." Then He said to him, "So [numerous] shall your descendants be."
6
Then Abram believed in (affirmed, trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the LORD; and He counted (credited) it to him [2]as righteousness (doing right in regard to God and man).
7
And He said to him, "I am the [same] LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land as an inheritance."
8
But Abram said, "Lord [3]GOD, by what [proof] will I know that I will inherit it?"
9
So God 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."
10
So Abram brought all these to Him and [4]cut them down the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.
11
The birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12
When the sun was setting, a deep sleep overcame Abram; and a horror (terror, shuddering fear, nightmare) of great darkness overcame him.
13
God said to Abram, "Know for sure that your descendants will be strangers [living temporarily] in a land (Egypt) that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.
14
But on that nation whom your descendants will serve I will bring judgment, and afterward they will come out [of that land] with great possessions.
15
As for you, you shall [die and] go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.
16
Then in the [5]fourth generation your descendants shall return here [to Canaan, the land of promise], for the wickedness and guilt of the [6]Amorites is not yet complete (finished)."
17
When the sun had gone down and a [deep] darkness had come, there appeared a smoking [7]brazier and a flaming torch which passed between the [divided] pieces [of the animals].
18
On the same day the LORD made a covenant (promise, pledge) with Abram, saying,
"To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates—
19
[the land of] the Kenites and the Kenizzites and the Kadmonites
20
and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Rephaim,
21
the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Girgashites and the Jebusites."