Study Desk

After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram^(a) in a vision:^(b) "Do not be afraid,^(c) Abram. I am your shield,^[a](d) your very great reward.^[b](e)"

But Abram said, "Sovereign Lord ,^(f) what can you give me since I remain childless^(g) and the one who will inherit^[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?^(h)"

And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant⁽ⁱ⁾ in my household^(j) will be my heir."

Then the word of the Lord came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.^(k)"

He took him outside and said, "Look up at the sky and count the stars^(l)—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring^[d] be."^(m)

Abram believed the Lord , and he credited it to him as righteousness.⁽ⁿ⁾

He also said to him, "I am the Lord , who brought you out^(o) of Ur of the Chaldeans^(p) to give you this land to take possession of it."^(q)

But Abram said, "Sovereign Lord ,^(r) how can I know^(s) that I will gain possession of it?"^(t)

So the Lord said to him, "Bring me a heifer,^(u) a goat and a ram, each three years old,^(v) along with a dove and a young pigeon.^(w)"

Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other;^(x) the birds, however, he did not cut in half.^(y)

Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses,^(z) but Abram drove them away.

As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep,^(aa) and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.

Then the Lord said to him, "Know for certain that for four hundred years^(ab) your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved^(ac) and mistreated there.

But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out^(ad) with great possessions.^(ae)

You, however, will go to your ancestors^(af) in peace and be buried at a good old age.^(ag)

In the fourth generation^(ah) your descendants will come back here,^(ai) for the sin of the Amorites^(aj) has not yet reached its full measure."

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch^(ak) appeared and passed between the pieces.^(al)

On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram^(am) and said, "To your descendants I give this land,^(an) from the Wadi^[e] of Egypt^(ao) to the great river, the Euphrates^(ap)—

the land of the Kenites,^(aq) Kenizzites, Kadmonites,

Hittites,^(ar) Perizzites,^(as) Rephaites,^(at)

Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites."^(au)