1: After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

2: And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?

3: And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

4: And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

5: And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

6: And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

7: And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

8: And he said, LORD God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

9: And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

10: And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

11: And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

12: And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

13: And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not their's, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

14: And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

15: And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

16: But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

17: And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

18: In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: