1 After these things the word of HaShem came unto
Abram in a vision, saying: 'Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, thy reward shall
be exceeding great.'
2 And Abram said: 'O L-rd GOD, what wilt Thou give me, seeing
I go hence childless, and he that shall be possessor of my house is Eliezer of
Damascus?'
3 And Abram said: 'Behold, to me Thou hast given no seed,
and, lo, one born in my house is to be mine heir.'
4 And, behold, the word of HaShem came unto him, saying:
'This man 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 count the stars, if thou be able to count them'; and He said unto
him: 'So shall thy seed be.'
6 And he believed in HaShem; and He counted it to him for
righteousness.
7 And He said unto him: 'I am HaShem that brought thee out of
Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.'
8 And he said: 'O L-rd GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall
inherit it?'
9 And He said unto him: 'Take Me a heifer of three years old,
and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a
turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.'
10 And he took him all these, and divided them in the midst,
and laid each half over against the other; but the birds divided he not.
11 And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and
Abram drove them away.
12 And it came to pass, that, when the sun was going down, a
deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a dread, even a 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 theirs, 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 But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be
buried in a good old age.
16 And in the fourth generation they shall come back hither;
for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.'
17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun
went down, and there was thick darkness, behold a smoking furnace, and a flaming
torch that passed between these pieces.
18 In that day HaShem 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;
19 the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite,
20 and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,
21 and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite,
and the Jebusite.'