Genesis 15:2-21

2Abram said, “O Lord 1God, what will You give me, since I 2am childless, and the 3heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3And Abram said, “4Since You have given no 5offspring to me, 6one 7born in my house is my heir.” 4Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; 8but one who will come forth from your own 9body, he shall be your heir.” 5And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and 10count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “11So shall your 12descendants be.” 613Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. 7And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of 14Ur of the Chaldeans, to 15give you this land to 16possess it.” 8He said, “O Lord 17God, 18how may I know that I will 19possess it?” 9So He said to him, “20Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10Then he 21brought all these to Him and 22cut them 23in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he 24did not cut the birds. 11The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

12Now when the sun was going down, 25a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, 26terror and great darkness fell upon him. 13God said to Abram, “Know for certain that 27your 28descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, 29where 30they will be enslaved and oppressed 31four hundred years. 14But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out 32with 33many possessions. 15As for you, 34you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. 16Then in 35the fourth generation they will return here, for 36the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

17It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which 37passed between these pieces. 18On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “38To your 39descendants I have given this land, From 40the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: 1941the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite 20and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim 21and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.”