Abram Promised a Son

15 After these things ^(A)the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,

² But Abram said, “Lord ^[b]God, what will You give me, since I ^[c]am childless, and the ^[d]heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ Abram also said, “^[e]Since You have given me no ^[f]son, ^[g]one who has been ^(E)born in my house is my heir.” ⁴ Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; ^(F)but one who will come from your own ^[h]body shall be your heir.” ⁵ And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens and ^(G)count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “^(H)So shall your ^[i]descendants be.” ^6 (I)Then he believed in the Lord; and He ^[j]credited it to him as righteousness. ⁷ And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of ^(J)Ur of the Chaldeans, to ^(K)give you this land to ^[k]possess it.” ⁸ But he said, “Lord ^[l]God, ^(L)how may I know that I will ^[m]possess it?” ⁹ So He said to him, “^[n]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 Then he ^[o]brought all these to Him and ^(M)cut them ^[p]in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he ^(N)did not cut the birds. ¹¹ And birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

¹² Now when the sun was going down, ^(O)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, ^[q]terror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that ^(P)your ^[r]descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, ^[s]where ^(Q)they will be enslaved and oppressed for ^(R)four hundred years. ¹⁴ But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out ^(S)with ^[t]many possessions. ¹⁵ As for you, ^(T)you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ Then in ^(U)the fourth generation they will return here, for ^(V)the wrongdoing of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ Now it came about, when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, a smoking oven and a flaming torch appeared which ^(W)passed between these pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,

^19 (Z)the land of the Kenite, the Kenizzite, the Kadmonite, ²⁰ the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Rephaim, ²¹ the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.”