1. After this the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram.I am your shield,your exceedingly great reward.”
2. But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3. Abram said, “Since You have not given me any children, my heir is a servant born in my house.”
4. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but a son that is from your own body will be your heir.”
5. He brought him outside and said, “Look up toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So will your descendants be.”
6. Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.
7. He also said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess it.”
8. But Abram said, “Lord God, how may I know that I will possess it?”
9. So He said to him, “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 Abram brought all of these to Him and cut them in two and laid each piece opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds in half.
11. When the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and terror and a great darkness fell on him.