God’s Covenant with Abram
(Romans 4:1–12; Hebrews 11:8–19)

1After these things the word of YHWH came to Abram in a vision, saying,

“Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am a shield to you;

your reward is exceedingly great.”

2And Abram said, “O Lord YHWH, what can You give to me, and I go childless, and the son of possession of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3And Abram said, “Behold, You have not given to me offspring; and behold, a son of my house is inheriting me.”

4And behold, the word of YHWH came to him, saying, “This one will not inherit you, but rather one who will come from your inward parts, he will inherit you.” 5And He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall be your seed.†”

6And he believed in YHWH, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.†

7And He said to him, “I am YHWH who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give to you this land to possess it.”

God Confirms His Promise
(Numbers 34:1–15; Romans 4:13–25)

8And he said, “Lord YHWH, by what shall I know that I will possess it?”

9And He said to him, “Bring Me a heifer being three years old, and a female goat being three years old, and a ram being three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

10And he brought to Him all these, and he cut them in two down the middle and placed each piece opposite the other; and the bird he did not cut in two. 11And the bird of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. 12And the sun was going down, and a deep sleep fell upon Abram. And behold, a terror of great darkness fell upon him.

13And He said to Abram, “Know for certain that your seed will be a sojourner in a land not theirs, and they will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14And the nation whom they serve I will judge, and after this, they shall come out with great possessions.† 15And as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16And the fourth generation, they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite here is not yet complete.”

17And it came to pass when the sun went down and it was dark, and behold, a smoking firepot and a burning torch that passed between these pieces. 18On that day YHWH cut a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates, 19with the 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.”