1 After these events, the word of the LORD {YHWH, Vision Revealer} came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram; I {anochi: Assuring Presence} am a shield for you, and your reward will be very great.”
2 But Abram said, “Lord GOD {Adonai YHWH, Promise Grantor}, what will You give me, since I continue to go childless {ariri: without heir}, and the heir of my household is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3 And Abram said, “Look, to me You {Elohim, Promise Speaker} have not given offspring {zera: covenant seed}, and look, a son of my household will inherit me.”
4 And behold, the word of the LORD {YHWH, Faithful Reassurer} came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but rather the one who shall come forth from your own inner being {meeh: physical descent}—he shall be your heir.”
5 And He {YHWH, Promise Giver} brought him outside and said, "Look now toward the heavens {shamayim: vast sky}, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then He said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
6 And he trusted in the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Fulfiller}, and He credited it to him as righteousness {tsedaqah: counted as right standing}.
7 And He {refers to YHWH} said to him, “I am the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Land-Giver} who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess it.”
8 And he said, “Lord GOD {Adonai YHWH, Faithful Guarantor}, by what {bamah: assurance sign} shall I know that I will inherit it?”
9 And He {YHWH, Covenant Maker} said to him, “Take for Me a heifer {eglah: female calf} three years old, and a female goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
10 And he took all these and divided them in the middle, and he placed each part opposite its companion {reehu: corresponding half}, but he did not divide {vatar: cut apart} the bird.
11 Then birds of prey {haayit: carrion-eating vulture} came down upon the carcasses, but Abram {Avram: covenant receiver} drove them away.
12 And it came to pass, as the sun was going down, that a deep sleep {tardemah: supernatural trance} fell upon Abram; and behold, a terror {eimah: overwhelming dread}—a great darkness—was falling upon him.
13 And He {YHWH, Future Revealer} said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners {ger: resident outsiders} in a land that is not theirs, and they will serve them, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.”
14 And also the nation that they will serve, I {YHWH, Just Judge} will judge, and after that they will go out with great property {birkush: acquired goods}.
15 But you will go to your fathers in peace {shalom: complete well-being}, and you will be buried in a good old age {seivah: mature fullness}.
16 But in the fourth generation {revi'i: fourth in line} they will return here, for the iniquity {avon: accumulated moral guilt} of the Amorite is not yet complete.
17 And it came to pass, when the sun had gone down and darkness was, that behold, a smoking furnace {tanur: enclosed oven} and a flaming torch {lapid: burning flame} passed between these pieces.
18 On that day the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Maker} made a covenant {berit: solemn binding agreement} with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt up to the great river, the river Euphrates.”
19 The Kenites {qeyni: nomadic metalworkers}, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites {qadmoni: eastern-border people},
20 And the Hittite {chitti: descendant of Heth}, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim {refa'im: ancient warrior clan},
21 And the Amorite, and the Canaanite {Kenaani: lowland dweller}, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite {Yevusi: Jerusalem area inhabitant}.