⁵ At that time, God did not give Abraham any part of Canaan for his own family. He did not give Abraham even a very small piece of ground. But God made a promise to Abraham. He said, “This land will become your own country. It will also be your descendants' country.” When God said this to him, Abraham did not yet have any children. ⁶ This is what God said to him: “Your descendants will live in a foreign country for 400 years. The people in that country will cause your descendants to be their slaves. They will be very cruel to them. ⁷ But I will punish those people who cause your descendants to work as slaves for them. After I have done that, your descendants will leave that country. They will come to this place and worship me here.” That is what God said to Abraham.^[a]