Abram Journeys to Egypt

12 Now ^(A)the Lord said to Abram,

¹⁴ The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “^(A)Now raise your eyes and look from the place where you are, ^(B)northward and southward, and eastward and westward; ^15 (C)for all the land which you see ^(D)I will give to you and to your ^[a]descendants forever. ¹⁶ I will make your ^[b]descendants ^(E)as plentiful as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can count the dust of the earth, then your ^[c]descendants could also be counted. ¹⁷ Arise, ^(F)walk about in the land through its length and width; for ^(G)I will give it to you.”

⁵ And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens and ^(A)count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “^(B)So shall your ^[a]descendants be.” ^6 (C)Then he believed in the Lord; and He ^[b]credited it to him as righteousness. ⁷ And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of ^(D)Ur of the Chaldeans, to ^(E)give you this land to ^[c]possess it.”

⁸ But he said, “Lord ^[a]God, ^(A)how may I know that I will ^[b]possess it?” ⁹ So He said to him, “^[c]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 ^[d]brought all these to Him and ^(B)cut them ^[e]in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he ^(C)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, ^(D)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, ^[f]terror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that ^(E)your ^[g]descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, ^[h]where ^(F)they will be enslaved and oppressed for ^(G)four hundred years. ¹⁴ But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out ^(H)with ^[i]many possessions. ¹⁵ As for you, ^(I)you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ Then in ^(J)the fourth generation they will return here, for ^(K)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 ^(L)passed between these pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,

^19 (O)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.”

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

17 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, ^(A)the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,

³ Abram ^(F)fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,

⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and ^(J)kings will come from you. ⁷ I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your ^[f]descendants after you throughout their generations as an ^(K)everlasting covenant, ^(L)to be God to you and ^(M)to your ^[g]descendants after you. ⁸ And ^(N)I will give to you and to your ^[h]descendants after you the land where you live as a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and ^(O)I will be their God.”

^17 (A)The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham ^(B)what I am about to do, ¹⁸ since Abraham will certainly become a great and ^[a]mighty nation, and in him ^(C)all the nations of the earth will be blessed?

¹⁵ Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, ¹⁶ and said, “^(A)By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly ^(B)multiply your ^[a]seed as the stars of the heavens and as ^(C)the sand, which is on the seashore; and ^(D)your ^[b]seed shall possess the gate of ^[c]their enemies. ¹⁸ And ^(E)in your ^[d]seed all the nations of the earth shall ^[e]be blessed, because you have ^(F)obeyed My voice.”