The Lord’s Covenant With Abram

15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram^(A) in a vision:^(B)

² But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,^(F) what can you give me since I remain childless^(G) and the one who will inherit^[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?^(H)” ³ And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant^(I) in my household^(J) will be my heir.”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.^(K)” ⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars^(L)—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring^[d] be.”^(M)

⁶ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.^(N)

⁷ He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out^(O) of Ur of the Chaldeans^(P) to give you this land to take possession of it.”^(Q)

⁸ But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,^(R) how can I know^(S) that I will gain possession of it?”^(T)

⁹ So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer,^(U) a goat and a ram, each three years old,^(V) along with a dove and a young pigeon.^(W)”

¹⁰ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other;^(X) the birds, however, he did not cut in half.^{(Y) 11} Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses,^(Z) but Abram drove them away.

¹² As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep,^(AA) and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. ¹³ Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years^(AB) your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved^(AC) and mistreated there. ¹⁴ But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out^(AD) with great possessions.^{(AE) 15} You, however, will go to your ancestors^(AF) in peace and be buried at a good old age.^{(AG) 16} In the fourth generation^(AH) your descendants will come back here,^(AI) for the sin of the Amorites^(AJ) has not yet reached its full measure.”

¹⁷ When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch^(AK) appeared and passed between the pieces.^{(AL) 18} On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram^(AM) and said, “To your descendants I give this land,^(AN) from the Wadi^[e] of Egypt^(AO) to the great river, the Euphrates^(AP)— ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites,^(AQ) Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰ Hittites,^(AR) Perizzites,^(AS) Rephaites,^{(AT) 21} Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”^(AU)

⁵ So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles^(A) among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?^{(B) 6} So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”^[a](C)

⁷ Understand, then, that those who have faith^(D) are children of Abraham.^{(E) 8} Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”^{[b](F) 9} So those who rely on faith^(G) are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.^(H)

¹⁰ For all who rely on the works of the law^(I) are under a curse,^(J) as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”^{[c](K) 11} Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God,^(L) because “the righteous will live by faith.”^{[d](M) 12} The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.”^{[e](N) 13} Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law^(O) by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”^{[f](P) 14} He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus,^(Q) so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.^(R)