He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars(A)—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring[a] be.”(B)

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

He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out(D) of Ur of the Chaldeans(E) to give you this land to take possession of it.”(F)

But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,(G) how can I know(H) that I will gain possession of it?”(I)

So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer,(J) a goat and a ram, each three years old,(K) along with a dove and a young pigeon.(L)

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

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 15:5 Or seed

Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and (A)count the (B)stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, (C)“So shall your (D)descendants be.”

And he (E)believed in the Lord, and He (F)accounted it to him for righteousness.

Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who (G)brought you out of (H)Ur of the Chaldeans, (I)to give you this land to inherit it.”

And he said, “Lord God, (J)how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

So He said to him, “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 brought all these to Him and (K)cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut (L)the birds in two. 11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

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