God's Covenant with Abram

(Romans 4:1-12; Galatians 3:1-9; Hebrews 11:8-19; James 2:14-26)

1After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

2And Abram said, O Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and he that shall be possessor of my house is Dammesek Eliezer? 3And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 4And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This man shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to tell them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. 7And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

God Confirms His Promise

(Numbers 34:1-15; Romans 4:13-25)

8And he said, O Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? 9And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. 10And he took him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each half over against the other: but the birds divided he not. 11And the birds of prey came down upon the carcases, and Abram drove them away.

12And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. 13And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16And in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.

17And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces.

18In that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

19the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite, 20and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim, 21and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.