"After these events, the word of HASHEM came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Fear not, Abram, I am a shield for you; your reward is very great."
And Abram said, "My Lord, HASHEM/ELOHIM: What can You give me seeing that I go childless, and the steward of my house is the Damascene Eliezer?"
Then Abram said, "See, to me You have given no offspring; and see, my steward inherits me..."
Suddenly, the word of HASHEM came to him, saying: "That one will not inherit you. Only him that shall come forth from within you shall inherit you." And He took him outside, and said, "Gaze, now, toward the Heavens, and count the stars if you are able to count them!" And He said to him, "So shall your offspring be!" And he trusted in HASHEM, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
"He said to him, "I am HASHEM who brought you out of Ur kasdim to give you this land to inherit it."
He said, "My Lord, HASHEM/ELOHIM" Whereby shall I know that I am to inherit it?"
And He said to him, "Take to Me three heifers, three goats, three rams, a turtledove, and a young dove." He took all these to Him: He cut them in the center, and placed each piece opposite its counterpart. The birds, however, he did not cut up.
Birds of prey descended upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
And it happened, as the sun was about to set, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold - a dread! great darkness fell upon him.
And He said to Abram, "Know with certainty that your offspring shall be aliens in a land not their own - and they will serve them, and they will oppress them - four hundred years. But also the nation that they will serve, I shall judge, and afterwards they will leave with great wealth. As for you: You shall come to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And the fourth generation shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite shall not yet be full until then.
So it happened: the sun set, and it was very dark. Behold - there was a smoky furnace and a torch of fire which passed between these pieces. On that day, HASHEM made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants have I given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River: the Kennite, the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite; the Hittite, the Perizzite and the Rephaim; the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Girgashite, and the Jebusite."
Bereshit 15, 1-17
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