The faith of Abram, his sacrifice and vision.
[1] Now when these things were done, the word of the Lord came to Abram by a vision, saying: Fear not, Abram, I am thy protector, and thy reward exceeding great. [2] And Abram said: Lord God, what wilt thou give me? I shall go without children: and the son of the steward of my house is this Damascus Eliezer. [3] And Abram added: But to me thou hast not given seed: and lo my servant, born in my house, shall be my heir. [4] And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: He shall not be thy heir: but he that shall come out of thy bowels, him shalt thou have for thy heir. [5] And he brought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to heaven and number the stars, if thou canst. And he said to him: So shall thy seed be. [6] Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice. [7] And he said to him: I am the Lord who brought thee out from Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land, and that thou mightest possess it. [8] But he said: Lord God, whereby may I know that I shall possess it? [9] And the Lord answered, and said: Take me a cow of three years old, and a she goat of three years, and a ram of three years, a turtle also, and a pigeon. [10] And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid the two pieces of each one against the other; but the birds he divided not. [11] And the fowls came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. [12] And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great and darksome horror seized upon him. [13] And it was said unto him: Know thou beforehand that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own, and they shall bring them under bondage, and afflict them four hundred years. [14] But I will judge the nation which they shall serve, and after this they shall come out with great substance. [15] And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried in a good old age. [16] But in the fourth generation they shall return hither: for as yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full until this present time. [17] And when the sun was set, there arose a dark mist, and there appeared a smoking furnace and a lamp of fire passing between those divisions. [18] That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: To thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt even to the great river Euphrates. [19] The Cineans and Cenezites, the Cedmonites, [20] And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also, [21] And the Amorrhites, and the Chanaanites, and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.
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