1God encourageth Abram, who complaineth for want of an heir. 4God promiseth him a son, and a numerous seed. 6He is justified by his faith. 7The promise of Canaan is renewed, and confirmed to him by a sign and a vision.
1AFTER these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a avision, saying, Fear not, bAbram: I am thy cshield, and thy exceeding dgreat reward.
a Nu. 1.6. 1Sa. 9.9. Da. 10. 1-16. Ac. 10.10. He. 1.1. b ch. 26.24. Lu. 1.13,30. ch. 46.3. Ex. 14.13. 1Ch. 28.20. Is. 35.4; 41.10,13; 43.1,5; 44.2,8. He. 13.5. c Ps. 3.3; 18.2. d Pr. 11.18.
2And Abram said, Lord GOD, ewhat wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
e Ps. 127.3. ch. 30.2; 25.21. 1Sa. 1.11.
3And Abram said, fBehold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, gone born in my house is mine heir.
f ch. 12.2; 13.16. Pr. 13.12. He. 10.35,36. g ch. 14.14. Ec. 2.7. Pr. 30.23.
4And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but hhe that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
h 2Sa. 7.12. ch. 17.16; 21.12.
5And he brought him forth *abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, iand *tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, jSo shall thy seed be.
*abroad-away from the house.
*tell-count.
i Ps. 147.4. ch. 22.17; 26.4. He. 11.12. j ch. 12.2; 13.16. Ro. 4.18.
6And khe believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
k Ro. 4.3,9,22. Ga. 3.6. Ja. 2.23.
7And he said unto him, I am the LORD lthat brought thee out of Ur of the mChaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
l ch. 11.28,31; 12.1. Ne. 9.7. Ac. 7.3,4. He. 11.8. m ch. 12.7; 13.15,17. Ps. 105.11. Ne. 9.8.
8And he said, Lord GOD, nwhereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
n Ju. 6.17,36-40. 2Ki. 20.8. Is. 7.11. Lu. 1.18. Ps. 86.17. ch. 24.13,14.
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 unto him all these, and odivided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but pthe birds divided he not.
o Je. 34.18,19. p Le. 1.17.
11And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
12And when the sun was going down, a qdeep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
q ch. 2.21. 1Sa. 26.12. Job 4.13; 33.15.
13And he said unto Abram, rKnow 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;
r Ac. 7.6,7. Ps. 105.13-43. He. 11.8-13. Ex.1; 2; 5; 12.40,41.
14And salso that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
s ch. 46. Ex. 7.1; 12.35,36. De. 4.20; 7.18,19; 11.2-4. Jos. 24.4-7,17. 1Sa. 12.8. Ne. 9.9-11.
15And thou tshalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
t ch. 25.8. Job 5.26. Ac. 13.36.
16But in the ufourth generation they shall come *hither again: for the iniquity vof the Amorites is wnot yet full.
*hither-here, to this place.
u ch. 46. v Jos. 5.1. 1Ki. 21.26. w Mat. 23.32.
17And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and 1a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
1Heb. a lamp of fire.
18In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, xUnto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
x ch. 12.7; 13.15; 24.7; 26.4; 17.8; 28.4,13,14; 35.12; 46.4; 50.24. Ex. 3.8; 23.23,27-31; 34.11. De. 1.9; 7.1; 11.23-25,31. Jos. 1.4. 1Ki. 4.21. 2Ch. 9.26. Jos. 12-19. De. 34.4. Ex. 23.31. ch. 10.15-19. Nu. 34.2. Ne. 9.8. Ps. 105.11.
19The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
20And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
21And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.