1 After these things, after the kings had gathered together and had fallen before Abram, and after he had killed four kings and brought back nine encampments, Abram thought in his heart and said, 'Woe to me now! Perhaps I have received the reward of my observance of the commandments in this world, and there will be no portion for me in the world to come. Or perhaps the brothers and relatives of these slain will go and join in legions and come against me. Or perhaps at that time the reward of some minor merits was found with me, so that they fell before me. But the second time the reward of good deeds will not be found with me, and the name of heaven will be profaned in me.' Therefore a word of the Lord was addressed to Abram in a vision, saying, 'Fear not Abram; for even if they join in legions and come against you, my Memra will be a shield for you; and even if these have fallen before you in this world, the reward of your good works is kept and prepared before me for the world to come, a very great reward.' 2 But Abram said, 'Lord God, you have given me much, and there is still much before you to give me. What benefit do I have, since I pass from the world childless, and Eliezer, the manager of my house, at whose hands miracles have been performed for me in Damascus, expects to be my heir?' 3 And Abram said, 'Behold you have not given me a son, and behold the manager of my house will be my heir.' 4 And behold, a word from before the Lord came to him saying, 'This one will not be your heir, but a son whom you will beget will be your heir.' 5 Then he took him outside and said, 'Look toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them.' And he said to him, 'So shall your children be.' 6 He had faith in the Memra of the Lord, and he reckoned it to him as merit because he did not speak rebelliously against him. 7 He said to him, 'I am the Lord who brought you out of the fiery furnace of the Chaldeans to give you this land to inherit.' 8 He said, 'Lord God, how shall I know that I shall inherit it?' 9 He said to him, 'Fetch me offerings, and offer before me a heifer three years old, a he-goat three years old, a she-goat three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.' 10 He offered all these before him, divided them in the middle, and arranged each part opposite the other; but he did not divide the birds. 11 The nations, that are like unclean birds, came down to plunder the property of Israel; but the merit of Abram protected them. 12 When the sun was about to set, a deep sleep was cast upon Abram, and behold four kingdoms were rising to enslave his children:⁠a 'Dread'— that is Babylon; 'Dark'— that is Media; 'Great'— that is Greece; 'Fell'— that is Edom, which is destined to fall and for which there will be no rising; from there the people of the house of Israel will come up. 13 He said to Abram, 'Know for certain that your children will be residents in a land that is not theirs, because you did not believe; and they will be enslaved and afflicted four hundred years.' 14 But the people whom they shall serve I will judge with two hundred and fifty plagues; and after that they will go forth to freedom with great wealth. 15 As for yourself, you shall be gathered to your fathers; your soul shall rest in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 And the fourth generation of your children shall return here to take possession of the land, for the guilt of the Amorites is not yet complete. 17 When the sun had set and it was dark, behold, Abram saw Gehenna sending up smoke and coals of fire, and sending forth sparks of fire with which to judge the wicked. And behold it passed between these parts. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, promising that he would not judge his children by it, and that he would deliver them from the kingdoms, saying, 'To your children I will give this land, from the Nile of Egypt to the Great River, the river Euphrates, 19 the Shalmaites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Giants, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.'