1 After these things the word of Shema came to Abram in a vision, saying: “Do not fear, Abram, I am your shield, and I shall greatly increase your reward.” 2 And Abram said: “Lord Shema, what will you give me, while I remain childless, and the one in charge of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said: “Look, you have given me no offspring, and, look, one born in my house will be my heir.” 4 And, look, Shema spoke to him, saying: “This one shall not be your heir, but the one who shall come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him out, and said: “Look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And he said to him: “Your offspring shall be like that.” 6 And he believed in Shema, and he counted it as righteousness for him.⁠a 7 And he said to him: “I am Shema that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.” 8 And he said: “My Lord Shema, how shall I know that I shall inherit it?” 9 And he said to him: “Bring me a heifer three years old, and a female goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, and surely divided them, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not divide the birds. 11 And the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram turned them back.

12 And as the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram; and look, a dread, a great darkness, fell on him. 13 And it was said to Abram: “Know for certain that your offspring shall be a foreign resident in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall oppress them four hundred years; 14 and also I will judge the nation that will enslave them; and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 And you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 And the fourth generation shall come back here; for the sin of the Amorite is not yet full.”

17 And the sun went down and there was thick darkness, and look, a smoking furnace and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day Shema made a covenant with Abram, saying: “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite, 20 and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim, 21 and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.”