God

The LORD, however, afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai.

to the site where he had built the altar. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.

After Lot had departed, the LORD said to Abram, “Now lift up your eyes from the place where you are, and look to the north and south and east and west,

for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.

I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted.

Get up and walk around the land, through its length and breadth, for I will give it to you.”

So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the Oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine—since he was priest of God Most High—

and he blessed Abram and said: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.

But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

Then the word of the LORD came to Abram, saying, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”

And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

The LORD also told him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

But Abram replied, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?”

And the LORD said to him, “Bring Me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon.”

So Abram brought all these to Him, split each of them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not cut in half.

Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.

But I will judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will depart with many possessions.