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1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, [a]and thy exceeding great reward.”

2 And Abram said, “O LORD GOD, what will you give me, seeing since I [b]go childless, and Eliezer of Damascus is my only heir?”

3 And Abram said, “Behold, to me you have given no seed; and the one born in my house is my heir.”

4 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, “This man shall not be your heir; but he that shall come forth from your own body shall be your heir.”

5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, “Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them;” and he said unto him, “So shall thy seed be.”

6 And he believed the LORD; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness.

7 And he said unto him, “I am the LORD that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.”

8 And he said, “O Lord Jehovah, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

9 And he said unto him, “Take a heifer three years old, and a she-goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.”

10 And he took him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each half over against the other: but the birds he did not divide.

11 And birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and a horror of great darkness fell upon him.

13 And he said unto Abram, “Know for a surety that your seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

14 and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterward they shall come out with great wealth.

15 But you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.

16 And in the fourth generation they shall come back again; for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.”

17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces.

18 In that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “Unto your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt unto 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 Jebusite.”

[1a] Or, thy reward shall be exceeding great

[2b] Or, go hence

[2] Hebrew “way-yō-mer ’aḇ-rām, ’ă-ḏō-nāy Yah-weh mah- tit-ten- lî, wə-’ā-nō-ḵî hō-w-lêḵ ‘ă-rî-rî; ū-ḇen- me-šeq bê-ṯî, hū dam-me-śeq ’ĕ-lî-‘e-zer.”

[6] If the statement is made here that Abram was justified by faith (ex. GNV heading 'He is justified by faith,') it should be pointed out this is a rather narrow view of the story of Abraham and his (ten) tests. (Ex. even James points out genesis 22:16). One should understand that this case does not refer to the same sort of 'faith' one would expect from the use of this passage in such a way – and in fact Abraham asked for proof (see 15:2, 15:8) because of the nature of this promise (that he would not be able to realize it in person, and thus testify of it). So Abraham's 'faith' is not the sort of faith that some would expect – not a blind faith, but a faith based on knowledge, and the acceptance of God.

The short version is to look at Genesis 26:5; the reason why God chose Abraham is not because he 'believed' the lord – that is a speculation based on one verse and not a complete reading. The LORD himself gives us the reason why Abraham was chosen.