In that day the LORD made a covenant with Avram, saying, *To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Perat:
The LORD brought him outside, and said, *Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.* He said to Avram, *So shall your seed be.*
that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your seed greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies.
But the LORD was gracious to them, and had compassion on them, and had respect to them, because of his covenant with Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya`akov, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.