Genesis 15:7–17

⁷He also said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”^f

⁸But he said, “Lord God, how can I know^g that I will possess it?”

⁹He said to him, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

¹⁰So he brought all these to him, cut them in half, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut the birds^h in half. ¹¹Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. ¹²As the sun was setting, a deep sleepⁱ came over Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.

¹³Then the Lord said to Abram,^j “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens^k for four hundred years^l in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and oppressed.^{D 14}However, I will judge the nation they serve,^m and afterward they will go out with many possessions.^{n 15}But you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.^{o 16}In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”^Ep

¹⁷When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals.