Genesis 15:5–12

⁵The Lord took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky. Count the stars, if you can.” Then he said to him, “That is how many children you will have.”

⁶Abram believed the Lord. The Lord accepted Abram because he believed. So his faith made him right with the Lord.

⁷He also said to Abram, “I am the Lord. I brought you out of Ur in Babylonia. I wanted to give you this land to take as your very own.”

⁸But Abram said, “Lord and King, how can I know I will take this land as my own?”

⁹So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a young cow. Also bring a goat and a ram. All of them must be three years old. Bring a dove and a young pigeon along with them.”

¹⁰Abram brought all of them to the Lord. Abram cut them in two. He placed the halves opposite each other. But he didn’t cut the birds in half. ¹¹Then large birds came down to eat the dead bodies of the animals and birds. But Abram chased the large birds away.

¹²As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep. A thick and terrible darkness covered him.