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.

¹³Then the Lord said to him, “You can be sure of what I am about to tell you. Your children who live after you will be strangers in a country that does not belong to them. They will become slaves. They will be treated badly for 400 years. ¹⁴But I will punish the nation that makes them slaves. After that, they will leave with all kinds of valuable things.

¹⁵“But you will die in peace. You will join the members of your family who have already died. You will be buried when you are very old.

¹⁶“Your children’s grandchildren will come back here. That is because the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached the point where I must judge them.”

¹⁷The sun set and darkness fell. Then a burning torch and a fire pot filled with smoke appeared. They passed between the pieces of the animals.

¹⁸On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram. He said, “I am giving this land to your children after you. It reaches from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates. ¹⁹It includes the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰Hittites, Perizzites and Rephaites. ²¹The Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites also live there.”

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