8
Abram asked, "Almighty LORD, how can I be certain that I will take possession of it?"
9
He answered Abram, "Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a mourning dove, and a pigeon."
10
So Abram brought all these animals to him. He cut each of them in half and laid each half opposite the other. However, he did not cut the birds in half.
11
When birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12
As the sun was just about to set, a deep sleep--a dreadful, deep darkness--came over Abram.
13
God said to Abram, "You can know for sure that your descendants will live in a land that is not their own, where they will be slaves, and they will be oppressed for 400 years.
14
But I will punish the nation they serve, and after that they will come out with many possessions.
15
But you will die in peace and be buried at a very old age.
16
In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, because the sin of the Amorites will not have run its course until then."
17
The sun had gone down, and it was dark. Suddenly a smoking oven and a flaming torch passed between the animal pieces.
18
At that time the LORD made a promise to Abram. He said, "I will give this land to your descendants. This is the land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.