God spoke to Abram in a vision, telling him not to fear because God was his shield and reward. Abram replied that he remained childless and that Eliezer of Damascus, a member of his household, would inherit what he owned.
God said that the servant would not be Abram’s heir; a son from Abram’s own body would inherit. God led him outside and told him to count the stars if he could. His descendants would be as numerous. Abram trusted God, and God counted that faith as righteousness.
God reminded Abram that he had brought him from Ur to possess the land. When Abram asked how he could know, God instructed him to prepare animals and birds. Abram divided the larger animals and placed the halves opposite each other, but did not divide the birds. He drove away birds of prey that descended on them.
Near sunset Abram fell into a deep sleep and terrifying darkness covered him. God said his descendants would live as strangers and be oppressed for four hundred years. God would judge the nation that enslaved them, and they would leave with many possessions. Abram himself would die in peace, and his descendants would return in the fourth generation.
After sunset, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between the divided pieces. That day God made a covenant with Abram, promising his descendants the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates.