Genesis 15:16-18

Expanded Bible

¹⁶ ·After your great-great-grandchildren are born [^LAfter the fourth generation], ·your people [^Lthey] will come ·to this land [^Lhere] again. It will take that long, because ·I am not yet going to punish the Amorites for their evil behavior [^Tthe iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete; ^CAmorites is one name for the pre-Israelite inhabitants of Canaan].”

¹⁷ After the sun went down, it was very dark. Suddenly a smoking firepot and a blazing torch [^Cfire and smoke often represent God] passed between the ·halves of the dead animals [^Lpieces; ^Ca self-curse ritual; by passing between the pieces of the sacrifice, one vowed to keep an agreement or suffer the same fate as the animals]. ¹⁸ So on that day the Lord ·made an agreement [^Lcut a covenant/treaty; 6:18] with Abram and said, “I will give to your ·descendants [^Lseed] the land between the river of Egypt and the great river Euphrates.