¹⁰ So Abram brought him all these animals and cut each of them in half, down the middle, placing the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut the birds in half. ¹¹ When birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. ¹² As the sun began to set, Abram was overcome with deep sleep, and suddenly a frightening and terrifying darkness descended on him.