¹⁰ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other;^(A) the birds, however, he did not cut in half.^(B)

¹⁷ When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch^(A) appeared and passed between the pieces.^{(B) 18} On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram^(C) and said, “To your descendants I give this land,^(D) from the Wadi^[a] of Egypt^(E) to the great river, the Euphrates^(F)—

⁵ Then the Israelites asked, “Who from all the tribes of Israel^(A) has failed to assemble before the Lord?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah was to be put to death.

⁸ Then they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah?” They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead^(A) had come to the camp for the assembly.

¹⁰ So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children.

¹⁸ Those who have violated my covenant^(A) and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces.^(B)