14 S Genesis 12:6
6 Abram traveled t hrough the land as far as the site of the great tree of
Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord
appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring a I will give this land.” So he
built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent,
with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he b
uilt an altar to the Lord
and called on the name of the Lord.
9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
Abram in Egypt
10 Now t here was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to E
gypt to
live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11 As he was about to en
ter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are.
12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will
kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated
well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very
beautiful woman. 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they p
raised her to
Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her
sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male
and female servants, and camels.
17 But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household
because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have
you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why
did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here
is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders a
bout Abram to
his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.
Abram and Lot Separate
13
So Abram went up from E
gypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything
he had, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy in
livestock and in silver and gold.
3 From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the
place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier 4 and where he
had first b
uilt an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord.
5 Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds
and tents. 6 But the land could not support them while they stayed together,
for t heir possessions were so g
reat that they were not able to stay together.
7 And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and
Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me,
or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. 9 Is not the whole
land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if
you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”
10 Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward
Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt.
(This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot c hose
for himself the whole p
lain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The
two men parted company: 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot
lived among the cities of the p
lain and p
itched his t ents near Sodom. 13 Now
the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.
14 The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around
from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. 15 All the
land that you see I will give to you and your offspring b forever. 16 I will make
your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the
dust, then your offspring c ould be counted. 17 Go, walk t hrough the l ength and
breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”
18 So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he
pitched his t ents. There he built an altar to the Lord.
a 7 Or
seed b 15 Or seed ; also in verse 16