Genesis 13

Abram and Lot Separate

13Abram went north out of Egypt to the southern part of Canaan with his wife and everything he owned, and Lot went with him. ²Abram was a very rich man, with sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as silver and gold. ³Then he left there and moved from place to place, going towards Bethel. He reached the place between Bethel and Ai where he had camped before ⁴and had built an altar. There he worshipped the Lord.

⁵Lot also had sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as his own family and servants. ⁶And so there was not enough pasture land for the two of them to stay together, because they had too many animals. ⁷So quarrels broke out between the men who took care of Abram’s animals and those who took care of Lot’s animals. (At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were still living in the land.)

⁸Then Abram said to Lot, “We are relatives, and your men and my men shouldn’t be quarrelling. ⁹So let’s separate. Choose any part of the land you want. You go one way, and I’ll go the other.”

^10*Lot looked round and saw that the whole Jordan Valley, all the way to Zoar, had plenty of water, like the Garden of the Lordⁱ or like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord had destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.) ¹¹So Lot chose the whole Jordan Valley for himself and moved away towards the east. That is how the two men parted. ¹²Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled among the cities in the valley and camped near Sodom, ¹³whose people were wicked and sinned against the Lord.

Abram moves to Hebron

¹⁴After Lot had left, the Lord said to Abram, “From where you are, look carefully in all directions. ^15*I am going to give you and your descendants all the land that you see, and it will be yours for ever. ¹⁶I am going to give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all; it would be as easy to count all the specks of dust on earth! ¹⁷Now, go and look over the whole land, because I am going to give it all to you.” ¹⁸So Abram moved his camp and settled near the sacred trees of Mamre at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.