Genesis 12–22

12TH CHAPTER

The Lord’s First Promise to Abram

¹The Lord said to Abram, 

“Leave your land, 

your relatives, 

and your father’s home. 

Go to the land that I will show you. 

²I will make you a great nation, 

I will bless you. 

I will make your name great, 

and you will be a blessing. 

³I will bless those who bless you, 

and whoever curses you, I will curse. 

Through you every family on earth will be blessed.” 

The Lord’s Second Promise to Abram

⁴So Abram left, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. ⁵Abram set out for Canaan. He took along his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the servants they had acquired in Haran. 

⁶They arrived in Canaan,and Abram traveled through the land to the oak tree belonging to Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I’m going to give this land to your descendants.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 

⁸He moved on to the hills east of Bethel, and he put up his tent—with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He also built an altar to the Lord there and worshiped the Lord. ⁹Abram kept moving toward the Negev. 

Abram Deceives Pharaoh

¹⁰There was a famine in the land. Abram went to Egypt to stay awhile because the famine was severe. ¹¹When he was about to enter Egypt, Abram said to his wife Sarai, “I know that you’re a beautiful woman. ¹²When the Egyptians see you, they’ll say, ‘This is his wife!’ Then they’ll kill me but let you live. ¹³Please say that you’re my sister. Then everything will be alright for me, and because of you I will live.” 

¹⁴When Abram arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians saw how very beautiful his wife was. ¹⁵When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they raved about her to Pharaoh, so Sarai was taken to Pharaoh’s palace. ¹⁶Everything went well for Abram because of her, and he was given sheep, cattle, donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels. 

¹⁷However, the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with terrible plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸Then Pharaoh called for Abram. “What have you done to me?” he asked. “Why didn’t you tell me that she’s your wife? ¹⁹Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister’ and allow me to take her for my wife? Here’s your wife! Take her and go!” ²⁰Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning Abram. They sent Abram away with his wife and everything that he had. 

13TH CHAPTER

Abram and Lot Separate

¹Abram left Egypt with his wife and everything he had and went to the Negev. Lot was with him. ²Abram was very rich because he had livestock, silver, and gold. ³He traveled from place to place. He went from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the area between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been originally, ⁴where he had first made an altar. There Abram worshiped the Lord. 

⁵Lot, who had been traveling with Abram, also had his own sheep, cattle, and tents. ⁶There wasn’t enough pastureland for both of them. They had so many possessions that they were unable to remain together. ⁷Quarrels broke out between Abram’s herders and Lot’s herders. (Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in that area.) 

⁸Abram said to Lot, “Please, let’s not have any more quarrels between us or between our herders. After all, we’re relatives. ⁹Isn’t all this land yours also? Let’s separate. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right, and if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” ¹⁰Then Lot looked in the direction of Zoar as far as he could see. He saw that the whole Jordan Plain was well-watered like the Lord’s garden or like Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 

¹¹Lot chose the whole Jordan Plain for himself. He moved toward the east. They each went their own way. ¹²Abram lived in Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain, moving his tents as far as Sodom. ¹³(The people who lived in Sodom were very wicked. They committed terrible sins against the Lord.) 

The Lord’s Third Promise to Abram

¹⁴After Lot left, the Lord said to Abram, “Look north, south, east, and west of where you are. ¹⁵I will give all the land you see to you and to your descendants for an indefinite period of time. ¹⁶I will also give you as many descendants as the dust of the earth. If anyone could count the dust of the earth, then he could also count your descendants. ¹⁷Go! Walk back and forth across the entire land because I will give it to you.” ¹⁸So Abram moved his tents and went to live by the oak trees belonging to Mamre at Hebron. There he built an altar for the Lord. 

14TH CHAPTER

Abram Rescues Lot

¹At that time ⸤four kings⸥—King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim—²went to war against ⸤five kings⸥—King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). ³The five kings joined forces and met in the valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea). ⁴For 12 years they had been subject to Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and his allies came and defeated the Rephaim at Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim at Ham, the Emim at Shaveh Kiriathaim, ⁶and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, going as far as El Paran on the edge of the desert. ⁷On their way back, they came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who were living at Hazazon Tamar. 

⁸Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and prepared for battle in the valley of Siddim. ⁹They fought against King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Shinar, and King Arioch of Ellasar—four kings against five. ¹⁰The valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. As the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell because of the tar pits, but the other kings fled to the hills. ¹¹So the four kings took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as all their food, and left. ¹²They also took Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions since he was living in Sodom. 

¹³Then a soldier who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew what had happened. He was living next to the oak trees belonging to Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner. (These men were Abram’s allies.) 

¹⁴When Abram heard that his nephew had been captured, he armedhis 318 trained men, born in his own household, and pursued the four kings all the way to Dan. ¹⁵He split up his men to attack them at night. He defeated them, pursuing them all the way to Hobah, which is north of Damascus. ¹⁶He brought back everything they had, including women and soldiers. He also brought back his relative Lot and his possessions. 

Melchizedek Blesses Abram

¹⁷After Abram came back from defeating Chedorlaomer and his allies, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King’s Valley). ¹⁸Then King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of God Most High. ¹⁹He blessed Abram, and said, 

“Blessed is Abram by God Most High, 

maker^bof heaven and earth. 

²⁰Blessed is God Most High, 

who has handed your enemies over to you.” 

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. 

²¹The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, and keep everything else for yourself.” 

²²But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I now raise my hand and solemnly swear to the Lord God Most High, maker of heaven and earth, ²³that I won’t take a thread or a sandal strap. I won’t take anything that is yours so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ ²⁴I won’t take one single thing except what my men have eaten. But let my allies Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.” 

15TH CHAPTER

The Lord’s Fourth Promise to Abram

¹Later the Lord spoke his word to Abram in a vision. He said, 

“Abram, don’t be afraid. 

I am your shield. 

Your reward will be very great.”^a

²Abram asked, “Almighty Lord, what will you give me? Since I’m going to die without children, Eliezer of Damascus will inheritmy household. ³You have given me no children, so this member of my household will be my heir.” 

⁴Suddenly, the Lord spoke his word to Abram again. He said, “This man will not be your heir. Your own son will be your heir.” ⁵He took Abram outside and said, “Now look up at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He also said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” ⁶Then Abram believed the Lord, and that faith was regarded as the basis of Abram’s approval by the Lord. ⁷Then the Lord said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land so that you will take possession of it.” 

⁸Abram asked, “Almighty Lord, how can I be certain that I will take possession of it?” 

⁹He answered Abram, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a mourning dove, and a pigeon.” ¹⁰So Abram brought all these animals to him. He cut each of them in half and laid each half opposite the other. However, he did not cut the birds in half. 

¹¹When birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. ¹²As the sun was just about to set, a deep sleep—a dreadful, deep darkness—came over Abram. 

¹³God said to Abram, “You can know for sure that your descendants will live in a land that is not their own, where they will be slaves, and they will be oppressed for 400 years. ¹⁴But I will punish the nation they serve, and after that they will come out with many possessions. ¹⁵But you will die in peace and be buried at a very old age. ¹⁶In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, because the sin of the Amorites will not have run its course until then.” 

¹⁷The sun had gone down, and it was dark. Suddenly a smoking oven and a flaming torch passed between the animal pieces. ¹⁸At that time the Lord made a promise^cto Abram. He said, “I will give this land to your…