Genesis 14

CHAPTER 14

Kings of the Valley Take Lot

¹And it happened in the days of Amraphel king of ^aShinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of ^bElam, and Tidal king of ¹Goiim,

²that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of ^aAdmah, and Shemeber king of ^bZeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, ^cZoar).

³All these ¹came as allies to ^athe valley of Siddim (that is, ^bthe Salt Sea).

⁴Now for twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but the thirteenth year they rebelled.

⁵So in the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, came and struck the ^aRephaim in ^bAshteroth-karnaim and the Zuzim in Ham and the Emim in ^1cShaveh-kiriathaim,

⁶and the ^aHorites in their Mount Seir, as far as ^bEl-paran, which is by the wilderness.

⁷Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, ^aKadesh). And they struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, who were living in ^bHazazon-tamar.

⁸And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out; and they arranged themselves for battle against them in ^athe valley of Siddim,

⁹against Chedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of ¹Goiim and Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five—

¹⁰now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits—and ^athe kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell ¹into them; but those who remained behind fled to the ^bhill country.

¹¹Then they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply and departed.

¹²They also took Lot, ^aAbram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed; ^bnow he was living in Sodom.

¹³Then ¹a fugitive came and told Abram the ^aHebrew. Now he was dwelling by the ^2boaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, and these were ^3cin a covenant with Abram.

¹⁴So Abram heard that ^ahis ¹relative had been taken captive, and he ²led out his trained men, ^bborn in his house, 318 in number, and went in pursuit as far as ^cDan.

^15aAnd he divided ¹his men against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is ²north of ^bDamascus.

¹⁶And he ^abrought back all the possessions, and he also brought back ^bhis ¹relative Lot with his possessions and also the women and the people.

Melchizedek Blesses Abram

¹⁷Then after he came back from striking down Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, ^athe king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, ^bthe King’s Valley).

¹⁸And ^aMelchizedek king of Salem brought out ^bbread and wine; now he was a ^cpriest of ¹God Most High.

¹⁹Then he blessed him and said,

“Blessed be Abram of ¹God Most High,

^2aPossessor of heaven and earth;

²⁰And blessed be ¹God Most High,

Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”

^aThen he gave him a tenth of all.

²¹And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the ¹people to me, but take the possessions for yourself.”

²²Then Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have ¹raised my hand to Yahweh ^2aGod Most High, ^3bpossessor of heaven and earth,

²³that ^aI will not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, so that you would not say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’

²⁴“¹I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, ^aAner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share.”