Genesis 12–22

God Chooses Abram

12The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country and your people. Leave your father’s family. Go to the land I will show you.

²“I will make you into a great nation.

I will bless you.

I will make your name great.

You will be a blessing to others.

³I will bless those who bless you.

I will put a curse on anyone who calls down a curse on you.

All nations on earth

will be blessed because of you.”

⁴So Abram left, just as the Lord had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.

⁵He took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot. They took all of the things they had gotten in Haran. They also took the workers they had gotten there.

They set out for the land of Canaan. And they arrived there.

⁶Abram traveled through the land. He went as far as the large tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the people of Canaan were living in the land.

⁷The Lord appeared to Abram at Shechem. He said, “I will give this land to your children after you.” So Abram built an altar there to honor the Lord, who had appeared to him.

⁸From there, Abram went on toward the hills east of Bethel. He set up his tent there. Bethel was to the west, and Ai was to the east.

Abram built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. ⁹Then Abram left and continued toward the Negev Desert.

Abram Goes to Egypt

¹⁰At that time there wasn’t enough food in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while.

¹¹As he was about to enter Egypt, he spoke to his wife Sarai. He said, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. ¹²The people of Egypt will see you. They will say, ‘This is his wife.’ And they will kill me. But they will let you live. ¹³Say you are my sister. Then I’ll be treated well because of you. My life will be spared because of you.”

¹⁴Abram arrived in Egypt. The people of Egypt saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. ¹⁵When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they bragged to Pharaoh about her. Sarai was taken into his palace.

¹⁶Pharaoh treated Abram well because of her. So Abram gained more sheep and cattle. He also got more male and female donkeys. And he gained more male and female servants and some camels.

¹⁷But the Lord sent terrible sicknesses on Pharaoh and everyone in his palace. He did it because of Abram’s wife Sarai.

¹⁸So Pharaoh sent for Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? ¹⁹Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister’? That’s why I took her to be my wife. Now then, here’s your wife. Take her and go!”

²⁰Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men. They sent him on his way. He left with his wife and everything he had.

Abram and Lot Separate

13Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev Desert. He took his wife and everything he had. Lot went with him. ²Abram had become very rich. He had a lot of livestock and silver and gold.

³From the Negev Desert, he went from place to place until he came to Bethel. He came to a place between Bethel and Ai. That’s where his tent had been earlier. ⁴He had also built an altar there. He worshiped the Lord there.

⁵Lot was moving around with Abram. Lot also had flocks and herds and tents.

⁶But the land didn’t have enough food for both of them. They had large herds and many servants. So they weren’t able to stay together. ⁷The people who took care of Abram’s herds and those who took care of Lot’s herds began to argue.

The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.

⁸So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not argue with each other. The people who take care of your herds and those who take care of mine shouldn’t argue with one another. After all, we’re part of the same family.

⁹“Isn’t the whole land in front of you? Let’s separate. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right. If you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”

¹⁰Lot looked up. He saw that the whole Jordan River valley had plenty of water. It was like the garden of the Lord. It was like the land of Egypt near Zoar. That was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

¹¹So Lot chose the whole Jordan River valley for himself. Then he started out toward the east.

The two men separated. ¹²Abram lived in the land of Canaan. Lot lived among the cities of the Jordan River valley. He set up his tents near Sodom.

¹³The men of Sodom were evil. They were sinning greatly against the Lord.

¹⁴The Lord spoke to Abram after Lot had left him. He said, “Look up from where you are. Look north and south. Look east and west. ¹⁵I will give you all of the land that you see. I will give it to you and your children after you forever.

¹⁶“I will make your children like the dust of the earth. Can dust be counted? If it can, then your children can be counted. ¹⁷Go. Walk through the land. See how long and wide it is. I am giving it to you.”

¹⁸So Abram moved his tents. He went to live near the large trees of Mamre at Hebron. There he built an altar to honor the Lord.

Abram Saves Lot

14At that time Amraphel was the king of Babylonia. Arioch was the king of Ellasar. Kedorlaomer was the king of Elam. And Tidal was the king of Goiim.

²They went to war against five kings. The kings were Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela. Bela was also called Zoar.

³Those five kings all gathered their armies together in the Valley of Siddim. It was the valley of the Dead Sea. ⁴For 12 years they had been under the rule of Kedorlaomer. But in the 13th year they opposed him.

⁵In the 14th year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who helped him went to war. They won the battle against the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim. They also won the battle against the Zuzites in Ham and the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim. ⁶They did the same thing to the Horites in the hill country of Seir. They marched all the way to El Paran near the desert.

⁷Then they turned back. They went to En Mishpat. En Mishpat was also called Kadesh. They took over the whole territory of the Amalekites. They also won the battle against the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar.

⁸Then the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah marched out. The kings of Admah, Zeboiim and Bela went with them. Bela was also called Zoar.

They lined up their armies for battle in the Valley of Siddim. ⁹They got ready to fight against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Babylonia, and Arioch king of Ellasar. There were four kings against five.

¹⁰The Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah ran away from the battle. Some of their men fell into the pits. The rest escaped to the hills.

¹¹The four kings took all of the things that belonged to Sodom and Gomorrah. They also took all of their food. Then they went away.

¹²They carried away Lot, Abram’s nephew, and the things he owned. Lot was living in Sodom at that time.

¹³One man escaped. He came and reported everything to Abram. Abram was a Hebrew. He was living near the large trees of Mamre the Amorite. Mamre was a brother of Eshcol and Aner. All of them helped Abram.

¹⁴Abram heard that Lot had been captured. So he called out his 318 trained men. All of them were sons of his servants. They chased the enemy as far as Dan. ¹⁵During the night Abram separated his men into groups. They attacked the enemy and drove them away. They chased them north of Damascus as far as Hobah.

¹⁶Abram took back all of the things the kings had taken. He brought back his nephew Lot and the things Lot owned. He also brought back the women and the other people.

¹⁷After Abram won the battle over Kedorlaomer and the kings who helped him, he returned. The king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh. The Valley of Shaveh was also called the King’s Valley.

¹⁸Melchizedek was the king of Jerusalem. He brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God Most High. ¹⁹He gave a blessing to Abram. He said,

“May God Most High bless Abram.

May the Creator of heaven and earth bless him.

²⁰Give praise to God Most High.

He gave your enemies into your hand.”

Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.

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

²²But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the Lord. He is God Most High. He is the Creator of heaven and earth. I have taken an oath. ²³I have said that I won’t accept anything that belongs to you. I won’t take even a thread or the strap of a sandal. You will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’

²⁴“I’ll accept only what my men have eaten and what belongs to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Those three men went with me. Let them have their share.”

God Makes a Covenant With Abram

15Some time later, Abram had a vision. The Lord said to him,

“Abram, do not be afraid.

I am like a shield to you.

I am your very great reward.”

²But Abram said, “Lord and King, what can you give me? I still don’t have any children. My servant Eliezer comes from Damascus. When I die, he will get everything I own.” ³Abram continued, “You haven’t given me any children. So a servant in my house will get everything I own.”

⁴Then a message came to Abram from the Lord. He said, “This man will not get what belongs to you. A son will come from your own body. He will get everything you own.”

⁵The Lord took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky. Count the stars, if you can.” Then he said to him, “That is how many children you will have.”

⁶Abram believed the Lord. The Lord accepted Abram because he believed. So his faith made him right with the Lord.

⁷He also said to Abram, “I am the Lord. I brought you out of Ur in Babylonia. I wanted to give you this land to take as your very own.”

⁸But Abram said, “Lord and King, how can I know I will take this land as my own?”

⁹So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a young cow. Also bring a goat and a ram. All of them must be three years old. Bring a dove and a young pigeon along with them.”

¹⁰Abram brought all of them to the Lord. Abram cut them in two. He placed the halves opposite each other. But he didn’t cut the…