Genesis 13–19

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 birds in half. ¹¹Then large birds came down to eat the dead bodies of the animals and birds. But Abram chased the large birds away.

¹²As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep. A thick and terrible darkness covered him.

¹³Then the Lord said to him, “You can be sure of what I am about to tell you. Your children who live after you will be strangers in a country that does not belong to them. They will become slaves. They will be treated badly for 400 years. ¹⁴But I will punish the nation that makes them slaves. After that, they will leave with all kinds of valuable things.

¹⁵“But you will die in peace. You will join the members of your family who have already died. You will be buried when you are very old.

¹⁶“Your children’s grandchildren will come back here. That is because the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached the point where I must judge them.”

¹⁷The sun set and darkness fell. Then a burning torch and a fire pot filled with smoke appeared. They passed between the pieces of the animals.

¹⁸On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram. He said, “I am giving this land to your children after you. It reaches from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates. ¹⁹It includes the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰Hittites, Perizzites and Rephaites. ²¹The Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites also live there.”

Hagar and Ishmael

16Abram’s wife Sarai had never had any children by him. But she had a female servant from Egypt named Hagar. ²So she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go and make love to my servant. Maybe I can have a family through her.”

Abram agreed to what Sarai had said. ³After he had been living in Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai gave him her servant Hagar to be his wife. ⁴He made love to Hagar. And she became pregnant.

When Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to look down on the woman who owned her.

⁵Then Sarai said to Abram, “It’s your fault that I’m suffering like this. I put my servant in your arms. Now that she knows she’s pregnant, she looks down on me. May the Lord judge between you and me. May he decide which of us is right.”

⁶“Your servant belongs to you,” Abram said. “Do with her what you think is best.” Then Sarai treated Hagar badly. So Hagar ran away from her.

⁷The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert. The spring was beside the road to Shur. ⁸He said, “Hagar, you are the servant of Sarai. Where have you come from? Where are you going?”

“I’m running away from my owner Sarai,” she answered.

⁹Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to the…