Abram Saves Lot

14 At 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.

20 Give 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.”