Genesis 13–19

Abram and Lot Separate

13So Abram went up from Egypt^r to the Negev,^s with his wife and everything he had, and Lot^t went with him. ²Abram had become very wealthy^u in livestock^v and in silver and gold.

³From the Negev^w he went from place to place until he came to Bethel,^x to the place between Bethel and Ai^y where his tent had been earlier ⁴and where he had first built an altar.^z There Abram called on the name of the Lord.^a

⁵Now Lot,^b who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together.^{c 7}And quarreling^d arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites^e and Perizzites^f were also living in the land^g at that time.

⁸So Abram said to Lot,^h “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me,ⁱ or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives.^{j 9}Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”^k

¹⁰Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain^l of the Jordan toward Zoar^m was well watered, like the garden of the Lord,ⁿ like the land of Egypt.^o (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom^p and Gomorrah.)^{q 11}So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: ¹²Abram lived in the land of Canaan,^r while Lot^s lived among the cities of the plain^t and pitched his tents near Sodom.^{u 13}Now the people of Sodom^v were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.^w

¹⁴The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west.^{x 15}All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring^a forever.^{y 16}I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.^{z 17}Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land,^a for I am giving it to you.”^b

¹⁸So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre^c at Hebron,^d where he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the Lord.^e

Abram Rescues Lot

14At the time when Amraphel was king of Shinar,^af Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer^g king of Elam^h and Tidal king of Goyim, ²these kings went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim,ⁱ and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).^{j 3}All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim^k (that is, the Dead Sea Valley^l). ⁴For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer,^m but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

⁵In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomerⁿ and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites^o in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites^p in Shaveh Kiriathaim ⁶and the Horites^q in the hill country of Seir,^r as far as El Paran^s near the desert. ⁷Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh),^t and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites,^u as well as the Amorites^v who were living in Hazezon Tamar.^w

⁸Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah,^x the king of Admah, the king of Zeboyim^y and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar)^z marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim^{a 9}against Kedorlaomer^b king of Elam,^c Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. ¹⁰Now the Valley of Siddim^d was full of tar^e pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah^f fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills.^{g 11}The four kings seized all the goods^h of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. ¹²They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lotⁱ and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.

¹³A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew.^j Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre^k the Amorite, a brother^b of Eshkol^l and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. ¹⁴When Abram heard that his relative^m had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trainedⁿ men born in his household^o and went in pursuit as far as Dan.^{p 15}During the night Abram divided his men^q to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.^{r 16}He recovered^s all the goods^t and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.

¹⁷After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer^u and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom^v came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).^w

¹⁸Then Melchizedek^x king of Salem^y brought out bread^z and wine.^a He was priest of God Most High,^{b 19}and he blessed Abram,^c saying,

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,^d

Creator of heaven and earth.^e

²⁰And praise be to God Most High,^f

who delivered your enemies into your hand.”

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.^g

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

²²But Abram said to the king of Sodom,^j “With raised hand^k I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High,^l Creator of heaven and earth,^{m 23}that I will accept nothing belonging to you,ⁿ not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ ²⁴I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre.^o Let them have their share.”

The Lord’s Covenant With Abram

15After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram^p in a vision:^q

“Do not be afraid,^r Abram.

I am your shield,^as

your very great reward.^bt”

²But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,^u what can you give me since I remain childless^v and the one who will inherit^c my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?^w” ³And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant^x in my household^y will be my heir.”

⁴Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.^z” ⁵He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars^a—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring^d be.”^b

⁶Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.^c

⁷He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out^d of Ur of the Chaldeans^e to give you this land to take possession of it.”^f

⁸But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,^g how can I know^h that I will gain possession of it?”ⁱ

⁹So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer,^j a goat and a ram, each three years old,^k along with a dove and a young pigeon.^l”

¹⁰Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other;^m the birds, however, he did not cut in half.^{n 11}Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses,^o but Abram drove them away.

¹²As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep,^p and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. ¹³Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years^q your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved^r and mistreated there. ¹⁴But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out^s with great possessions.^{t 15}You, however, will go to your ancestors^u in peace and be buried at a good old age.^{v 16}In the fourth generation^w your descendants will come back here,^x for the sin of the Amorites^y has not yet reached its full measure.”

¹⁷When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch^z appeared and passed between the pieces.^{a 18}On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram^b and said, “To your descendants I give this land,^c from the Wadi^e of Egypt^d to the great river, the Euphrates^e—¹⁹the land of the Kenites,^f Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰Hittites,^g Perizzites,^h Rephaites,^{i 21}Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”^j

Hagar and Ishmael

16Now Sarai,^k Abram’s wife, had borne him no children.^l But she had an Egyptian slave^m named Hagar;^{n 2}so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children.^o Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”^p

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. ³So after Abram had been living in Canaan^q ten years,^r Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. ⁴He slept with Hagar,^s and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.^{t 5}Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”^u

⁶“Your slave is in your hands,^v” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated^w Hagar; so she fled from her.

⁷The angel of the Lord^x found Hagar near a spring^y in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.^{z 8}And he said, “Hagar,^a slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”^b

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

⁹Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” ¹⁰The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”^c

¹¹The angel of the Lord^d also said to her:

“You are now pregnant

and you will give birth to a son.^e

You shall name him^f Ishmael,^ag

for the Lord has heard of your misery.^h

¹²He will be a wild donkeyⁱ of a man;

his hand will be against everyone

and everyone’s hand against him,

and he will live in hostility

toward^b all his brothers.^j”

¹³She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,^k” for she said, “I have now seen^c the One who sees me.”^{l 14}That is why the well^m was called Beer Lahai Roi^d;ⁿ it is still there, between Kadesh^o and Bered.

¹⁵So Hagar^p bore Abram a son,^q and Abram gave the name Ishmael^r to the son she had borne. ¹⁶Abram was eighty-six years old^s when Hagar bore…