Genesis 13–19

Abram Inherits Canaan

13Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and ^aLot with him, ^bto the ¹South. ^2cAbram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³And he went on his journey ^dfrom the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴to the ^eplace of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram ^fcalled on the name of the Lord.

⁵Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶Now ^gthe land was not able to ²support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. ⁷And there was ^hstrife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. ⁱThe Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.

⁸So Abram said to Lot, ^j“Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. ^9kIs not the whole land before you? Please ^lseparate from me. ^mIf you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”

¹⁰And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all ⁿthe plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord ^odestroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) ^plike the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward ^qZoar. ¹¹Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. ¹²Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot ^rdwelt in the cities of the plain and ^spitched his tent even as far as Sodom. ¹³But the men of Sodom ^twere exceedingly wicked and ^usinful against the Lord.

¹⁴And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot ^vhad separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—^wnorthward, southward, eastward, and westward; ¹⁵for all the land which you see ^xI give to you and ^yyour ³descendants forever. ¹⁶And ^zI will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. ¹⁷Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”

^18aThen Abram moved his tent, and went and ^bdwelt by ⁴the terebinth trees of Mamre, ^cwhich are in Hebron, and built an ^daltar there to the Lord.

Lot’s Captivity and Rescue

14And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king ^aof Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of ^bElam, and Tidal king of ¹nations, ²that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of ^cAdmah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, ^dZoar). ³All these joined together in the Valley of Siddim ^e(that is, the Salt Sea). ⁴Twelve years ^fthey served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

⁵In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him came and attacked ^gthe Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, ^hthe Zuzim in Ham, ⁱthe Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, ^6jand the Horites in their mountain of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness. ⁷Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and attacked all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt ^kin Hazezon Tamar.

⁸And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim ⁹against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of ²nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. ¹⁰Now the Valley of Siddim was full of ^lasphalt pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; some fell there, and the remainder fled ^mto the mountains. ¹¹Then they took ⁿall the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. ¹²They also took Lot, Abram’s ^obrother’s son ^pwho dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

¹³Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the ^qHebrew, for ^rhe dwelt by ³the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; ^sand they were allies with Abram. ¹⁴Now ^twhen Abram heard that ^uhis brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were ^vborn in his own house, and went in pursuit ^was far as Dan. ¹⁵He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants ^xattacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is ⁴north of Damascus. ¹⁶So he ^ybrought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people.

¹⁷And the king of Sodom ^zwent out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the ^aKing’s Valley), ^bafter his return from ⁵the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him.

Abram and Melchizedek

¹⁸Then ^cMelchizedek king of Salem brought out ^dbread and wine; he was ^ethe priest of ^fGod Most High. ¹⁹And he blessed him and said:

^g“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,

^hPossessor of heaven and earth;

²⁰And ⁱblessed be God Most High,

Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”

And he ^jgave him ⁶a tithe of all.

²¹Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the ⁷persons, and take the goods for yourself.”

²²But Abram ^ksaid to the king of Sodom, “I ^lhave raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, ^mthe Possessor of heaven and earth, ²³that ⁿI will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’—²⁴except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”

God’s Covenant with Abram

15After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram ^ain a vision, saying, ^b“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your ^cshield, ¹your exceedingly ^dgreat reward.”

^2eBut Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, ^fseeing I ²go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed ^gone ³born in my house is my heir!”

⁴And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who ^hwill come from your own body shall be your heir.” ⁵Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and ⁱcount the ^jstars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, ^k“So shall your ^ldescendants be.”

⁶And he ^mbelieved in the Lord, and He ⁿaccounted it to him for righteousness.

⁷Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who ^obrought you out of ^pUr of the Chaldeans, ^qto give you this land to inherit it.”

⁸And he said, “Lord God, ^rhow shall I know that I will inherit it?”

⁹So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰Then he brought all these to Him and ^scut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut ^tthe birds in two. ¹¹And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

¹²Now when the sun was going down, ^ua deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly ^vthat your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and ^wthey will afflict them four hundred years. ¹⁴And also the nation whom they serve ^xI will judge; afterward ^ythey shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵Now as for you, ^zyou shall ⁴go ^ato your fathers in peace; ^byou shall be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶But ^cin the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity ^dof the Amorites ^eis not yet complete.”

¹⁷And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that ^fpassed between those pieces. ¹⁸On the same day the Lord ^gmade a covenant with Abram, saying:

^h“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—¹⁹the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Hagar and Ishmael

16Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, ^ahad borne him no children. And she had ^ban Egyptian maidservant whose name was ^cHagar. ^2dSo Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord ^ehas restrained me from bearing children. Please, ^fgo in to my maid; perhaps I shall ¹obtain children by her.” And Abram ^gheeded the voice of Sarai. ³Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram ^hhad dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. ⁴So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became ⁱdespised in her ²eyes.

⁵Then Sarai said to Abram, ³“My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. ^jThe Lord judge between you and me.”

^6kSo Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, ^lshe fled from her presence.

⁷Now the ^mAngel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, ⁿby the spring on the way to ^oShur. ⁸And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

⁹The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and ^psubmit yourself under her hand.” ¹⁰Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, ^q“I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” ¹¹And the Angel of the Lord said to her:

“Behold, you are with child,

^rAnd you shall bear a son.

You shall call his name ⁴Ishmael,

Because the Lord has heard your affliction.

^12sHe shall be a wild man;

His hand shall be against every man,

And every man’s hand against him.

^tAnd he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”

¹³Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-⁵…