Genesis 12:1–9

The Call of Abram

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household^a to the land^b I will show you.^c

“I will make you into a great nation,^d

and I will bless you;^e

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.^f

I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will curse;^g

and all peoples on earth

will be blessed through you.^h”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lotⁱ went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old^j when he set out from Harran.^k He took his wife Sarai,^l his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated^m and the peopleⁿ they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan,^o and they arrived there.

Abram traveled through the land^p as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh^q at Shechem.^r At that time the Canaanites^s were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram^t and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.^u”^v So he built an altar there to the Lord,^w who had appeared to him.

From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel^x and pitched his tent,^y with Bethel on the west and Ai^z on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.^a

Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.^b