Genesis 13–19

¹And Abram goeth up from Egypt (he and his wife, and all that he hath, and Lot with him) towards the south; ²and Abram is exceedingly wealthy in cattle, in silver, and in gold. ³And he goeth on his journeyings from the south, even unto Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the commencement, between Bethel and Hai— ⁴unto the place of the altar which he made there at the first, and there doth Abram preach in the name of Jehovah.

⁵And also to Lot, who is going with Abram, there hath been sheep and oxen and tents; ⁶and the land hath not suffered them to dwell together, for their substance hath been much, and they have not been able to dwell together; ⁷and there is a strife between those feeding Abram’s cattle and those feeding Lot’s cattle; and the Canaanite and the Perizzite are then dwelling in the land. ⁸And Abram saith unto Lot, ‘Let there not, I pray thee, be strife between me and thee, and between my shepherds and thy shepherds, for we are men—brethren. ⁹Is not all the land before thee? be parted, I pray thee, from me; if to the left, then I to the right; and if to the right, then I to the left.’

¹⁰And Lot lifteth up his eyes, and seeth the whole circuit of the Jordan that it is all a watered country (before Jehovah’s destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, as Jehovah’s garden, as the land of Egypt,) in thy coming toward Zoar, ¹¹and Lot chooseth for himself the whole circuit of the Jordan; and Lot journeyeth from the east, and they are parted—a man from his companion; ¹²Abram hath dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot hath dwelt in the cities of the circuit, and tenteth unto Sodom; ¹³and the men of Sodom are evil, and sinners before Jehovah exceedingly.

¹⁴And Jehovah said unto Abram, after Lot’s being parted from him, ‘Lift up, I pray thee, thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; ¹⁵for the whole of the land which thou are seeing, to thee I give it, and to thy seed—to the age. ¹⁶And I have set thy seed as dust of the earth, so that, if one is able to number the dust of the earth, even thy seed is numbered; ¹⁷rise, go up and down through the land, to its length, and to its breadth, for to thee I give it.’ ¹⁸And Abram tenteth, and cometh, and dwelleth among the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and buildeth there an altar to Jehovah.

Chapter 14

¹And it cometh to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goyim, ²they have made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar. ³All these have been joined together unto the valley of Siddim, which is the Salt Sea; ⁴twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings who are with him, and they smite the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, ⁶and the Horites in their mount Seir, unto El-Paran, which is by the wilderness; ⁷and they turn back and come in unto En-Mishpat, which is Kadesh, and smite the whole field of the Amalekite, and also the Amorite who is dwelling in Hazezon-Tamar. ⁸And the king of Sodom goeth out, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar; and they set the battle in array with them in the valley of Siddim, ⁹with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goyim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with the five. ¹⁰And the valley of Siddim is full of bitumen-pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah flee, and fall there, and those left have fled to the mountain. ¹¹And they take the whole substance of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the whole of their food, and go away; ¹²and they take Lot, Abram’s brother’s son (seeing he is dwelling in Sodom), and his substance, and go away.

¹³And one who is escaping cometh and declareth to Abram the Hebrew, and he is dwelling among the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner, and they are Abram’s allies. ¹⁴And Abram heareth that his brother hath been taken captive, and he draweth out his trained domestics, three hundred and eighteen, and pursueth unto Dan. ¹⁵And he divideth himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smiteth them, and pursueth them unto Hobah, which is at the left of Damascus; ¹⁶and he bringeth back the whole of the substance, and also Lot his brother and his substance hath he brought back, and also the women and the people.

¹⁷And the king of Sodom goeth out to meet him (after his turning back from the smiting of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings who are with him), unto the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s valley. ¹⁸And Melchizedek king of Salem hath brought out bread and wine, and he is priest of God Most High; ¹⁹and he blesseth him, and saith, ‘Blessed is Abram to God Most High, possessing heaven and earth; ²⁰and blessed is God Most High, who hath delivered thine adversaries into thy hand;’ and he giveth to him a tenth of all.

²¹And the king of Sodom saith unto Abram, ‘Give to me the persons, and the substance take to thyself,’ ²²and Abram saith unto the king of Sodom, ‘I have lifted up my hand unto Jehovah, God Most High, possessing heaven and earth— ²³from a thread even unto a shoe-latchet I take not of anything which thou hast, that thou say not, I—I have made Abram rich; ²⁴save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who have gone with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—they take their portion.’

Chapter 15

¹After these things hath the word of Jehovah been unto Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Fear not, Abram, I am a shield to thee, thy reward is exceeding great.’

²And Abram saith, ‘Lord Jehovah, what dost Thou give to me, and I am going childless? and an acquired son in my house is Demmesek Eliezer.’ ³And Abram saith, ‘Lo, to me Thou hast not given seed, and lo, a domestic doth heir me.’ ⁴And lo, the word of Jehovah is unto him, saying, ‘This one doth not heir thee; but he who cometh out from thy bowels, he doth heir thee;’ ⁵and He bringeth him out without, and saith, ‘Look attentively, I pray thee, towards the heavens, and count the stars, if thou art able to count them;’ and He saith to him, ‘Thus is thy seed.’ ⁶And he hath believed in Jehovah, and He reckoneth it to him—righteousness.

⁷And He saith unto him, ‘I am Jehovah who brought thee out from Ur of the Chaldees, to give to thee this land to possess it;’ ⁸and he saith, ‘Lord Jehovah, whereby do I know that I possess it?’ ⁹And He saith unto him, ‘Take for Me a heifer of three years, and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years, and a turtle-dove, and a young bird;’ ¹⁰and he taketh to him all these, and separateth them in the midst, and putteth each piece over against its fellow, but the bird he hath not divided; ¹¹and the ravenous birds come down upon the carcases, and Abram causeth them to turn back.

¹²And the sun is about to go in, and deep sleep hath fallen upon Abram, and lo, a terror of great darkness is falling upon him; ¹³and He saith to Abram, ‘knowing—know that thy seed is a sojourner in a land not theirs, and they have served them, and they have afflicted them four hundred years, ¹⁴and the nation also whom they serve I judge, and after this they go out with great substance; ¹⁵and thou—thou comest in unto thy fathers in peace; thou art buried in a good old age; ¹⁶and the fourth generation doth turn back hither, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.’

¹⁷And it cometh to pass—the sun hath gone in, and thick darkness hath been—and lo, a furnace of smoke, and a lamp of fire, which hath passed over between those pieces. ¹⁸In that day hath Jehovah made with Abram a covenant, saying, ‘To thy seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Phrat, ¹⁹with the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite, ²⁰and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim, ²¹and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.’

Chapter 16

¹And Sarai, Abram’s wife, hath not borne to him, and she hath an handmaid, an Egyptian, and her name is Hagar; ²and Sarai saith unto Abram, ‘Lo, I pray thee, Jehovah hath restrained me from bearing, go in, I pray thee, unto my handmaid; perhaps I am built up from her;’ and Abram hearkeneth to the voice of Sarai. ³And Sarai, Abram’s wife, taketh Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, at the end of the tenth year of Abram’s dwelling in the land of Canaan, and giveth her to Abram her husband, to him for a wife.

⁴And he goeth in unto Hagar, and she conceiveth, and she seeth that she hath conceived, and her mistress is lightly esteemed in her eyes. ⁵And Sarai saith unto Abram, ‘My violence is for thee; I—I have given mine handmaid into thy bosom, and she seeth that she hath conceived, and I am lightly esteemed in her eyes; Jehovah doth judge between me and thee.’ ⁶And Abram saith unto Sarai, ‘Lo, thine handmaid is in thine hand, do to her that which is good in thine eyes;’ and Sarai afflicted her, and she fleeth from her presence.

⁷And a messenger of Jehovah findeth her by the fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur, ⁸and he saith, ‘Hagar, Sarai’s handmaid, whence hast thou come, and whither dost thou go?’ and she saith, ‘From the presence of Sarai, my mistress, I am fleeing.’ ⁹And the messenger of Jehovah saith to her, ‘Turn back unto thy mistress, and humble thyself under her hands;’

¹⁰And the messenger of Jehovah saith to her, ‘Multiplying I multiply thy seed, and it is not numbered from multitude;’ ¹¹and the messenger of Jehovah saith to her, ‘Behold thou art conceiving, and bearing a son, and hast called his name Ishmael, for Jehovah hath hearkened unto thine affliction; ¹²and he is a wild-ass man, his hand against every one, and every one’s hand against him—and before the face of all his brethren he…