Genesis 12-13

New American Standard Bible

Abram Journeys to Egypt

12 Now ^(A)the Lord said to Abram,

⁴ So Abram went away as the Lord had spoken to him; and ^(G)Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, and all their ^(H)possessions which they had accumulated, and ^(I)the ^[c]people which they had acquired in Haran, and they ^[d]set out for the land of Canaan; ^(J)so they came to the land of Canaan. ⁶ Abram passed through the land as far as the site of ^(K)Shechem, to the ^[e]oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time. ⁷ And the Lord ^(L)appeared to Abram and said, “^(M)To your ^[f]descendants I will give this land.” So he built ^(N)an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. ⁸ Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent with ^(O)Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and ^(P)called upon the name of the Lord. ⁹ Then Abram journeyed on, continuing toward ^(Q)the ^[g]Negev.

¹⁰ Now there was ^(R)a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a time, because the famine was ^(S)severe in the land. ¹¹ It came about, when he ^[h]was approaching Egypt, that he said to his wife Sarai, “See now, I know that you are a ^[i](T)beautiful woman; ^12 (U)and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³ Please say that you are ^(V)my sister so that it may go well for me because of you, and that ^[j](W)I may live on account of you.” ¹⁴ Now it came about, when Abram entered Egypt, that the Egyptians ^[k]saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and ^(X)the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶ Therefore ^(Y)he treated Abram well for her sake; and ^[l](Z)he gave him sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

¹⁷ But the Lord ^(AA)struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸ Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “^(AB)What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for myself as a wife? Now then, ^[m]here is your wife, take her and go!” ²⁰ And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they ^[n]escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.

Abram and Lot

13 So Abram went up from Egypt to ^(AC)the ^[o]Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him.

² Now Abram was ^(AD)very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. ³ And he went ^[p]on his journeys from the ^[q]Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, ^(AE)between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to the place of the ^(AF)altar which he had made there previously; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. ⁵ Now ^(AG)Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents. ⁶ And ^(AH)the land could not ^[r]support both of them ^[s]while living together, ^(AI)for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together. ^7 (AJ)And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Now ^(AK)the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.

^8 (AL)So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are relatives! ⁹ Is the entire land not before you? Please separate from me; if you choose the left, then I will go to the right; or if you choose the right, then I will go to the left.” ¹⁰ Lot raised his eyes and saw all the ^[t]vicinity of the ^(AM)Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the Lord ^(AN)destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like ^(AO)the garden of the Lord, ^(AP)like the land of Egypt ^[u]going toward ^(AQ)Zoar. ¹¹ So Lot chose for himself all the ^[v]vicinity of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. So they separated from each other. ¹² Abram ^[w]settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot ^[x]settled in ^(AR)the cities of the ^[y]vicinity of the Jordan, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. ¹³ Now ^(AS)the men of Sodom were ^[z]exceedingly wicked ^(AT)sinners against the Lord.

¹⁴ The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “^(AU)Now raise your eyes and look from the place where you are, ^(AV)northward and southward, and eastward and westward; ^15 (AW)for all the land which you see ^(AX)I will give to you and to your ^[aa]descendants forever. ¹⁶ I will make your ^[ab]descendants ^(AY)as plentiful as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can count the dust of the earth, then your ^[ac]descendants could also be counted. ¹⁷ Arise, ^(AZ)walk about in the land through its length and width; for ^(BA)I will give it to you.” ¹⁸ Then Abram moved his tent and came and lived by the ^[ad](BB)oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron; and there he built ^(BC)an altar to the Lord.