Genesis 12-15 (Amplified Bible)

Genesis 12

 ¹NOW [in Haran] the Lord said to Abram, Go for yourself [for your own advantage] away from your country, from your relatives and your father's house, to the land that I will show you.^(A)

    ²And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you [with abundant increase of favors] and make your name famous and distinguished, and you will be a blessing [dispensing good to others].

    ³And I will bless those who bless you [who confer prosperity or happiness upon you] and ^[a]curse him who curses or uses insolent language toward you; in you will all the families and kindred of the earth be blessed [and by you they will bless themselves].^(B)

    ⁴So Abram departed, as the Lord had directed him; and Lot [his nephew] went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

    ⁵Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the persons [servants] that they had acquired in Haran, and they went forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,

    ⁶Abram passed through the land to the locality of Shechem, to the oak or terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

    ⁷Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, I will give this land to your posterity. So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, Who had appeared to him.

    ⁸From there he pulled up [his tent pegs] and departed to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.

    ⁹Abram journeyed on, still going toward the South (the Negeb).

    ¹⁰Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram ^[b]went down into Egypt to live temporarily, for the famine in the land was oppressive (intense and grievous).

    ¹¹And when he was about to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, I know that you are beautiful to behold.

    ¹²So when the Egyptians see you, they will say, This is his wife; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.

    ¹³Say, I beg of you, that you are ^[c]my sister, so that it may go well with me for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.

    ¹⁴And when Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.

    ¹⁵The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into Pharaoh's house [harem].

    ¹⁶And he treated Abram well for her sake; he acquired sheep, oxen, he-donkeys, menservants, maidservants, she-donkeys, and ^[d]camels.

    ¹⁷But the Lord scourged Pharaoh and his household with serious plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.

    ¹⁸And Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?

    ¹⁹Why did you say, She is my sister, so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her and get away [from here]!

    ²⁰And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they brought him on his way with his wife and all that he had.

   

Genesis 13

 ¹SO ABRAM went up out of Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South [country of Judah, the Negeb].

    ²Now Abram was extremely rich in livestock and in silver and in gold.

    ³And he journeyed on from the South [country of Judah, the Negeb] as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,

    ⁴Where he had built an altar at first; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.^(C)

    ⁵But Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.

    ⁶Now the land was not able to nourish and support them so they could dwell together, for their possessions were too great for them to live together.

    ⁷And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land [making fodder more difficult to obtain].

    ⁸So Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife, I beg of you, between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are relatives.

    ⁹Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself, I beg of you, from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you choose the right hand, then I will go to the left.

    ¹⁰And Lot looked and saw that everywhere the Jordan Valley was well watered. Before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, [it was all] like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar.

    ¹¹Then Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley and [he] traveled east. So they separated.

    ¹²Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the [Jordan] Valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom and dwelt there.

    ¹³But the men of Sodom were wicked and exceedingly great sinners against the Lord.

    ¹⁴The Lord said to Abram after Lot had left him, Lift up now your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;

    ¹⁵For all the land which you see I will give to you and to your posterity forever.^(D)

    ¹⁶And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if a man could count the dust of the earth, then could your descendants also be counted.^(E)

    ¹⁷Arise, walk through the land, the length of it and the breadth of it, for I will give it to you.

    ¹⁸Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt among the oaks or terebinths of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and built there an altar to the Lord.

   

Genesis 14

 ¹IN THE days of the kings Amraphel of Shinar, Arioch of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer of Elam, and Tidal of Goiim,

    ²They made war on the kings Bera of Sodom, Birsha of Gomorrah, Shinab of Admah, Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, ^[e]that is, Zoar.

    ³The latter kings joined together [as allies] in the Valley of Siddim, which is [now] the [Dead] Sea of Salt.

    ⁴Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

    ⁵And in the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him attacked and subdued the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,

    ⁶And the Horites in their Mount Seir as far as El-paran, which is on the border of the wilderness.

    ⁷Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat, which [now] is Kadesh, and subdued all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazazon-tamar.

    ⁸Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela, that is, Zoar, went out and [together] they joined battle [with those kings] in the Valley of Siddim,

    ⁹With the kings Chedorlaomer of Elam, Tidal of Goiim, Amraphel of Shinar, and Arioch of Ellasar--four kings against five.

    ¹⁰Now the Valley of Siddim was full of slime or bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell (were overthrown) there and the remainder [of the kings] fled to the mountain.

    ¹¹[The victors] took all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah and all the supply of provisions and departed.

    ¹²And they also took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods away with them.

    ¹³Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew [one from the other side], who was living by the oaks or terebinths of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and of Aner--these were allies of Abram.

    ¹⁴When Abram heard that [his nephew] had been captured, he armed (led forth) the 318 trained servants born in his own house and pursued the enemy as far as Dan.

    ¹⁵He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and attacked and routed them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.

    ¹⁶And he brought back all the goods and also brought back his kinsman Lot and his possessions, the women also and the people.

    ¹⁷After his [Abram's] return from the defeat and slaying of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh, that is, the King's Valley.

    ¹⁸Melchizedek king of Salem [later called Jerusalem] brought out bread and wine [for their nourishment]; he was the priest of God Most High,

    ¹⁹And he blessed him and said, Blessed (favored with blessings, made blissful, joyful) be Abram by God Most High, Possessor and Maker of heaven and earth,

    ²⁰And blessed, praised, and glorified be God Most High, Who has given your foes into your hand! And [Abram] gave him a tenth of all [he had taken].^(F)

    ²¹And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the persons and keep the goods for yourself.

    ²²But Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up my hand and sworn to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor and Maker of heaven and earth,

    ²³That I would not take a thread or a shoelace or anything that is yours, lest you should say, I have made Abram rich.

    ²⁴[Take all] except only what my young men have eaten and the share of the men [allies] who went with me--Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

   

Genesis 15

 ¹AFTER THESE things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am your ^[f]Shield, your abundant compensation, and your reward shall be exceedingly great.

    ²And Abram said, Lord God, what can You give me, since I am going on [from this world] childless and he who shall be the owner and heir of my house is this [steward] Eliezer of Damascus?

    ³And Abram continued, Look, You have given me no child; and [a servant] born in my house is my heir.

    ⁴And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, This man shall not be your heir, but he who shall come from your own body shall be your heir.

    ⁵And He brought him outside [his tent into the starlight] and said, Look now toward the heavens and count the stars--if you are able to number them. Then He said to him, So shall your descendants be.^(G)

    ⁶And he [Abram] believed in (trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness (right standing with God).^(H)

    ⁷And He said to him, I am the [same] Lord, Who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees to give you this land as an inheritance.

    ⁸But he [Abram] said, Lord God, by what shall I know that I shall inherit it?

    ⁹And He said to him, Bring to Me a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

    ¹⁰And he brought Him all these and cut them down the middle [into halves] and laid each half opposite the other; but the birds he did not divide.

    ¹¹And when the birds of prey swooped down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

    ¹²When the sun was setting, a deep sleep overcame Abram, and a horror (a terror, a shuddering fear) of great darkness assailed and oppressed him.

    ¹³And [God] said to Abram, Know positively that your descendants will be strangers dwelling as temporary residents in a land that is not theirs [Egypt], and they will be slaves there and will be afflicted and oppressed for 400 years. [Fulfilled in Exod. 12:40.]

    ¹⁴But I will bring judgment on that nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.^(I)

    ¹⁵And you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old (hoary) age.

    ¹⁶And in the ^[g]fourth generation they [your descendants] shall come back here [to Canaan] again, for the iniquity of the ^[h]Amorites is not yet full and complete.^(J)

    ¹⁷When the sun had gone down and a [thick] darkness had come on, behold, a smoking oven and a flaming torch passed between those pieces.

    ¹⁸On the same day the Lord made a covenant (promise, pledge) with Abram, saying, To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates--the land of

    ¹⁹The Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

    ²⁰The Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

    ²¹The Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.