Genesis 12-15 (Contemporary English Version)

Genesis 12

The LORD Chooses Abram

 ¹The LORD said to Abram:

   Leave your country, your family, and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you. ²I will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. You will become famous and be a blessing to others. ³I will bless anyone who blesses you, but I will put a curse on anyone who puts a curse on you. Everyone on earth will be blessed because of you. ^{[a] 4-5}Abram was seventy-five years old when the LORD told him to leave the city of Haran. He obeyed and left with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and slaves they had gotten while in Haran.

   When they came to the land of Canaan, ⁶Abram went as far as the sacred tree of Moreh in a place called Shechem. The Canaanites were still living in the land at that time, ⁷but the LORD appeared to Abram and promised, "I will give this land to your family forever." Abram then built an altar there for the LORD.

    ⁸Abram traveled to the hill country east of Bethel and camped between Bethel and Ai, where he built another altar and worshiped the LORD. ⁹Later, Abram started out toward the Southern Desert.

   

Abram in Egypt

 ^10-11The crops failed, and there was no food anywhere in the land. So Abram and his wife Sarai went to live in Egypt for a while. But just before they got there, he said, "Sarai, you are really beautiful! ¹²When the Egyptians see how lovely you are, they will murder me because I am your husband. But they won't kill you. ¹³Please save my life by saying that you are my sister."

    ¹⁴As soon as Abram and Sarai arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians noticed how beautiful she was. ¹⁵The king's ^[b] officials told him about her, and she was taken to his house. ¹⁶The king was good to Abram because of Sarai, and Abram was given sheep, cattle, donkeys, slaves, and camels. ¹⁷Because of Sarai, the LORD struck the king and everyone in his palace with terrible diseases. ¹⁸Finally, the king sent for Abram and said to him, "What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me Sarai was your wife? ¹⁹Why did you make me believe she was your sister? Now I've married her. Take her and go! She's your wife."

    ²⁰So the king told his men to let Abram and Sarai take their possessions and leave.

   

Genesis 13

Abram and Lot Separate

 ¹Abram and Sarai took everything they owned and went to the Southern Desert. Lot went with them.

    ²Abram was very rich. He owned many cattle, sheep, and goats, and had a lot of silver and gold. ³Abram moved from place to place in the Southern Desert. And finally, he went north and set up his tents between Bethel and Ai, ⁴where he had earlier camped and built an altar. There he worshiped the LORD.

    ⁵Lot, who was traveling with him, also had sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as his own family and slaves. ^6-7At this time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the same area, and so there wasn't enough pastureland left for Abram and Lot with all of their animals. Besides this, the men who took care of Abram's animals and the ones who took care of Lot's animals started quarreling.

    ⁸Abram said to Lot, "We are close relatives. We shouldn't argue, and our men shouldn't be fighting one another. ⁹There is plenty of land for you to choose from. Let's separate. If you go north, I'll go south; if you go south, I'll go north."

    ¹⁰This happened before the LORD had destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. And when Lot looked around, he saw there was plenty of water in the Jordan Valley. All the way to Zoar the valley was as green as the garden of the LORD or the land of Egypt. ¹¹So Lot chose the whole Jordan Valley for himself, and as he started toward the east, he and Abram separated. ¹²Abram stayed in the land of Canaan. But Lot settled near the cities of the valley and put up his tents not far from Sodom, ¹³where the people were evil and sinned terribly against the LORD.

   

Abram Moves to Hebron

 ¹⁴After Abram and Lot had gone their separate ways, the LORD said to Abram:

   Look around to the north, south, east, and west. ¹⁵I will give you and your family all the land you can see. It will be theirs forever! ¹⁶I will give you more descendants than there are specks of dust on the earth, and someday it will be easier to count the specks of dust than to count your descendants. ¹⁷Now walk back and forth across the land, because I am giving it to you.

    ¹⁸Abram took down his tents and went to live near the sacred trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar in honor of the LORD.

   

Genesis 14

Abram Rescues Lot

 ¹About this time, King Amraphel of Babylonia, ^[c] King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim ²attacked King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, also known as the city of Zoar. ^3-4King Chedorlaomer and his allies had ruled these last five kings for twelve years, but in the thirteenth year the kings rebelled and came together in Siddim Valley, which is now covered by the southern part of the Dead Sea. ⁵A year later King Chedorlaomer and his allies attacked and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, and the Emites in Shaveh-Kiriathaim. ⁶They also defeated the Horites in the hill country of Edom, ^[d] as far as El-Paran, near the desert. ⁷They went back to the city of Enmishpat, better known as Kadesh. Then they captured all the land that belonged to the Amalekites, and they defeated the Amorites who were living in Hazazon-Tamar.

    ^8-9At Siddim Valley, the armies of the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela fought the armies of King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Babylonia, and King Arioch of Ellasar. The valley ¹⁰was full of tar pits, and when the troops from Sodom and Gomorrah started running away, some of them fell into the pits. Others escaped to the hill country. ¹¹Their enemies took everything of value from Sodom and Gomorrah, including their food supplies. ¹²They also captured Abram's nephew Lot, who lived in Sodom. They took him and his possessions and then left.

    ¹³At this time Abram the Hebrew was living near the oaks that belonged to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his brothers Eshcol and Aner were Abram's friends. Someone who had escaped from the battle told Abram ¹⁴that his nephew Lot had been taken away. Three hundred eighteen of Abram's servants were fighting men, so he took them and followed the enemy as far north as the city of Dan.

    ¹⁵That night, Abram divided up his troops, attacked from all sides, and won a great victory. But some of the enemy escaped to the town of Hobah north of Damascus, ¹⁶and Abram went after them. He brought back his nephew Lot, together with Lot's possessions and the women and everyone else who had been captured.

   

Abram Is Blessed by Melchizedek

 ¹⁷Abram returned after he had defeated King Chedorlaomer and the other kings. Then the king of Sodom went to meet Abram in Shaveh Valley, which is also known as King's Valley.

    ¹⁸King Melchizedek of Salem was a priest of God Most High. He brought out some bread and wine ¹⁹and said to Abram:

   "I bless you in the name

   of God Most High,

   Creator of heaven and earth.

    ²⁰All praise belongs

   to God Most High

   for helping you defeat

   your enemies."

   Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.

    ²¹The king of Sodom said to Abram, "All I want are my people. You can keep everything else."

    ²²Abram answered:

   The LORD God Most High made the heavens and the earth. And I have promised him ²³that I won't keep anything of yours, not even a sandal strap or a piece of thread. Then you can never say that you are the one who made me rich. ²⁴Let my share be the food that my men have eaten. But Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre went with me, so give them their share of what we brought back.

   

Genesis 15

The LORD's Promise to Abram

 ¹Later the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision, "Abram, don't be afraid! I will protect you and reward you greatly."

    ²But Abram answered, "LORD All-Powerful, you have given me everything I could ask for, except children. And when I die, Eliezer of Damascus will get all I own. ^{[e] 3}You have not given me any children, and this servant of mine will inherit everything." ⁴The LORD replied, "No, he won't! You will have a son of your own, and everything you have will be his." ⁵Then the LORD took Abram outside and said, "Look at the sky and see if you can count the stars. That's how many descendants you will have." ⁶Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD was pleased with him.

   

The LORD Makes Another Promise to Abram

 ⁷The LORD said to Abram, "I brought you here from Ur in Chaldea, and I gave you this land."

    ⁸Abram asked, "LORD God, how can I know the land will be mine?"

    ⁹Then the LORD told him, "Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a dove, and a young pigeon."

    ¹⁰Abram obeyed the LORD. Then he cut ^[f] the animals in half and laid the two halves of each animal opposite each other on the ground. But he did not cut the doves and pigeons in half. ¹¹And when birds came down to eat the animals, Abram chased them away. ¹²As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and everything became dark and frightening. ^13-15Then the LORD said:

   Abram, you will live to an old age and die in peace.

   But I solemnly promise that your descendants will live as foreigners in a land that doesn't belong to them. They will be forced into slavery and abused for four hundred years. But I will terribly punish the nation that enslaves them, and they will leave with many possessions.

    ¹⁶Four generations later, ^[g] your descendants will return here and take this land, because only then will the people who live here ^[h] be so sinful that they deserve to be punished. ¹⁷Sometime after sunset, when it was very dark, a smoking cooking pot ^[i] and a flaming fire went between the two halves of each animal. ¹⁸At that time the LORD made an agreement with Abram and told him: I will give your descendants the land east of the Shihor River ^[j] on the border of Egypt as far as the Euphrates River. ¹⁹They will possess the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaites, ²¹the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.