Abram’s Family

27 This is the account(A) of Terah’s family line.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor(B) and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.(C) 28 While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans,(D) in the land of his birth. 29 Abram and Nahor(E) both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai,(F) and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah;(G) she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milkah and Iskah. 30 Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive.(H)

31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot(I) son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law(J) Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans(K) to go to Canaan.(L) But when they came to Harran,(M) they settled there.

32 Terah(N) lived 205 years, and he died in Harran.

The Call of Abram

12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household(O) to the land(P) I will show you.(Q)

“I will make you into a great nation,(R)
    and I will bless you;(S)
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.[a](T)
I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;(U)
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.(V)[b]

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot(W) went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old(X) when he set out from Harran.(Y) He took his wife Sarai,(Z) his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated(AA) and the people(AB) they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan,(AC) and they arrived there.

Abram traveled through the land(AD) as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh(AE) at Shechem.(AF) At that time the Canaanites(AG) were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram(AH) and said, “To your offspring[c] I will give this land.(AI)(AJ) So he built an altar there to the Lord,(AK) who had appeared to him.

From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel(AL) and pitched his tent,(AM) with Bethel on the west and Ai(AN) on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.(AO)

Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.(AP)

Abram in Egypt(AQ)

10 Now there was a famine in the land,(AR) and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.(AS) 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai,(AT) “I know what a beautiful woman(AU) you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister,(AV) so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman.(AW) 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.(AX)

17 But the Lord inflicted(AY) serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household(AZ) because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?”(BA) he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?(BB) 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’(BC) so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

Abram and Lot Separate

13 So Abram went up from Egypt(BD) to the Negev,(BE) with his wife and everything he had, and Lot(BF) went with him. Abram had become very wealthy(BG) in livestock(BH) and in silver and gold.

From the Negev(BI) he went from place to place until he came to Bethel,(BJ) to the place between Bethel and Ai(BK) where his tent had been earlier and where he had first built an altar.(BL) There Abram called on the name of the Lord.(BM)

Now Lot,(BN) who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together.(BO) And quarreling(BP) arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites(BQ) and Perizzites(BR) were also living in the land(BS) at that time.

So Abram said to Lot,(BT) “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me,(BU) or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives.(BV) Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”(BW)

10 Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain(BX) of the Jordan toward Zoar(BY) was well watered, like the garden of the Lord,(BZ) like the land of Egypt.(CA) (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom(CB) and Gomorrah.)(CC) 11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan,(CD) while Lot(CE) lived among the cities of the plain(CF) and pitched his tents near Sodom.(CG) 13 Now the people of Sodom(CH) were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.(CI)

14 The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west.(CJ) 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring[d] forever.(CK) 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.(CL) 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land,(CM) for I am giving it to you.”(CN)

18 So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre(CO) at Hebron,(CP) where he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the Lord.(CQ)

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 12:2 Or be seen as blessed
  2. Genesis 12:3 Or earth / will use your name in blessings (see 48:20)
  3. Genesis 12:7 Or seed
  4. Genesis 13:15 Or seed; also in verse 16

27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.

28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.

29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

12 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.

And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord.

And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.

11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:

12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.

13 Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.

14 And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.

15 The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.

16 And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.

17 And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.

18 And Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?

19 Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.

20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

13 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;

Unto the place of the altar, which he had make there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.

And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.

And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.

And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.

And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.

Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.

11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.

12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

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

14 And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:

15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.

17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

18 Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord.