Abram Journeys to Egypt

12 Now (A)the Lord said to Abram,

[a]Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
And (B)I will make you a great nation,
And (C)I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so [b](D)you shall be a blessing;
And (E)I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who [c]curses you I will [d]curse.
(F)And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

So Abram went forth 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. Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their (H)possessions which they had accumulated, and (I)the [e]persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they [f]set out for the land of Canaan; (J)thus they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land as far as the site of (K)Shechem, to the [g]oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. The Lord (L)appeared to Abram and said, “(M)To your [h]descendants I will give this land.” So he built (N)an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 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. Abram journeyed on, continuing toward (Q)the [i]Negev.

10 Now there was (R)a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was (S)severe in the land. 11 It came about when he [j]came near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a [k](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.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 12:1 Lit Go for yourself
  2. Genesis 12:2 Lit be a blessing
  3. Genesis 12:3 Or reviles
  4. Genesis 12:3 Or bind under a curse
  5. Genesis 12:5 Lit souls
  6. Genesis 12:5 Lit went forth to go to
  7. Genesis 12:6 Or terebinth
  8. Genesis 12:7 Lit seed
  9. Genesis 12:9 I.e. South country
  10. Genesis 12:11 Lit drew near to enter
  11. Genesis 12:11 Lit woman of beautiful appearance

The Call of Abram

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

“I will make you into a great nation,(D)
    and I will bless you;(E)
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.[a](F)
I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;(G)
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.(H)[b]

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot(I) went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old(J) when he set out from Harran.(K) He took his wife Sarai,(L) his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated(M) and the people(N) they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan,(O) and they arrived there.

Abram traveled through the land(P) as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh(Q) at Shechem.(R) At that time the Canaanites(S) were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram(T) and said, “To your offspring[c] I will give this land.(U)(V) So he built an altar there to the Lord,(W) who had appeared to him.

From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel(X) and pitched his tent,(Y) with Bethel on the west and Ai(Z) on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.(AA)

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

Abram in Egypt(AC)

10 Now there was a famine in the land,(AD) and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.(AE) 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai,(AF) “I know what a beautiful woman(AG) 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.

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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