Genesis 12
Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh Appears to Abram
12 And (A)Yahweh said to Abram,
“[a]Go forth from your land,
And from your kin
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
2 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;
3 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.”
4 So Abram went forth as Yahweh had spoken to him; and (G)Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 So Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their (H)possessions which they had accumulated, and (I)the [e]persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go forth to the land of Canaan; (J)thus they came to the land of Canaan. 6 And Abram passed through the land as far as the site of (K)Shechem, to the [f]oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 Then Yahweh (L)appeared to Abram and said, “(M)To your seed I will give this land.” So he built (N)an altar there to Yahweh who had appeared to him. 8 Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with (O)Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to Yahweh and (P)called upon the name of Yahweh. 9 And Abram journeyed on, continuing toward (Q)the [g]Negev.
Abram and Sarai in Egypt
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 And it happened as he drew near to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Now behold, I know that you are a woman (T)beautiful in appearance; 12 (U)and it will be when the Egyptians see you, that 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 with me because of you, and that [h](W)I may live on account of you.” 14 Now it happened when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians [i]saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 And 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 because of her; and sheep and oxen and donkeys and male and female servants and female donkeys and camels [j](Z)came into his possession.
17 But Yahweh (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 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? So now, [k]here is your wife, take her and go.” 20 So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they [l]sent him away with his wife and all that belonged to him.
Footnotes
- Genesis 12:1 Lit Go for yourself
- Genesis 12:2 Lit be a blessing
- Genesis 12:3 Or declares you insignificant, declares you contemptible
- Genesis 12:3 Or bind under a curse
- Genesis 12:5 Lit souls
- Genesis 12:6 Or terebinth
- Genesis 12:9 South country
- Genesis 12:13 Lit my soul
- Genesis 12:14 Lit saw the woman that she was
- Genesis 12:16 Lit he had
- Genesis 12:19 Or behold
- Genesis 12:20 Or let him go, cf. Ex 3:20; 4:21
Genesis 12
Common English Bible
Abram’s family moves to Canaan
12 The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your land, your family, and your father’s household for the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation and will bless you. I will make your name respected, and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
those who curse you I will curse;
all the families of the earth
will be blessed because of you.”[a]
4 Abram left just as the Lord told him, and Lot went with him. Now Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. 5 Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all of their possessions, and those who became members of their household in Haran; and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the sacred place at Shechem, at the oak of Moreh. The Canaanites lived in the land at that time. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I give this land to your descendants,” so Abram built an altar there to the Lord who appeared to him. 8 From there he traveled toward the mountains east of Bethel, and pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and worshipped in the Lord’s name. 9 Then Abram set out toward the arid southern plain, making and breaking camp as he went.
Abram and Sarai visit Egypt
10 When a famine struck the land, Abram went down toward Egypt to live as an immigrant since the famine was so severe in the land. 11 Just before he arrived in Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know you are a good-looking woman. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife,’ and they will kill me but let you live. 13 So tell them you are my sister so that they will treat me well for your sake, and I will survive because of you.”
14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw how beautiful his wife was. 15 When Pharaoh’s princes saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s household. 16 Things went well for Abram because of her: he acquired flocks, cattle, male donkeys, men servants, women servants, female donkeys, and camels. 17 Then the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, “What’s this you’ve done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister,’ so that I made her my wife? Now, here’s your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning Abram, and they expelled him with his wife and everything he had.
Footnotes
- Genesis 12:3 Or will bless themselves because of you; or will find a blessing because of you
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