Genesis 12
New King James Version
Promises to Abram(A)
12 Now the (B)Lord had said to Abram:
“Get (C)out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
2 (D)I will make you a great nation;
(E)I will bless you
And make your name great;
(F)And you shall be a blessing.
3 (G)I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in (H)you all the families of the earth shall be (I)blessed.”
4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and (J)the [a]people whom they had acquired (K)in Haran, and they (L)departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. 6 Abram (M)passed through the land to the place of Shechem, (N)as far as [b]the terebinth tree of Moreh. (O)And the Canaanites were then in the land.
7 (P)Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, (Q)“To your [c]descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an (R)altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and (S)called on the name of the Lord. 9 So Abram journeyed, (T)going on still toward the [d]South.
Abram in Egypt
10 Now there was (U)a famine in the land, and Abram (V)went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was (W)severe in the land. 11 And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are (X)a woman of beautiful countenance. 12 Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they (Y)will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 (Z)Please say you are my (AA)sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that [e]I may live because of you.”
14 So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. 15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. 16 He (AB)treated Abram well for her sake. He (AC)had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the Lord (AD)plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 And Pharaoh called Abram and said, (AE)“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’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.” 20 (AF)So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.
Footnotes
- Genesis 12:5 Lit. souls
- Genesis 12:6 Heb. Alon Moreh
- Genesis 12:7 Lit. seed
- Genesis 12:9 Heb. Negev
- Genesis 12:13 Lit. my soul
Genesis 12
New Living Translation
The Call of Abram
12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
4 So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites.
7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.[a]” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord. 9 Then Abram continued traveling south by stages toward the Negev.
Abram and Sarai in Egypt
10 At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner. 11 As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, you are a very beautiful woman. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife. Let’s kill him; then we can have her!’ 13 So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.”
14 And sure enough, when Abram arrived in Egypt, everyone noticed Sarai’s beauty. 15 When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to Pharaoh, their king, and Sarai was taken into his palace. 16 Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her—sheep, goats, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.
17 But the Lord sent terrible plagues upon Pharaoh and his household because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and accused him sharply. “What have you done to me?” he demanded. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ and allow me to take her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and get out of here!” 20 Pharaoh ordered some of his men to escort them, and he sent Abram out of the country, along with his wife and all his possessions.
Footnotes
- 12:7 Hebrew seed.
Genesis 12
Good News Translation
God's Call to Abram
12 (A)The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's home, and go to a land that I am going to show you. 2 I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing.
3 (B)I will bless those who bless you,
But I will curse those who curse you.
And through you I will bless all the nations.”[a]
4 When Abram was seventy-five years old, he started out from Haran, as the Lord had told him to do; and Lot went with him. 5 Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the wealth and all the slaves they had acquired in Haran, and they started out for the land of Canaan.
When they arrived in Canaan, 6 Abram traveled through the land until he came to the sacred tree of Moreh, the holy place at Shechem. (At that time the Canaanites were still living in the land.) 7 (C)The Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “This is the country that I am going to give to your descendants.” Then Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 After that, he moved on south to the hill country east of the city of Bethel and set up his camp between Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There also he built an altar and worshiped the Lord. 9 Then he moved on from place to place, going toward the southern part of Canaan.
Abram in Egypt
10 But there was a famine in Canaan, and it was so bad that Abram went farther south to Egypt, to live there for a while. 11 When he was about to cross the border into Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “You are a beautiful woman. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will assume that you are my wife, and so they will kill me and let you live. 13 (D)Tell them that you are my sister; then because of you they will let me live and treat me well.” 14 When he crossed the border into Egypt, the Egyptians did see that his wife was beautiful. 15 Some of the court officials saw her and told the king how beautiful she was; so she was taken to his palace. 16 Because of her the king treated Abram well and gave him flocks of sheep and goats, cattle, donkeys, slaves, and camels.
17 But because the king had taken Sarai, the Lord sent terrible diseases on him and on the people of his palace. 18 Then the king sent for Abram and asked him, “What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say that she was your sister, and let me take her as my wife? Here is your wife; take her and get out!” 20 The king gave orders to his men, so they took Abram and put him out of the country, together with his wife and everything he owned.
Footnotes
- Genesis 12:3 And through … nations; or All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed you.
Genesis 12
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Call of Abram
12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.(A) 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.(B) 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”[a](C)
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.(D) 5 Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot and all the possessions that they had gathered and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran, and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan,(E) 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak[b] of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.(F) 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.(G) 8 From there he moved on to the hill country 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 invoked the name of the Lord.(H) 9 And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.
Abram and Sarai in Egypt
10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to reside there as an alien, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know well that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; then they will kill me, but they will let you live.(I) 13 Say you are my sister, so that it may go well with me because of you and that my life may be spared on your account.”(J) 14 When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 When the officials of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.(K) 16 And for her sake he dealt well with Abram, and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female slaves, female donkeys, and camels.(L)
17 But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.(M) 18 So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?(N) 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her, and be gone.” 20 And Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning him, and they set him on the way with his wife and all that he had.(O)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.