Genesis 12
Expanded Bible
God Calls Abram
12 The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your relatives, and your father’s ·family [L house], and go to the land I will show you [C Canaan, the Promised Land].
2 I will make you a great nation,
and I will bless you.
I will make ·you famous [L your name great],
·and [or so that] you will be a blessing to others.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and I will place a curse on those who ·harm [or curse] you.
And all the ·people [families; clans] on earth
will be blessed through you [C the promises of the Abrahamic covenant].”
4 So Abram left Haran [11:31] as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. At this time Abram was 75 years old. 5 He took his wife Sarai, ·his nephew [L the son of his brother] Lot, and everything they owned, as well as all the ·servants [L people] they had gotten in Haran. They set out from Haran, planning to go to the land of Canaan, and in time they arrived there.
6 Abram ·traveled [passed] through that land as far as the great oak [or terebinth] tree of Moreh at Shechem [C a town in northern Palestine]. The Canaanites were living in the land at that time. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your ·descendants [L seed].” So Abram built an altar [C a place to offer sacrifices] there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 Then he traveled from Shechem to the mountain east of Bethel [C a town in the central hill country south of Shechem] and set up his tent there. Bethel was to the west, and Ai [C a town near Bethel] was to the east. There Abram built another altar to the Lord and ·worshiped him [L called on the name of the Lord]. 9 After this, he traveled on toward ·southern Canaan [L the Negev; 13:1].
Abram Goes to Egypt
10 At this time there was ·not much food [L a famine] in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to ·live [L sojourn] because ·there was so little food [L the famine was severe]. 11 Just before they arrived in Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know you are a very beautiful woman. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This woman is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but let you live. 13 Tell them you are my sister so that things will go well with me and I may be allowed to live because of you [20:1–18; 26; C Abram did not trust God to protect him].”
14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was very beautiful. 15 The Egyptian officers saw her and ·told the king of Egypt how beautiful she was [L they praised her]. They took her to the king’s palace, and 16 the king was kind to Abram ·because he thought Abram was her brother [L on account of her]. He gave Abram sheep, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.
17 But the Lord sent terrible ·diseases [plagues] on the king and all the people in his house because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So the king sent for Abram and said, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me Sarai was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’ so that I made her my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take ·her [L your wife] and ·leave [go]!” 20 Then the king commanded his men to make Abram leave Egypt; so Abram and his wife left with everything they owned.
Genesis 12
New American Standard Bible
Abram Journeys to Egypt
12 Now (A)the Lord said to Abram,
“Go from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
2 And (B)I will make you into a great nation,
And (C)I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And you shall (D)be a blessing;
3 And (E)I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who [a]curses you I will [b]curse.
(F)And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
4 So Abram went away 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. 5 Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, and all their (H)possessions which they had accumulated, and (I)the [c]people which they had acquired in Haran, and they [d]set out for the land of Canaan; (J)so they came to the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land as far as the site of (K)Shechem, to the [e]oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time. 7 And the Lord (L)appeared to Abram and said, “(M)To your [f]descendants I will give this land.” So he built (N)an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 8 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. 9 Then Abram journeyed on, continuing toward (Q)the [g]Negev.
10 Now there was (R)a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a time, because the famine was (S)severe in the land. 11 It came about, when he [h]was approaching Egypt, that he said to his wife Sarai, “See now, I know that you are a [i](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. 13 Please say that you are (V)my sister so that it may go well for me because of you, and that [j](W)I may live on account of you.” 14 Now it came about, when Abram entered Egypt, that the Egyptians [k]saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 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 for her sake; and [l](Z)he gave him sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the Lord (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 that 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? Now then, [m]here is your wife, take her and go!” 20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they [n]escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.
Footnotes
- Genesis 12:3 Or reviles
- Genesis 12:3 Or bind under a curse
- Genesis 12:5 Lit souls
- Genesis 12:5 Lit went forth to go to
- Genesis 12:6 Or terebinth
- Genesis 12:7 Lit seed
- Genesis 12:9 I.e., South country
- Genesis 12:11 Lit came near to enter
- Genesis 12:11 Lit woman of beautiful appearance
- Genesis 12:13 Lit my soul
- Genesis 12:14 Lit saw the woman that she was
- Genesis 12:16 Lit there was to him
- Genesis 12:19 Or behold
- Genesis 12:20 Lit sent
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New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
