Genesis 12
Lexham English Bible
The Call of Abram
12 And Yahweh said to Abram, “Go out from your land and from your relatives, and from the house of your father, to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great. And you will be a blessing. 3 And I will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you I will curse. And all families of the earth will be blessed in you.”
Abram’s Journey
4 And Abram went out as Yahweh had told him, and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old[a] when he went out from Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his nephew,[b] and all their possessions that they had gathered, and all the persons that they had acquired in Haran, and they went out to go to the land of Canaan. And they went to the land of Canaan. 6 And Abram traveled through the land up to the place of Shechem, to the Oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time. 7 And Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” And he built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him. 8 And he moved on from there to the hill country, east of Bethel. And he pitched his tent at Bethel on the west, and at Ai on the east. And he built an altar there to Yahweh. And he called on the name of Yahweh. 9 And Abram kept moving on,[c] toward the Negev. 10 And there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down to Egypt to dwell as an alien there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 And it happened that as he drew near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “Look now, I know that you are a woman beautiful of appearance, 12 and it shall happen that, if the Egyptians see you, then they will say, ‘This is his wife,’ then they will kill me but let you live. 13 Please say you are my sister so that it will go well for me on your account. Then I will live[d] on account of you.” 14 And it happened that as Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. 15 And the officials of Pharaoh saw her, and they praised her beauty to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to the house of Pharaoh. 16 And he dealt well with Abram on account of her, and he had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. 17 Then[e] Yahweh afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues on account of the matter of Sarai the wife of Abram. 18 Then Pharaoh called for Abram and said, “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 to myself as a wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go.” 20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and then sent him and his wife and all that was with him away.
Footnotes
- Genesis 12:4 Literally “the son of five years and seventy years”
- Genesis 12:5 Literally “the son of his brother”
- Genesis 12:9 Literally “And Abram moved on, going and moving on”
- Genesis 12:13 Literally “And my soul will live”
- Genesis 12:17 Or “And”
Génesis 12
La Biblia de las Américas
Dios llama a Abram
12 Y el Señor dijo a Abram:
Vete de tu tierra,
de entre tus parientes
y de la casa de tu padre,
a la tierra que yo te mostraré(A).
2 Haré de ti una nación grande(B),
y te bendeciré(C),
y engrandeceré tu nombre,
y serás[a] bendición(D).
3 Bendeciré a los que te bendigan,
y al que te maldiga, maldeciré[b](E).
Y en ti serán benditas todas las familias de la tierra(F).
4 Entonces Abram se fue tal como el Señor le había dicho; y Lot fue con él(G). Y Abram tenía setenta y cinco años cuando partió de Harán. 5 Y tomó Abram a Sarai su mujer, y a Lot su sobrino, y todas las posesiones(H) que ellos habían acumulado, y las personas[c] que habían adquirido en Harán(I), y salieron para ir a la tierra de Canaán; y a la tierra de Canaán llegaron(J). 6 Y atravesó Abram el país hasta el lugar de Siquem, hasta la encina[d] de More(K). Y el cananeo estaba entonces en la tierra. 7 Y el Señor se apareció a Abram(L), y le dijo: A tu descendencia[e] daré esta tierra(M). Entonces él edificó allí un altar al Señor(N) que se le había aparecido. 8 De allí se trasladó hacia el monte al oriente de Betel, y plantó su tienda, teniendo a Betel al occidente(O) y Hai al oriente; y edificó allí un altar al Señor, e invocó el nombre del Señor(P). 9 Y Abram siguió su camino, continuando hacia el Neguev[f](Q).
Abram en Egipto
10 Y hubo hambre en la tierra(R); y Abram descendió a Egipto para pasar allí un tiempo, porque el hambre era severa en la tierra(S). 11 Y sucedió que cuando se acercaba a[g] Egipto, dijo a Sarai su mujer: Mira, sé que eres una mujer de hermoso parecer(T); 12 y sucederá que cuando te vean los egipcios, dirán: «Esta es su mujer»; y me matarán(U), pero a ti te dejarán vivir. 13 Di, por favor, que eres mi hermana(V), para que me vaya bien por causa tuya, y para que yo[h] viva(W) gracias a ti. 14 Y aconteció que cuando Abram entró en Egipto, los egipcios vieron que la mujer era muy hermosa. 15 Y la vieron los oficiales de Faraón, y la alabaron delante de él[i]; y la mujer fue llevada(X) a la casa de Faraón. 16 Y este trató bien a Abram por causa de ella; y le dio[j] ovejas, vacas, asnos, siervos, siervas(Y), asnas y camellos(Z). 17 Pero el Señor hirió a Faraón y a su casa con grandes plagas por causa de Sarai, mujer de Abram(AA). 18 Entonces Faraón llamó a Abram, y le dijo: ¿Qué es esto que me has hecho(AB)? ¿Por qué no me avisaste que era tu mujer? 19 ¿Por qué dijiste: «Es mi hermana», de manera que la tomé por mujer? Ahora pues, aquí está[k] tu mujer, tómala y vete. 20 Y Faraón dio órdenes a sus hombres acerca de Abram[l]; y ellos lo despidieron[m] con su mujer y con todo lo que le pertenecía.
Footnotes
- Génesis 12:2 Lit., para ser
- Génesis 12:3 O, sujetaré bajo maldición
- Génesis 12:5 Lit., almas
- Génesis 12:6 O, el terebinto
- Génesis 12:7 Lit., simiente
- Génesis 12:9 I.e., región del sur
- Génesis 12:11 Lit., para entrar en
- Génesis 12:13 Lit., mi alma
- Génesis 12:15 Lit., Faraón
- Génesis 12:16 Lit., tuvo
- Génesis 12:19 O, he aquí
- Génesis 12:20 Lit., él
- Génesis 12:20 Lit., lo enviaron
Genesis 12
The Voice
12 One day, the Eternal One called out to Abram.
Eternal One: Abram, get up and go! Leave your country. Leave your relatives and your father’s home, and travel to the land I will show you.[a] Don’t worry—I will guide you there. 2 I have plans to make a great people from your descendants. And I am going to put a special blessing on you and cause your reputation to grow so that you will become a blessing and example to others. 3 I will also bless those who bless you and further you in your journey, and I’ll trip up those who try to trip you along the way. Through your descendants, all of the families of the earth will find their blessing in you.[b]
Out of all the descendants of Noah, God chooses Abram to have a special relationship with Him. He calls Abram to enter into a particular kind of relationship that changes the course of his life and the lives of his people forever. God has a plan to rescue the world from sin and destruction, and that plan begins with one man. He promises to make Abram a great nation, to bless and protect him, and ultimately to bring true and lasting blessing to the world through his children. To enter into that promise, Abram must do something daring; he must leave everything he knows and put his trust in God.
4-5 Without any hesitation, Abram went. He did exactly as the Eternal One asked him to do. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. He took with him his wife Sarai, his brother’s son Lot, all of their possessions, and all of the persons they had acquired for their household while in Haran; and they all set off toward the land of Canaan. When they reached Canaan, 6 Abram kept going through it to a sacred place called Shechem where the oak of Moreh stood. (At this time, the Canaanite people were living on this land, so Abram could not take it as his own.) 7 There the Eternal appeared to Abram.
Eternal One: I am going to give this land to your future generations.[c]
So, out of honor and respect, there Abram built an altar table to the Eternal One, who had appeared to him and spoken these words of promise. 8 After that, Abram traveled on to the hill country east of Bethel, and there he pitched a tent and made a home for himself and his family between Bethel in the west and Ai in the east. Here Abram built another altar table for the Eternal One, where he called upon the name of the Eternal frequently. 9 Then Abram journeyed south toward the Negev region.
This is the southernmost part of the land God promises to give Abram. One day his children will possess it.
10 Now at this time, there came a severe famine in the land of Canaan. Food was scarce, so Abram made his way to Egypt to live there for a while as a foreigner. 11 As Abram was about to enter Egypt, he pulled Sarai his wife aside.
Abram: Sarai, you are a very beautiful woman, and I am well aware that 12 when the Egyptians see you, they will say, “Look, she’s his wife”; then they will kill me and let you live so they can have you for themselves. 13 Tell them you are my sister so that nothing will happen to me because of you. In this way you can save my life.
Sarai is an unusually attractive woman. Even at her age of 65, Abram is afraid of what the Egyptian men might do when they see her and desire her. So he takes matters into his own hands and devises a half-truth to conceal their marriage. We learn later—when Abram repeats this half-truth to Abimelech (chapter 20)—that Sarai and Abram have the same father but a different mother.
14 So when Abram came into Egypt with Sarai and his family, the Egyptians did indeed see that Sarai was very beautiful. 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they told Pharaoh just how beautiful she was. So Sarai was taken into Pharaoh’s house and made part of his harem. 16 She pleased the Pharaoh, so he treated Abram very well, giving him gifts of sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels. 17 But the Eternal One was not pleased and began afflicting the Pharaoh and his household with skin diseases because of what was happening to Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram to come before him.
Pharaoh: What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me this woman was your wife? 19 Why did you say she was only your sister, so that I felt free to take her to be one of my wives? Here she is—take your wife, and get out of here!
20 And Pharaoh gave his men orders to make sure Abram went on his way along with his wife and all of his belongings.
Footnotes
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The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.