Genesis 12
New Catholic Bible
Origin of the People of God[a]
Abraham, Man of Faith[b]
Chapter 12
“Leave Your Country [and] Your People.”[c]1 The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people, and the house of your father, and go to the land to which I will lead you.
2 “I will make of you a great
people and I will bless you.
I will make your name great
and it will become a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless
you and curse those who curse you.
And through you
all the nations on the earth shall be blessed.”
4 Abram therefore departed, just as the Lord had ordered him. Lot went along with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 Abram took his wife Sarai, Lot, the son of his brother, and all the possessions that they had accumulated in Haran, and all the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and left for the land of Canaan. Thus, they arrived in the land of Canaan.
6 Abram traveled through the land until he arrived at Shechem near the oak of Moreh. In those days the Canaanites lived in that land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I will give this land to your descendants.” Abram therefore built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.
8 From there he traveled into the mountain region to the east of Bethel and he pitched his tent so that Bethel was to the west and Ai was to his east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. 9 Then Abram set out again, gradually traveling toward the Negeb.[d]
10 Abram a Refugee in Egypt.[e] There was a famine in the land and Abram went down to Egypt to stay there for a time, for the famine was very serious in the land. 11 But, when he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai, his wife, “Look, I realize that you are a very beautiful woman. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will think, ‘She is his wife,’ and they will kill me, leaving you alive. 13 Therefore, say that you are my sister, so that they will treat me well and let me live because of you.”
14 When Abram arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians saw that his wife was very beautiful. 15 The stewards of Pharaoh saw her and told Pharaoh how beautiful she was. They took the woman and brought her to the house of Pharaoh. 16 Because of her they treated Abram well. He received flocks and herds, male and female slaves, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with terrible plagues because of Sarai, the wife of Abram. 18 Therefore, Pharaoh summoned Abram and said to him, “What have you 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 ended up taking her as my wife? Here is your wife; take her and leave!” 20 Then Pharaoh entrusted him to some men who accompanied him to the borders along with his wife and all his belongings.
Footnotes
- Genesis 12:1 The second part of Genesis gathers and arranges the memories that Israel has preserved regarding its distant origins (which can be dated to between the 19th and 17th centuries B.C.). These memories reduce to a few essential traits the life of the ancestors of the chosen people.
- Genesis 12:1 God has never abandoned the human race that he created; the universe and nature speak of him to human beings (Wis 13; Rom 1:20), but the human conscience, blinded by self-centeredness and pride, reaches out to him only in a groping way (Acts 17:27).
This is the reason why God enters our history, chooses Abraham, forms a people for himself, progressively reveals himself to them, and remotely prepares them to welcome someday the true descendants of Abraham, Christ the Savior and the Church. Abraham is the father and model of believers (Gal 3; Rom 4) because he promptly responds to the voice of God. - Genesis 12:1 Chapters 12–13 are from the Yahwist tradition. We do not know how the true God made himself known to the heart of Abraham.
It is certain that the Israelite tradition, diligent in safeguarding the memory of the Patriarch, has preserved the knowledge that his ancestors were pagans (Jos 24:2) and that at a certain moment Abraham’s family came to know the true God and abandoned the religion of their fathers (Jud 5:7-8). - Genesis 12:9 Negeb: the desert region south of Palestine.
- Genesis 12:10 Having followed the Lord’s lead, Abraham encounters a famine. The momentary temptation would be to return to his home, but Abraham respects God’s command and takes refuge in another country. However, the Patriarch is human and concerned for his life. The expedient he chooses is not a lie because Sarai is in fact his half-sister (see Gen 20:12).
Genesis 12
King James Version
12 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
7 And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.
8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord.
9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:
12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.
13 Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.
14 And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
15 The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
16 And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.
17 And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.
18 And Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
19 Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
创世记 12
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
上帝呼召亚伯兰
12 耶和华对亚伯兰说：“你要离开家乡、亲族和父亲的家，到我要指示你的地方去。 2 我必使你成为大国，我必赐福给你，使你声名远播。你必成为别人的祝福。 3 我必赐福给那些祝福你的人，咒诅那些咒诅你的人。世上万族必因你而蒙福。”
4 亚伯兰就照耶和华的吩咐离开哈兰，侄儿罗得与他同行。那时亚伯兰七十五岁。 5 亚伯兰带着妻子撒莱、侄儿罗得以及在哈兰积攒的财物和所得的奴仆启程来到迦南。到了迦南以后， 6 亚伯兰继续前行，来到示剑的摩利橡树[a]那里。当时迦南人住在那地方。 7 耶和华向亚伯兰显现，对他说：“我要把这片土地赐给你的后裔。”亚伯兰就在那里为向他显现的耶和华筑了一座坛。 8 然后，他们又启程前往伯特利东面的山区，在那里搭起帐篷。他们的西面是伯特利，东面是艾。亚伯兰又在那里筑了一座坛，求告耶和华。 9 之后，亚伯兰继续前往南地。
亚伯兰逃荒到埃及
10 当时，那地方闹饥荒，灾情非常严重，亚伯兰便下到埃及暂住。 11 快要到埃及的时候，他对妻子撒莱说：“我知道你是个美貌的女子， 12 埃及人看见你，一定会因为你是我的妻子而杀了我，让你活着。 13 所以，请你说你是我的妹妹，这样他们会因为你而善待我，留我一命。” 14 亚伯兰一行到了埃及，撒莱的美貌引起了埃及人的注意。 15 法老的官员见了撒莱，就在法老面前称赞她的美貌，她便被带进法老的王宫。 16 因为撒莱的缘故，法老厚待亚伯兰，赏给他许多牛、羊、驴、骆驼和仆婢。
17 耶和华因亚伯兰妻子撒莱的缘故使法老和他全家患重病。 18 法老便召见亚伯兰，说：“你做的是什么事？为什么不告诉我她是你妻子？ 19 为什么说她是你妹妹，以致我娶她为妻呢？现在你妻子在这里，带她走吧！” 20 法老就吩咐人把亚伯兰、他妻子以及他所有的一切都送走了。
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