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
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Call of Abram
12 The Lord said to Abram:
Go out from your land,
your relatives,
and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.(A)
2 I will make you into a great nation,(B)
I will bless you,(C)
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.[a](D)
3 I will bless those who bless you,
I will curse those who treat you with contempt,(E)
and all the peoples[b] on earth
will be blessed[c] through you.[d](F)
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.(G) 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people he had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem,(H) at the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.”(I) So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to Yahweh there, and he called on the name of Yahweh.(J) 9 Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev.
Abram in Egypt
10 There was a famine in the land,(K) so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine in the land was severe. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me but let you live.(L) 13 Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.” 14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s household. 16 He treated Abram well because of her, and Abram acquired flocks and herds, male and female donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels.
17 But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai.(M) 18 So Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What have you 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 took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave his men orders about him, and they sent him away with his wife and all he had.
Footnotes
- Genesis 12:2 Or great. Be a blessing!
- Genesis 12:3 Lit clans
- Genesis 12:3 Or will find blessing
- Genesis 12:3 Or will bless themselves by you
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.
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