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Yahweh Appears to Abram

12 And (A)Yahweh said to Abram,

[a]Go forth from your land,
And from your kin
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
And (B)I will make you a great nation,
And (C)I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so [b](D)you shall be a blessing;
And (E)I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who [c]curses you I will [d]curse.
(F)And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

So Abram went forth as Yahweh had spoken to him; and (G)Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. So Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their (H)possessions which they had accumulated, and (I)the [e]persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go forth to the land of Canaan; (J)thus they came to the land of Canaan. And Abram passed through the land as far as the site of (K)Shechem, to the [f]oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. Then Yahweh (L)appeared to Abram and said, “(M)To your seed I will give this land.” So he built (N)an altar there to Yahweh who had appeared to him. Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with (O)Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to Yahweh and (P)called upon the name of Yahweh. And Abram journeyed on, continuing toward (Q)the [g]Negev.

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

10 Now there was (R)a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was (S)severe in the land. 11 And it happened as he drew near to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Now behold, I know that you are a woman (T)beautiful in appearance; 12 (U)and it will be when the Egyptians see you, that 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 with me because of you, and that [h](W)I may live on account of you.” 14 Now it happened when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians [i]saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 And 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 because of her; and sheep and oxen and donkeys and male and female servants and female donkeys and camels [j](Z)came into his possession.

17 But Yahweh (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 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? So now, [k]here is your wife, take her and go.” 20 So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they [l]sent him away with his wife and all that belonged to him.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 12:1 Lit Go for yourself
  2. Genesis 12:2 Lit be a blessing
  3. Genesis 12:3 Or declares you insignificant, declares you contemptible
  4. Genesis 12:3 Or bind under a curse
  5. Genesis 12:5 Lit souls
  6. Genesis 12:6 Or terebinth
  7. Genesis 12:9 South country
  8. Genesis 12:13 Lit my soul
  9. Genesis 12:14 Lit saw the woman that she was
  10. Genesis 12:16 Lit he had
  11. Genesis 12:19 Or behold
  12. Genesis 12:20 Or let him go, cf. Ex 3:20; 4:21

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)
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)
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)

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.(G) 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, 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. 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. 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) 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

  1. Genesis 12:2 Or great. Be a blessing!
  2. Genesis 12:3 Lit clans
  3. Genesis 12:3 Or will find blessing
  4. Genesis 12:3 Or will bless themselves by you