Genesis 13-17

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

13 So Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South [country of Judah, the Negeb].

² Now Abram was extremely rich in livestock and in silver and in gold.

³ And he journeyed on from the South [country of Judah, the Negeb] as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,

⁴ Where he had built an altar at first; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.^(A)

⁵ But Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.

⁶ Now the land was not able to nourish and support them so they could dwell together, for their possessions were too great for them to live together.

⁷ And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land [making fodder more difficult to obtain].

⁸ So Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife, I beg of you, between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are relatives.

⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself, I beg of you, from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you choose the right hand, then I will go to the left.

¹⁰ And Lot looked and saw that everywhere the Jordan Valley was well watered. Before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, [it was all] like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar.

¹¹ Then Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley and [he] traveled east. So they separated.

¹² Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the [Jordan] Valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom and dwelt there.

¹³ But the men of Sodom were wicked and exceedingly great sinners against the Lord.

¹⁴ The Lord said to Abram after Lot had left him, Lift up now your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;

¹⁵ For all the land which you see I will give to you and to your posterity forever.^(B)

¹⁶ And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if a man could count the dust of the earth, then could your descendants also be counted.^(C)

¹⁷ Arise, walk through the land, the length of it and the breadth of it, for I will give it to you.

¹⁸ Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt among the oaks or terebinths of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and built there an altar to the Lord.

14 In the days of the kings Amraphel of Shinar, Arioch of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer of Elam, and Tidal of Goiim,

² They made war on the kings Bera of Sodom, Birsha of Gomorrah, Shinab of Admah, Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, ^[a]that is, Zoar.

³ The latter kings joined together [as allies] in the Valley of Siddim, which is [now] the [Dead] Sea of Salt.

⁴ Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

⁵ And in the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him attacked and subdued the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,

⁶ And the Horites in their Mount Seir as far as El-paran, which is on the border of the wilderness.

⁷ Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat, which [now] is Kadesh, and subdued all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazazon-tamar.

⁸ Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela, that is, Zoar, went out and [together] they joined battle [with those kings] in the Valley of Siddim,

⁹ With the kings Chedorlaomer of Elam, Tidal of Goiim, Amraphel of Shinar, and Arioch of Ellasar—four kings against five.

¹⁰ Now the Valley of Siddim was full of slime or bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell (were overthrown) there and the remainder [of the kings] fled to the mountain.

¹¹ [The victors] took all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah and all the supply of provisions and departed.

¹² And they also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods away with them.

¹³ Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew [one from the other side], who was living by the oaks or terebinths of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and of Aner—these were allies of Abram.

¹⁴ When Abram heard that [his nephew] had been captured, he armed (led forth) the 318 trained servants born in his own house and pursued the enemy as far as Dan.

¹⁵ He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and attacked and routed them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.

¹⁶ And he brought back all the goods and also brought back his kinsman Lot and his possessions, the women also and the people.

¹⁷ After his [Abram’s] return from the defeat and slaying of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh, that is, the King’s Valley.

¹⁸ Melchizedek king of Salem [later called Jerusalem] brought out bread and wine [for their nourishment]; he was the priest of God Most High,

¹⁹ And he blessed him and said, Blessed (favored with blessings, made blissful, joyful) be Abram by God Most High, Possessor and Maker of heaven and earth,

²⁰ And blessed, praised, and glorified be God Most High, Who has given your foes into your hand! And [Abram] gave him a tenth of all [he had taken].^(D)

²¹ And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the persons and keep the goods for yourself.

²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up my hand and sworn to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor and Maker of heaven and earth,

²³ That I would not take a thread or a shoelace or anything that is yours, lest you should say, I have made Abram rich.

²⁴ [Take all] except only what my young men have eaten and the share of the men [allies] who went with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

15 After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am your ^[b]Shield, your abundant compensation, and your reward shall be exceedingly great.

² And Abram said, Lord God, what can You give me, since I am going on [from this world] childless and he who shall be the owner and heir of my house is this [steward] Eliezer of Damascus?

³ And Abram continued, Look, You have given me no child; and [a servant] born in my house is my heir.

⁴ And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, This man shall not be your heir, but he who shall come from your own body shall be your heir.

⁵ And He brought him outside [his tent into the starlight] and said, Look now toward the heavens and count the stars—if you are able to number them. Then He said to him, So shall your descendants be.^(E)

⁶ And he [Abram] believed in (trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness (right standing with God).^(F)

⁷ And He said to him, I am the [same] Lord, Who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees to give you this land as an inheritance.

⁸ But he [Abram] said, Lord God, by what shall I know that I shall inherit it?

⁹ And He said to him, Bring to Me a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

¹⁰ And he brought Him all these and cut them down the middle [into halves] and laid each half opposite the other; but the birds he did not divide.

¹¹ And when the birds of prey swooped down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

¹² When the sun was setting, a deep sleep overcame Abram, and a horror (a terror, a shuddering fear) of great darkness assailed and oppressed him.

¹³ And [God] said to Abram, Know positively that your descendants will be strangers dwelling as temporary residents in a land that is not theirs [Egypt], and they will be slaves there and will be afflicted and oppressed for 400 years. [Fulfilled in Exod. 12:40.]

¹⁴ But I will bring judgment on that nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.^(G)

¹⁵ And you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old (hoary) age.

¹⁶ And in the ^[c]fourth generation they [your descendants] shall come back here [to Canaan] again, for the iniquity of the ^[d]Amorites is not yet full and complete.^(H)

¹⁷ When the sun had gone down and a [thick] darkness had come on, behold, a smoking oven and a flaming torch passed between those pieces.

¹⁸ On the same day the Lord made a covenant (promise, pledge) with Abram, saying, To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates—the land of

¹⁹ The Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

²⁰ The Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

²¹ The Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.

² And Sarai said to Abram, See here, the Lord has restrained me from bearing [children]. I am asking you to have intercourse with my maid; it may be that I can obtain children by her. And Abram listened to and heeded what Sarai said.

³ So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her Egyptian maid, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his [secondary] wife.

⁴ And he had intercourse with Hagar, and she became pregnant; and when she saw that she was with child, she looked with contempt upon her mistress and despised her.

⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, May [the responsibility for] my wrong and deprivation of rights be upon you! I gave my maid into your bosom, and when she saw that she was with child, I was contemptible and despised in her eyes. May the Lord be the judge between you and me.

⁶ But Abram said to Sarai, See here, your maid is in your hands and power; do as you please with her. And when Sarai dealt severely with her, humbling and afflicting her, she [Hagar] fled from her.

⁷ But ^[e]the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness on the road to Shur.

⁸ And He said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where did you come from, and where are you intending to go? And she said, I am running away from my mistress Sarai.

⁹ The Angel of the Lord said to her, Go back to your mistress and [humbly] submit to her control.

¹⁰ Also the Angel of the Lord said to her, I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be numbered for multitude.

¹¹ And the Angel of the Lord continued, See now, you are with child and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Ishmael [God hears], because the Lord has heard and paid attention to your affliction.

¹² And he [Ishmael] will be as a ^[f]wild ass among men; his hand will be against every man and every man’s hand against him, and he will live to the east and on the borders of all his kinsmen.

¹³ So she called the name of the Lord Who spoke to her, You are a God of seeing, for she said, Have I [not] even here [in the wilderness] looked upon Him Who sees me [and lived]? Or have I here also seen [the future purposes or designs of] Him Who sees me?

¹⁴ Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi [A well to the Living One Who sees me]; it is ^[g]between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore ^[h]Ishmael.

¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael.

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, I am the Almighty God; walk and live habitually before Me and be perfect (blameless, wholehearted, complete).

² And I will make My covenant (solemn pledge) between Me and you and will multiply you exceedingly.

³ Then Abram fell on his face, and God said to him,

⁴ As for Me, behold, My covenant (solemn pledge) is with you, and you shall be the father of many nations.

⁵ Nor shall your name any longer be Abram [high, exalted father]; but your name shall be Abraham [father of a multitude], for I have made you the father of many nations.

⁶ And I will make you exceedingly fruitful and I will make nations of you, and ^[i]kings will come from you.

⁷ And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting, solemn pledge, to be a God to you and to your posterity after you.^(I)

⁸ And I will give to you and to your posterity after you the land in which you are a stranger [going from place to place], all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.^(J)

⁹ And God said to Abraham, As for you, you shall therefore keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

¹⁰ This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your posterity after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

¹¹ And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a token or sign of the covenant (the promise or pledge) between Me and you.

¹² He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male throughout your generations, whether born in [your] house or bought with [your] money from any foreigner not of your offspring.

¹³ He that is born in your house and he that is bought with your money must be circumcised; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

¹⁴ And the male who is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.

¹⁵ And God said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai; but Sarah [Princess] her name shall be.

¹⁶ And I will bless her and give you a son also by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.

¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a son?

¹⁸ And [he] said to God, Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!

¹⁹ But God said, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son indeed, and you shall call his name Isaac [laughter]; and I will establish My covenant or solemn pledge with him for an everlasting covenant and with his posterity after him.

²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard and heeded you: behold, I will bless him and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly; He will be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. [Fulfilled in Gen. 25:12-18.]

²¹ But My covenant, My promise and pledge, I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.

²² And God stopped talking with him and went up from Abraham.

²³ And Abraham took Ishmael his son and all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among [those] of Abraham’s house, and circumcised [them] the very same day, as God had said to him.

²⁴ And Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised.

²⁵ And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised.

²⁶ On the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son as well.

²⁷ And all the men of his house, both those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised along with him.