Practical Warnings

Warnings Against Adultery

The Call of Abram

12 Now ^(A)the Lord said^[a] to Abram, “Go from your country^[b] and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. ^2 (B)And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ^3 (C)I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and ^(D)in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”^[c]

⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from ^(E)Haran. ⁵ And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, ⁶ Abram ^(F)passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to ^(G)the oak^[d] of ^(H)Moreh. At that time ^(I)the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷ Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ^(J)“To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸ From there he moved to the hill country on the east of ^(K)Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. ⁹ And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

¹⁰ Now ^(L)there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹ When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, ¹² and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they ^(M)will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³ Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” ¹⁴ When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. ¹⁶ And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

¹⁷ But the Lord ^(N)afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. ¹⁸ So Pharaoh called 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 for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” ²⁰ And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

Abram and Lot Separate

13 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, ^(O)into the Negeb.

^2 (P)Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³ And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to ^(Q)the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord. ⁵ And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, ⁶ so that ^(R)the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, ^7 (S)and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. At that time ^(T)the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.

⁸ Then Abram said to Lot, ^(U)“Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, ^(V)for we are kinsmen.^{[e] 9 (W)}Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” ¹⁰ And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the ^(X)Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like ^(Y)the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of ^(Z)Zoar. (This was before the Lord ^(AA)destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) ¹¹ So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. ¹² Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. ¹³ Now the men of Sodom ^(AB)were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.

¹⁴ The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, ^(AC)northward and southward and eastward and westward, ¹⁵ for all the land that you see I will give ^(AD)to you and ^(AE)to your offspring forever. ^16 (AF)I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. ¹⁷ Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” ¹⁸ So Abram moved his tent and came and ^(AG)settled by the ^(AH)oaks^[f] of Mamre, which ^(AI)are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

Abram Rescues Lot

14 In the days of Amraphel king of ^(AJ)Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of ^(AK)Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, ² these kings made war with ^(AL)Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of ^(AM)Admah, Shemeber king of ^(AN)Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). ³ And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (^(AO)that is, the Salt Sea). ⁴ Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵ In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the ^(AP)Rephaim in ^(AQ)Ashteroth-karnaim, the ^(AR)Zuzim in Ham, the ^(AS)Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, ⁶ and the ^(AT)Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as ^(AU)El-paran on the border of the wilderness. ⁷ Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, ^(AV)Kadesh) and defeated all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling ^(AW)in Hazazon-tamar.

⁸ Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim ⁹ with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five. ¹⁰ Now the Valley of Siddim was full of ^(AX)bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled ^(AY)to the hill country. ¹¹ So the enemy took ^(AZ)all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. ¹² They also took Lot, ^(BA)the son of Abram's brother, ^(BB)who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.

¹³ Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, ^(BC)who was living by the ^(BD)oaks^[g] of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram. ¹⁴ When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, ^(BE)born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as ^(BF)Dan. ¹⁵ And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. ¹⁶ Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot ^(BG)with his possessions, and the women and the people.

Abram Blessed by Melchizedek

¹⁷ After his return from the defeat 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 ^(BH)King's Valley). ¹⁸ And ^(BI)Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was ^(BJ)priest of ^(BK)God Most High.) ¹⁹ And he blessed him and said,

And Abram gave him ^(BN)a tenth of everything. ²¹ And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” ²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, ^(BO)“I have lifted my hand^[i] to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, ²³ that ^(BP)I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ ²⁴ I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let ^(BQ)Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”

Ananias and Sapphira

5 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, ² and with his wife's knowledge ^(A)he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and ^(B)laid it at the apostles' feet. ³ But Peter said, “Ananias, why has ^(C)Satan filled your heart to lie ^(D)to the Holy Spirit and ^(E)to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? ⁴ While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but ^(F)to God.” ⁵ When Ananias heard these words, he ^(G)fell down and breathed his last. And ^(H)great fear came upon all who heard of it. ⁶ The young men rose and ^(I)wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

⁷ After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you^[a] sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” ⁹ But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together ^(J)to test ^(K)the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” ¹⁰ Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ And ^(L)great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

Many Signs and Wonders Done

¹² Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people ^(M)by the hands of the apostles. And they were all ^(N)together in ^(O)Solomon's Portico. ¹³ None of the rest dared join them, but ^(P)the people held them in high esteem. ¹⁴ And ^(Q)more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, ^15 (R)so that they even ^(S)carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by ^(T)at least his shadow might fall on some of them. ¹⁶ The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, ^(U)bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.