Genesis 14-15
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Lot’s Captivity and Rescue
14 In the days of King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim,(A) 2 these kings made war with King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar.(B) 3 All these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim, that is, the Dead Sea.[a](C) 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 subdued the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,(D) 6 and the Horites in the hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the edge of the wilderness;(E) 7 then they turned back and came to En-mishpat, that is, Kadesh, and subdued all the country of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar.(F) 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 King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Shinar, and King Arioch of Ellasar, four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country. 11 So the enemy took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions and went their way;(G) 12 they also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, who lived in Sodom, and his goods and departed.(H)
13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks[b] of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner; these were allies of Abram.(I) 14 When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred eighteen of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.(J) 15 He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 Then he brought back all the goods and also brought back his nephew Lot with his goods and the women and the people.(K)
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 King’s Valley.(L) 18 And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High.[c](M) 19 He blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,[d]
maker of heaven and earth,(N)
20 and blessed be God Most High,[e]
who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
And Abram gave him one-tenth of everything.(O) 21 Then 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, “I have sworn to God[f] Most High,[g] maker of heaven and earth,(P) 23 that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, so that you might not say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’(Q) 24 I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten and the share of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their share.”
God’s Covenant with Abram
15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”(R) 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”[h](S) 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.”(T) 4 But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.”(U) 5 He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”(V) 6 And he believed the Lord, and the Lord[i] reckoned it to him as righteousness.
7 Then he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.”(W) 8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”(X) 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other, but he did not cut the birds in two.(Y) 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.(Z) 13 Then the Lord[j] said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years,(AA) 14 but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.(AB) 15 As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.(AC) 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”(AD)
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.(AE) 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates,(AF) 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.