Beginning

12 Forsooth the Lord said to Abram, Go thou out of thy land, and (out) of thy kindred, and (out) of the house of thy father, and come thou into the land which I shall show to thee;

² and I shall make thee into a great folk (and I shall make thee into a great nation), and I shall bless thee, and I shall magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed;

³ I shall bless them that bless thee, and I shall curse them that curse thee; and all kindreds of [the] earth shall be blessed in thee (and all the families on the earth shall pray to be blessed as thou art blessed/and through thee I shall bless all the nations of the earth).

⁴ And so Abram went out, as the Lord commanded him, and Lot went with him. Abram was five and seventy years (old) when he went out of Haran.

⁵ And he took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, the son of his brother, and all the substance which they had in possession, and the men which they had begotten in Haran (and all the men, or all the slaves, which they had gotten, or had acquired, in Haran); and they went out (so) that they should go into the land of Canaan. And when they came into it,

⁶ Abram passed through the land till to the place of Sichem, and till to the noble valley. Forsooth Canaanite was then in the land. (And Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, and to the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.)

⁷ Soothly the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, I shall give this land to thy seed. And Abram built there an altar to the Lord, that appeared to him (And Abram build an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him).

⁸ And from thence he passed forth to the hill [of] Bethel, that was against the east, and setted there his tabernacle, having Bethel from the west, and Hai from the east. And he builded also there an altar to the Lord, and inwardly called his name. (And from there he went on to the hill country that was east of Bethel, and pitched his tent there, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east. And there he also built an altar to the Lord, and inwardly called on his name.)

⁹ And Abram went going, and going forth over to the south. (And Abram continued on, and went down to the south.)

¹⁰ Soothly hunger was made in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt, to be a pilgrim there (to live there for a while), for hunger had the mastery in the land.

¹¹ And when he was nigh to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai, his wife, I know that thou art a fair woman,

¹² and that when (the) Egyptians shall see thee, they shall say, It is his wife, and they shall slay me, and keep thee (and then they shall kill me, but keep thee alive).

¹³ Therefore, I beseech thee, say that thou art my sister, that it be well to me for thee, and that my life live for the love of thee. (And so I beseech thee, say that thou art my sister, and then all shall be well with me, because of thee, and I shall remain alive, because thou hast shown thy love for me.)

¹⁴ And so when Abram had entered into Egypt, (the) Egyptians saw the woman, (and) that she was full fair;

¹⁵ and the princes told (about her) to Pharaoh, and praised her with him; and (so) the woman was taken up into the house of Pharaoh.

¹⁶ Forsooth they used well Abram for her; and sheep, and oxen, and asses, and servants, and servantesses, and she-asses, and camels were (given) to him. (And Pharaoh treated Abram well because of her; and sheep, and oxen, and donkeys, and male and female slaves, and female donkeys, and camels were given to him.)

¹⁷ Forsooth the Lord beat Pharaoh and his house with most vengeances for Sarai, the wife of Abram. (But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with great plagues, because of Sarai, the wife of Abram.)

¹⁸ And Pharaoh called (for) Abram, and said to him, What is it that thou hast done to me? why showedest thou not to me that she was thy wife?

¹⁹ for what cause saidest thou, that she was thy sister, (so) that I should take her into wife to me? Now therefore lo! thy wife; take thou her, and go(!).

²⁰ And Pharaoh commanded to men on Abram, and they led forth him, and his wife, and all things that he had. (And Pharaoh commanded to his men about Abram, and they sent him away with his wife, and all the things that he had been given.)

13 Therefore Abram ascended from Egypt (And so Abram went up from Egypt), he, and his wife, and all things that he had; and Lot went with him, to the south coast.

² Forsooth he was full rich in possession(s) of silver, and of gold. (And now he was very rich with livestock, silver, and gold.)

³ And he turned again by the way in which he came from the south into Bethel, till to the place, in which before he had set a tabernacle (to the place where he had pitched his tent before), betwixt Bethel and Hai,

⁴ in the place of the altar which he made before, and inwardly called there the name of the Lord. (at the place where he had made the altar before, and had inwardly called on the Lord’s name.)

⁵ But also flocks of sheep, and droves of oxen, and tabernacles were to Lot, that was with Abram; (And Lot, who was with Abram, also had flocks of sheep, and herds of oxen, and tents;)

⁶ and the land might not take them, that they should dwell together, for the cattle of them was much, and they might not dwell in common. (and the land could not support both of them, for each of them had many livestock, and so they could not live there together.)

⁷ Wherefore also strife was made betwixt the keepers of [the] flocks of Abram and of Lot. Forsooth Canaanites and Perizzites (also) dwelled in that land in that time.

⁸ Therefore Abram said to Lot, I beseech thee, that no strife be betwixt me and thee, and betwixt my shepherds and thy shepherds; for we be brethren (for we be kinsmen).

⁹ Lo! all the land is before thee, I beseech, depart thou from me; if thou go to the left side, I shall hold the right side; if thou choose the right side, I shall go to the left side.

¹⁰ And so Lot raised [up] his eyes, and saw about all the country of Jordan, which was all-moisted, before that the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, as (the) paradise of the Lord, and as Egypt, as men come into Zoar. (And so Lot raised up his eyes, and saw the Jordan Valley all about, and that it was well-watered, and that all the way to Zoar it was like the Garden of the Lord, that is, like the Garden of Eden, and like Egypt, for this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

¹¹ And Lot chose to him the country about Jordan, and departed from the east; and they were parted each from his brother. (And Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and left for the east; and so they parted from each other, yea, each from his kinsman.)

¹² (And) Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan; soothly Lot dwelled in [the] towns about Jordan, and abode in Sodom (and lived near Sodom).

¹³ Forsooth (the) men of Sodom were full wicked, and sinners greatly before the Lord (and greatly sinned against the Lord).

¹⁴ And the Lord said to Abram, after that Lot was parted from him (And after that Lot had left, the Lord said to Abram), Raise [up] thine eyes forthright, and see from the place in which thou art now, to the north and south, (and) to the east and west;

¹⁵ I shall give all the land which thou seest to thee, and to thy seed (and to thy descendants), till into without end.

¹⁶ And I shall make thy seed as the dust of the earth; if any man may number the dust of the earth, also he shall be able to number thy seed (and only if anyone can count all the dust on the earth, then shall they be able to count all thy descendants).

¹⁷ Therefore rise thou, and pass through the land in his length and breadth, for I shall give it to thee. (And so rise thou up, and go through the land in its length and breadth, for I shall give it all to thee.)

¹⁸ Therefore Abram, moving his tabernacle, came and dwelled beside the valley of Mamre, which is in Hebron; and he builded there an altar to the Lord. (And so Abram, moving his tent, came and lived beside the terebinths of Mamre, which be at Hebron; and he built there an altar to the Lord.)

14 Forsooth it was done in that time, that Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Ellasar, and Chedorlaomer, king of Elamites, and Tidal, king of folks, (And it happened at that time, that Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Ellasar, and Chedorlaomer, king of Elamites, and Tidal, king of Goiim,)

² began battle against Bera, king of Sodom, and against Birsha, king of Gomorrah, and against Shinab, king of Admah, and against Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and against the king of Bela, that Bela is Zoar (and against the king of Bela, which is now called Zoar).

³ All these came together into the valley of wood, which is now the sea of salt. (And they all came together into the Siddim Valley, which is now the Salt Sea, that is, the Dead Sea.)

⁴ For in twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they departed from him. (For they served Chedorlaomer for twelve years, and then in the thirteenth year they rebelled against him.)

⁵ Therefore Chedorlaomer came in the fourteenth year, and [the] kings that were with him, and they smited Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and Zuzims with them (and the Zuzims in Ham), and Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

⁶ and Horites in the hills of Seir (and the Horites in the hill country of Seir), till to the field places of Elparan, which is in (the) wilderness.

⁷ And they turned again, and came till to the well of Mishpat; that is Kadesh (And then they returned, and came unto Enmishpat; that is Kadesh). And they smited all the country of (the) men of Amalek, and (also the) Amorites, that dwelled in Hazazontamar.

⁸ And the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, also and the king of Bela, which is (now called) Zoar, went out, and [they] dressed (the) battle array against them in the valley of wood (and they directed the battle array against them in the Siddim Valley),

⁹ that is, against Chedorlaomer, king of Elamites, and Tidal, king of folks (king of Goiim), and Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Ellasar; four kings against five.

¹⁰ Forsooth the valley of wood had many pits of pitch, either strong glue; and so the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah turned the(ir) backs, and felled down there; and they that (were) left fled to the hill(s). (But the Siddim Valley had many pits of pitch, or of strong glue; and when the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah turned their backs to flee, they fell into them; but the other three kings who were left alive, fled to the hill country.)

¹¹ Soothly they took away all the chattel of Sodom and Gomorrah/all the cattle of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all things that pertain[ed] to meat, and went away; (And those four kings took away all of the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah/all of the livestock of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all of their food, and went away;)

¹² also and they took away Lot and his chattel/Lot and his cattle, the son of the brother of Abram, which Lot dwelled in Sodom. (and they also took away Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, who lived in Sodom, and all of his possessions/and all of his livestock.)

¹³ And, lo! one that escaped, told to Abram the Hebrew, that dwelled in the valley of Mamre of (the) Amorites, [the] brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; for these [had] made (a) covenant of peace with Abram. (And, lo! one who escaped, went and told all of this to Abram the Hebrew, who lived by the terebinths of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol, and the brother of Aner; for they had made a covenant of peace with Abram.)

¹⁴ And when Abram had heard this thing, that is, (that) Lot, (the son of) his brother, (was) taken, he numbered his born servants made ready, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them till to Dan. (And when Abram had heard this, that is, that Lot, his kinsman, was taken captive, he called together the three hundred and eighteen men who were born in his household, and pursued after the four kings as far as Dan.)

¹⁵ And when his fellows were separated (into groups), he felled on them in the night, and smote them, and pursued them till to Hobah, and Phenice, which is at the left side of Damascus (which is north of Damascus).

¹⁶ And he brought again all the chattel, and Lot, (the son of) his brother, with his chattel, also (the) women, and the people./And he brought again all the cattle, and Lot, (the son of) his brother, with his cattle, also (the) women, and the people. (And he brought back all of the possessions that had been taken, and Lot, his kinsman, and all of his possessions, and all of the women, and the other prisoners./And he brought back all of the livestock that had been taken, and Lot, his kinsman, and all of his livestock, and all of the women, and the other prisoners.)

¹⁷ Soothly the king of Sodom went out into the meeting of him, after that he turned again from [the] slaying of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, in the valley of Shaveh, which is the valley of the king. (And Sodom’s king went out to meet him, after that he had returned from killing Chedorlaomer, and the other kings who were with him, in the Shaveh Valley, which is now called the King’s Valley.)

¹⁸ And soothly Melchizedek, (the) king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, for he was the priest of the highest God (for he was the priest of the Most High God);

¹⁹ and he blessed Abram, and said, Blessed be Abram of [the] (most) high God, that made heaven and earth of nought, (and he blessed Abram, and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, who made heaven and earth out of nothing,)

²⁰ and blessed be [the] (most) high God, by whom defending (thee), (thine) enemies be betaken into thine hands. And Abram gave tithes of all things to him. (and blessed be the Most High God, who hath delivered thy enemies into thy hands. And Abram gave him a tithe of all the things that he had recovered.)

²¹ Forsooth the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give thou the men to me; take thou (the) other things to thee. (And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give thou to me the people; and thou take the other things for thyself.)

²² And Abram answered to him, I raise [up] mine hand to the high Lord God, Lord of heaven and of earth, (But Abram answered to him, I raise up my hand, and swear to the Lord, the Most High God, the Maker of heaven and earth,)

²³ that from the thread of [the] woof till to the lanyard of the hose, I shall not take (anything) of all things that be thine, lest thou say, I [have] made Abram rich;

²⁴ except these things which the young men ate, and the parts of (the) men that came with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; these men shall take their parts. (except for those things which the young men have eaten, and a portion for the men who came with me, that is, for Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let these men take their portion, or their share.)

15 And so when these things were done, the word of the Lord was made to Abram by a vision, and said, Abram, do not thou dread, I am thy defender, and thy meed is full great (Abram, do not thou fear, for I am thy defender, and thy reward shall be very great).

² And Abram said, Lord God, what shalt thou give to me? I shall go without free children, and this Damascus, son of Eliezer, the procurator of mine house, shall be mine heir. (And Abram said, Lord God, what shalt thou give me? for I have no children, and this Eliezer of Damascus, the procurator of my household, shall be my heir.)

³ And Abram added, Soothly thou hast not given seed to me, and, lo! my born servant shall be mine heir. (And Abram said again, Yea, thou hast not given me any children, or any descendants, and so this slave, born in my house, must be my heir.)

⁴ And anon the word of the Lord was made to him, and said, This shall not be thine heir, but thou shalt have him heir, that shall go out of thy womb. (And at once the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Nay, he shall not be thy heir, but thou shalt have an heir who shall come from thy womb.)

⁵ And the Lord led out Abram, and said to him, Behold thou (the) heaven(s), and number the stars, if thou mayest. And the Lord said to Abram, So thy seed shall be. (And the Lord led Abram outside, and said to him, Look thou up at the night sky, and count the stars, if thou mayest. And then the Lord said to Abram, So shall be thy descendants.)

⁶ Abram believed to God, and it was reckoned to him to rightwiseness. (And Abram believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.)

⁷ And God said to him, I am the Lord, that led thee out of Ur of Chaldees, (so) that I should give this land to thee, and (that) thou shouldest have it in possession.

⁸ And Abram said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall wield it?

⁹ And the Lord answered, and said, Take thou to me a cow of three years, and a goat of three years, and a ram of three years, and a turtle, and a culver. (And the Lord answered, Bring thou to me a cow of three years, and a goat of three years, and a ram of three years, and a turtledove, and a pigeon.)

¹⁰ Which took all these things, and parted those by the midst (And he brought him all these things, and divided them in half), and setted ever either part each against (the) other; but he parted not the birds.

¹¹ And fowls came down on the carrions, and Abram drove them away. (And when birds came down onto the carcasses, Abram drove them away.)

¹² And when the sun was gone down, dread felled on Abram, and a great hideousness and dark assailed him. (And as the sun went down, fear fell upon Abram, and a great dark hideousness assailed him.)

¹³ And it was said to him, Know thou (a) before-knowing, that thy seed shall be [a] pilgrim four hundred years in a land not his own, and they shall make them subject to servage, and they shall torment them; (And the Lord said to him, Know thou a fore-knowing, that thy descendants shall be foreigners in a land not their own, and they shall make them subject to servitude, or to slavery, and they shall torment them for four hundred years;)

¹⁴ nevertheless I shall deem the folk to whom they shall serve; and after these things they shall go out with great chattel. (nevertheless I shall judge the nation for whom they shall be slaves; and after these things they shall go out with many possessions.)

¹⁵ Forsooth thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and shalt be buried in (a) good [eld] age.

¹⁶ Soothly in the fourth generation they shall turn again hither, for the wickedness of [the] Amorites be not yet [full-]filled, till to (this) present time (until now).

¹⁷ Therefore when the sun was gone down, a dark mist was made, and a furnace smoking appeared, and a lamp of fire, and (it) passed through those partings. (And when the sun had gone down, a dark mist came, and a smoking furnace appeared, and a lamp of fire which passed between the pieces of the animals.)

¹⁸ In that day the Lord made a covenant of peace with Abram, and said, I shall give to thy seed this land, from the river of Egypt till to the great river Euphrates; (And on that day, the Lord made a covenant of peace with Abram, and said, I shall give this land to thy descendants, from the River of Egypt, that is, the Nile, or the Shihor River, unto the great Euphrates River;)

¹⁹ (yea, the lands of the) Kenites, and Kenizzites, and Kadmonites,

²⁰ and Hittites, and Perizzites, and Rephaims,

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