The Daily Audio Bible

⁵ Lot also had sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as his own family and servants. ⁶ And so there was not enough pasture land for the two of them to stay together, because they had too many animals. ⁷ So quarrels broke out between the men who took care of Abram's animals and those who took care of Lot's animals. (At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were still living in the land.)

⁸ Then Abram said to Lot, “We are relatives, and your men and my men shouldn't be quarreling. ⁹ So let's separate. Choose any part of the land you want. You go one way, and I'll go the other.”

^10 (A)Lot looked around and saw that the whole Jordan Valley, all the way to Zoar, had plenty of water, like the Garden of the Lord^[a] or like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord had destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.) ¹¹ So Lot chose the whole Jordan Valley for himself and moved away toward the east. That is how the two men parted. ¹² Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled among the cities in the valley and camped near Sodom, ¹³ whose people were wicked and sinned against the Lord.

Abram Moves to Hebron

¹⁴ After Lot had left, the Lord said to Abram, “From where you are, look carefully in all directions. ^15 (B)I am going to give you and your descendants all the land that you see, and it will be yours forever. ¹⁶ I am going to give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all; it would be as easy to count all the specks of dust on earth! ¹⁷ Now, go and look over the whole land, because I am going to give it all to you.” ¹⁸ So Abram moved his camp and settled near the sacred trees of Mamre at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

Abram Rescues Lot

14 Four kings, Amraphel of Babylonia, Arioch of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer of Elam, and Tidal of Goiim, ² went to war against five other kings: Bera of Sodom, Birsha of Gomorrah, Shinab of Admah, Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (or Zoar). ³ These five kings had formed an alliance and joined forces in Siddim Valley, which is now the Dead Sea. ⁴ They had been under the control of Chedorlaomer for twelve years, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled against him. ⁵ In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and his allies came with their armies and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in the plain of Kiriathaim, ⁶ and the Horites in the mountains of Edom, pursuing them as far as Elparan on the edge of the desert. ⁷ Then they turned around and came back to Kadesh (then known as Enmishpat). They conquered all the land of the Amalekites and defeated the Amorites who lived in Hazazon Tamar.

⁸ Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela drew up their armies for battle in Siddim Valley and fought ⁹ against the kings of Elam, Goiim, Babylonia, and Ellasar, five kings against four. ¹⁰ The valley was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah tried to run away from the battle, they fell into the pits; but the other three kings escaped to the mountains. ¹¹ The four kings took everything in Sodom and Gomorrah, including the food, and went away. ¹² Lot, Abram's nephew, was living in Sodom, so they took him and all his possessions.

¹³ But a man escaped and reported all this to Abram, the Hebrew, who was living near the sacred trees belonging to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his brothers Eshcol and Aner were Abram's allies. ¹⁴ When Abram heard that his nephew had been captured, he called together all the fighting men in his camp, 318 in all, and pursued the four kings all the way to Dan. ¹⁵ There he divided his men into groups, attacked the enemy by night, and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus, ¹⁶ and got back all the loot that had been taken. He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other prisoners.

Melchizedek Blesses Abram

¹⁷ When Abram came back from his victory over Chedorlaomer and the other kings, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in Shaveh Valley (also called King's Valley). ^18 (C)And Melchizedek, who was king of Salem and also a priest of the Most High God, brought bread and wine to Abram, ¹⁹ blessed him, and said, “May the Most High God, who made heaven and earth, bless Abram! ²⁰ May the Most High God, who gave you victory over your enemies, be praised!” And Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the loot he had recovered.

²¹ The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Keep the loot, but give me back all my people.”

²² Abram answered, “I solemnly swear before the Lord, the Most High God, Maker of heaven and earth, ²³ that I will not keep anything of yours, not even a thread or a sandal strap. Then you can never say, ‘I am the one who made Abram rich.’ ²⁴ I will take nothing for myself. I will accept only what my men have used. But let my allies, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, take their share.”

God's Covenant with Abram

15 After this, Abram had a vision and heard the Lord say to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I will shield you from danger and give you a great reward.”

² But Abram answered, “Sovereign Lord, what good will your reward do me, since I have no children? My only heir is Eliezer of Damascus.^{[b] 3} You have given me no children, and one of my slaves will inherit my property.”

⁴ Then he heard the Lord speaking to him again: “This slave Eliezer will not inherit your property; your own son will be your heir.” ^5 (D)The Lord took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and try to count the stars; you will have as many descendants as that.”

^6 (E)Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.

⁷ Then the Lord said to him, “I am the Lord, who led you out of Ur in Babylonia, to give you this land as your own.”

⁸ But Abram asked, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that it will be mine?”

⁹ He answered, “Bring me a cow, a goat, and a ram, each of them three years old, and a dove and a pigeon.” ¹⁰ Abram brought the animals to God, cut them in half, and placed the halves opposite each other in two rows; but he did not cut up the birds. ¹¹ Vultures came down on the bodies, but Abram drove them off.

^12 (F)When the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and fear and terror came over him. ^13 (G)The Lord said to him, “Your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land; they will be slaves there and will be treated cruelly for four hundred years. ^14 (H)But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and when they leave that foreign land, they will take great wealth with them. ¹⁵ You yourself will live to a ripe old age, die in peace, and be buried. ¹⁶ It will be four generations before your descendants come back here, because I will not drive out the Amorites until they become so wicked that they must be punished.”

¹⁷ When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch suddenly appeared and passed between the pieces of the animals. ^18 (I)Then and there the Lord made a covenant with Abram. He said, “I promise to give your descendants all this land from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River, ¹⁹ including the lands of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Teaching about Adultery

^27 (A)“You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But now I tell you: anyone who looks at a woman and wants to possess her is guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart. ^29 (B)So if your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose a part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. ^30 (C)If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose one of your limbs than to have your whole body go off to hell.

Teaching about Divorce^(D)

^31 (E)“It was also said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce.’ ^32 (F)But now I tell you: if a man divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, then he is guilty of making her commit adultery if she marries again; and the man who marries her commits adultery also.

Teaching about Vows

^33 (G)“You have also heard that people were told in the past, ‘Do not break your promise, but do what you have vowed to the Lord to do.’ ^34 (H)But now I tell you: do not use any vow when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven, for it is God's throne; ^35 (I)nor by earth, for it is the resting place for his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶ Do not even swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. ³⁷ Just say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’—anything else you say comes from the Evil One.

Teaching about Revenge^(J)

^38 (K)“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too. ⁴⁰ And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. ⁴¹ And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles. ⁴² When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him.

Love for Enemies^(L)

^43 (M)“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your friends, hate your enemies.’ ⁴⁴ But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ^45 (N)so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil. ⁴⁶ Why should God reward you if you love only the people who love you? Even the tax collectors do that! ⁴⁷ And if you speak only to your friends, have you done anything out of the ordinary? Even the pagans do that! ^48 (O)You must be perfect—just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

A Prayer for Help in Time of Trouble^[a]

²⁹ You have never had any use for knowledge and have always refused to obey the Lord. ³⁰ You have never wanted my advice or paid any attention when I corrected you. ³¹ So then, you will get what you deserve, and your own actions will make you sick. ³² Inexperienced people die because they reject wisdom. Stupid people are destroyed by their own lack of concern. ³³ But whoever listens to me will have security. He will be safe, with no reason to be afraid.”