Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Abram and Lot Separate

13 Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev Desert. He took his wife and everything he had. Lot went with him. ² Abram had become very rich. He had a lot of livestock and silver and gold.

³ Abram left the Negev Desert. He went from place to place until he came to Bethel. Then he came to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier. ⁴ There he called on the name of the Lord at the altar he had built.

⁵ Lot was moving around with Abram. Lot also had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶ But the land didn’t have enough food for both Abram and Lot. They had large herds and many servants, so they weren’t able to stay together. ⁷ The people who took care of Abram’s herds and those who took care of Lot’s herds began to argue. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.

⁸ So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not argue with each other. The people taking care of your herds and those taking care of mine shouldn’t argue with one another either. After all, we’re part of the same family. ⁹ Isn’t the whole land in front of you? Let’s separate. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right. If you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”

¹⁰ Lot looked around. He saw that the whole Jordan River valley toward the town of Zoar had plenty of water. It was like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. ¹¹ So Lot chose the whole Jordan River valley for himself. Then he started out toward the east. The two men separated. ¹² Abram lived in the land of Canaan. Lot lived among the cities of the Jordan River valley. He set up his tents near Sodom. ¹³ The people of Sodom were evil. They were sinning greatly against the Lord.

¹⁴ The Lord spoke to Abram after Lot had left him. He said, “Look around from where you are. Look north and south, east and west. ¹⁵ I will give you all the land you see. I will give it forever to you and your family who comes after you. ¹⁶ I will make them like the dust of the earth. Can dust be counted? If it can, then your family can be counted. ¹⁷ Go! Walk through the land. See how long and wide it is. I am giving it to you.”

¹⁸ So Abram went to live near the large trees of Mamre at Hebron. There he pitched his tents and built an altar to honor the Lord.

¹⁷ These people are like springs without water. They are like mists driven by a storm. The blackest darkness is reserved for them. ¹⁸ They speak empty, bragging words. They make their appeal to the evil desires that come from sin’s power. They tempt new believers who are just escaping from the company of sinful people. ¹⁹ They promise to give freedom to these new believers. But they themselves are slaves to sinful living. That’s because “people are slaves to anything that controls them.” ²⁰ They may have escaped the sin of the world. They may have come to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But what if they are once again caught up in sin? And what if it has become their master? Then they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. ²¹ Suppose they had not known the way of godliness. This would have been better than to know godliness and then turn away from it. The way of godliness is the sacred command passed on to them. ²² What the proverbs say about them is true. “A dog returns to where it has thrown up.” (Proverbs 26:11) And, “A pig that is washed goes back to rolling in the mud.”