Category: Genesis

[12:1] The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's home, and go to a land that I am going to show you.

[12:2] I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing.

[12:3] I will bless those who bless you, But I will curse those who curse you. And through you I will bless all the nations.”

[12:4] When Abram was seventy-five years old, he started out from Haran, as the Lord had told him to do; and Lot went with him.

[12:5] Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the wealth and all the slaves they had acquired in Haran, and they started out for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan,

[12:6] Abram traveled through the land until he came to the sacred tree of Moreh, the holy place at Shechem. (At that time the Canaanites were still living in the land.)

[12:7] The Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “This is the country that I am going to give to your descendants.” Then Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

[12:8] After that, he moved on south to the hill country east of the city of Bethel and set up his camp between Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There also he built an altar and worshiped the Lord.

[12:9] Then he moved on from place to place, going toward the southern part of Canaan.

[12:10] But there was a famine in Canaan, and it was so bad that Abram went farther south to Egypt, to live there for a while.

[12:11] When he was about to cross the border into Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “You are a beautiful woman.

[12:12] When the Egyptians see you, they will assume that you are my wife, and so they will kill me and let you live.

[12:13] Tell them that you are my sister; then because of you they will let me live and treat me well.”

[12:14] When he crossed the border into Egypt, the Egyptians did see that his wife was beautiful.

[12:15] Some of the court officials saw her and told the king how beautiful she was; so she was taken to his palace.

[12:16] Because of her the king treated Abram well and gave him flocks of sheep and goats, cattle, donkeys, slaves, and camels.

[12:17] But because the king had taken Sarai, the Lord sent terrible diseases on him and on the people of his palace.

[12:18] Then the king sent for Abram and asked him, “What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me that she was your wife?

[12:19] Why did you say that she was your sister, and let me take her as my wife? Here is your wife; take her and get out!”

[12:20] The king gave orders to his men, so they took Abram and put him out of the country, together with his wife and everything he owned.

[13:1] Abram went north out of Egypt to the southern part of Canaan with his wife and everything he owned, and Lot went with him.

[13:2] Abram was a very rich man, with sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as silver and gold.

[13:3] Then he left there and moved from place to place, going toward Bethel. He reached the place between Bethel and Ai where he had camped before

[13:4] and had built an altar. There he worshiped the Lord.

[13:5] Lot also had sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as his own family and servants.

[13:6] And so there was not enough pasture land for the two of them to stay together, because they had too many animals.

[13:7] 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.)

[13:8] Then Abram said to Lot, “We are relatives, and your men and my men shouldn't be quarreling.

[13:9] So let's separate. Choose any part of the land you want. You go one way, and I'll go the other.”

[13:10] 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 or like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord had destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.)

[13:11] So Lot chose the whole Jordan Valley for himself and moved away toward the east. That is how the two men parted.

[13:12] Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled among the cities in the valley and camped near Sodom,

[13:13] whose people were wicked and sinned against the Lord.

[13:14] After Lot had left, the Lord said to Abram, “From where you are, look carefully in all directions.

[13:15] I am going to give you and your descendants all the land that you see, and it will be yours forever.

[13:16] 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!

[13:17] Now, go and look over the whole land, because I am going to give it all to you.”

[13:18] So Abram moved his camp and settled near the sacred trees of Mamre at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

[14:1] Four kings, Amraphel of Babylonia, Arioch of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer of Elam, and Tidal of Goiim,

[14:2] 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).

[14:3] These five kings had formed an alliance and joined forces in Siddim Valley, which is now the Dead Sea.

[14:4] They had been under the control of Chedorlaomer for twelve years, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled against him.

[14:5] 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,

[14:6] and the Horites in the mountains of Edom, pursuing them as far as Elparan on the edge of the desert.

[14:7] 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.

[14:8] Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela drew up their armies for battle in Siddim Valley and fought

[14:9] against the kings of Elam, Goiim, Babylonia, and Ellasar, five kings against four.

[14:10] 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.

[14:11] The four kings took everything in Sodom and Gomorrah, including the food, and went away.

[14:12] Lot, Abram's nephew, was living in Sodom, so they took him and all his possessions.

[14:13] 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.

[14:14] 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.

[14:15] 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,

[14:16] 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.

[14:17] 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).

[14:18] And Melchizedek, who was king of Salem and also a priest of the Most High God, brought bread and wine to Abram,

[14:19] blessed him, and said, “May the Most High God, who made heaven and earth, bless Abram!

[14:20] 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.

[14:21] The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Keep the loot, but give me back all my people.”

[14:22] Abram answered, “I solemnly swear before the Lord, the Most High God, Maker of heaven and earth,

[14:23] 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.’

[14:24] 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.”

[15:1] 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.”

[15:2] But Abram answered, “Sovereign Lord, what good will your reward do me, since I have no children? My only heir is Eliezer of Damascus.

[15:3] You have given me no children, and one of my slaves will inherit my property.”

[15:4] Then he heard the Lord speaking to him again: “This slave Eliezer will not inherit your property; your own son will be your heir.”

[15:5] 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.”

[15:6] Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.

[15:7] 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.”

[15:8] But Abram asked, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that it will be mine?”

[15:9] He answered, “Bring me a cow, a goat, and a ram, each of them three years old, and a dove and a pigeon.”

[15:10] 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.

[15:11] Vultures came down on the bodies, but Abram drove them off.

[15:12] When the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and fear and terror came over him.

[15:13] 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.

[15:14] But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and when they leave that foreign land, they will take great wealth with them.

[15:15] You yourself will live to a ripe old age, die in peace, and be buried.

[15:16] 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.”

[15:17] 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.

[15:18] 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,

[15:19] including the lands of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

[15:20] the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

[15:21] the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

[16:1] Abram's wife Sarai had not borne him any children. But she had an Egyptian slave woman named Hagar,

[16:2] and so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Why don't you sleep with my slave? Perhaps she can have a child for me.” Abram agreed with what Sarai said.

[16:3] So she gave Hagar to him to be his concubine. (This happened after Abram had lived in Canaan for ten years.)

[16:4] Abram had intercourse with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she found out that she was pregnant, she became proud and despised Sarai.

[16:5] Then Sarai said to Abram, “It's your fault that Hagar despises me. I myself gave her to you, and ever since she found out that she was pregnant, she has despised me. May the Lord judge which of us is right, you or me!”

[16:6] Abram answered, “Very well, she is your slave and under your control; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so cruelly that she ran away.

[16:7] The angel of the Lord met Hagar at a spring in the desert on the road to Shur

[16:8] and said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She answered, “I am running away from my mistress.”

[16:9] He said, “Go back to her and be her slave.”

[16:10] Then he said, “I will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them.

[16:11] You are going to have a son, and you will name him Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your cry of distress.

[16:12] But your son will live like a wild donkey; he will be against everyone, and everyone will be against him. He will live apart from all his relatives.”

[16:13] Hagar asked herself, “Have I really seen God and lived to tell about it?” So she called the Lord, who had spoken to her, “A God Who Sees.”

[16:14] That is why people call the well between Kadesh and Bered “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.”

[16:15] Hagar bore Abram a son, and he named him Ishmael.

[16:16] Abram was eighty-six years old at the time.

[17:1] When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the Almighty God. Obey me and always do what is right.

[17:2] I will make my covenant with you and give you many descendants.”

[17:3] Abram bowed down with his face touching the ground, and God said,

[17:4] “I make this covenant with you: I promise that you will be the ancestor of many nations.

[17:5] Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, because I am making you the ancestor of many nations.

[17:6] I will give you many descendants, and some of them will be kings. You will have so many descendants that they will become nations.

[17:7] “I will keep my promise to you and to your descendants in future generations as an everlasting covenant. I will be your God and the God of your descendants.

[17:8] I will give to you and to your descendants this land in which you are now a foreigner. The whole land of Canaan will belong to your descendants forever, and I will be their God.”

[17:9] God said to Abraham, “You also must agree to keep the covenant with me, both you and your descendants in future generations.

[17:10] You and your descendants must all agree to circumcise every male among you.

[17:13] Each one must be circumcised, and this will be a physical sign to show that my covenant with you is everlasting.

[17:14] Any male who has not been circumcised will no longer be considered one of my people, because he has not kept the covenant with me.”

[17:15] God said to Abraham, “You must no longer call your wife Sarai; from now on her name is Sarah.

[17:16] I will bless her, and I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will become the mother of nations, and there will be kings among her descendants.”

[17:17] Abraham bowed down with his face touching the ground, but he began to laugh when he thought, “Can a man have a child when he is a hundred years old? Can Sarah have a child at ninety?”

[17:18] He asked God, “Why not let Ishmael be my heir?”

[17:19] But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you will name him Isaac. I will keep my covenant with him and with his descendants forever. It is an everlasting covenant.

[17:20] I have heard your request about Ishmael, so I will bless him and give him many children and many descendants. He will be the father of twelve princes, and I will make a great nation of his descendants.

[17:21] But I will keep my covenant with your son Isaac, who will be born to Sarah about this time next year.”

[17:22] When God finished speaking to Abraham, he left him.

[17:23] On that same day Abraham obeyed God and circumcised his son Ishmael and all the other males in his household, including the slaves born in his home and those he had bought.

[17:24] Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised,

[17:25] and his son Ishmael was thirteen.

[17:26] They were both circumcised on the same day,

[17:27] together with all of Abraham's slaves.

[18:1] The Lord appeared to Abraham at the sacred trees of Mamre. As Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day,

[18:2] he looked up and saw three men standing there. As soon as he saw them, he ran out to meet them. Bowing down with his face touching the ground,

[18:3] he said, “Sirs, please do not pass by my home without stopping; I am here to serve you.

[18:4] Let me bring some water for you to wash your feet; you can rest here beneath this tree.

[18:5] I will also bring a bit of food; it will give you strength to continue your journey. You have honored me by coming to my home, so let me serve you.” They replied, “Thank you; we accept.”

[18:6] Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick, take a sack of your best flour, and bake some bread.”

[18:7] Then he ran to the herd and picked out a calf that was tender and fat, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to get it ready.

[18:8] He took some cream, some milk, and the meat, and set the food before the men. There under the tree he served them himself, and they ate.

[18:9] Then they asked him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” “She is there in the tent,” he answered.

[18:10] One of them said, “Nine months from now I will come back, and your wife Sarah will have a son.” Sarah was behind him, at the door of the tent, listening.

[18:11] Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah had stopped having her monthly periods.

[18:12] So Sarah laughed to herself and said, “Now that I am old and worn out, can I still enjoy sex? And besides, my husband is old too.”

[18:13] Then the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really have a child when I am so old?’

[18:14] Is anything too hard for the Lord? As I said, nine months from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”

[18:15] Because Sarah was afraid, she denied it. “I didn't laugh,” she said. “Yes, you did,” he replied. “You laughed.”