Genesis 12-16

Legacy Standard Bible

Yahweh Appears to Abram

12 And ^(A)Yahweh said to Abram,

⁴ So Abram went forth as Yahweh had spoken to him; and ^(G)Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ So Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their ^(H)possessions which they had accumulated, and ^(I)the ^[e]persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go forth to the land of Canaan; ^(J)thus they came to the land of Canaan. ⁶ And Abram passed through the land as far as the site of ^(K)Shechem, to the ^[f]oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. ⁷ Then Yahweh ^(L)appeared to Abram and said, “^(M)To your seed I will give this land.” So he built ^(N)an altar there to Yahweh who had appeared to him. ⁸ Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with ^(O)Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to Yahweh and ^(P)called upon the name of Yahweh. ⁹ And Abram journeyed on, continuing toward ^(Q)the ^[g]Negev.

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

¹⁰ Now there was ^(R)a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was ^(S)severe in the land. ¹¹ And it happened as he drew near to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Now behold, I know that you are a woman ^(T)beautiful in appearance; ^12 (U)and it will be when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³ Please say that you are ^(V)my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that ^[h](W)I may live on account of you.” ¹⁴ Now it happened when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians ^[i]saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ And Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and ^(X)the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶ Therefore ^(Y)he treated Abram well because of her; and sheep and oxen and donkeys and male and female servants and female donkeys and camels ^[j](Z)came into his possession.

¹⁷ But Yahweh ^(AA)struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸ Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “^(AB)What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for myself as a wife? So now, ^[k]here is your wife, take her and go.” ²⁰ So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they ^[l]sent him away with his wife and all that belonged to him.

Abram and Lot Separate

13 So Abram went up from Egypt to ^(AC)the ^[m]Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him.

² Now Abram was ^(AD)very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold. ³ And he went ^[n]on his journeys from the ^[o]Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, ^(AE)between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to the place of the ^(AF)altar which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called upon the name of Yahweh.

⁵ Now ^(AG)Lot, who was going with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶ And ^(AH)the land could not ^[p]sustain them ^[q]while living together, ^(AI)for their possessions were so abundant that they were not able to live together. ^7 (AJ)And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Now ^(AK)the Canaanite and the Perizzite were living then in the land.

^8 (AL)So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. ⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left.” ¹⁰ Then Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the ^[r](AM)valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before Yahweh ^(AN)destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like ^(AO)the garden of Yahweh, ^(AP)like the land of Egypt as you go to ^(AQ)Zoar. ¹¹ So Lot chose for himself all the ^[s]valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other. ¹² Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived in ^(AR)the cities of the ^[t]valley and moved his tents as far as Sodom. ¹³ Now ^(AS)the men of Sodom were evil and ^(AT)sinners, exceedingly so, against Yahweh.

¹⁴ And Yahweh said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “^(AU)Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, ^(AV)northward and southward and eastward and westward; ^15 (AW)for all the land which you see, ^(AX)I will give it to you and to your seed forever. ¹⁶ And I will make your seed ^(AY)as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your seed can also be numbered. ¹⁷ Arise, ^(AZ)walk about the land through its length and breadth; for ^(BA)I will give it to you.” ¹⁸ Then Abram moved his tent and came and lived by the ^[u](BB)oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built ^(BC)an altar to Yahweh.

Kings of the Valley Take Lot

14 And it happened in the days of Amraphel king of ^(BD)Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of ^(BE)Elam, and Tidal king of ^[v]Goiim, ² that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of ^(BF)Admah, and Shemeber king of ^(BG)Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, ^(BH)Zoar). ³ All these ^[w]came as allies to ^(BI)the valley of Siddim (that is, ^(BJ)the Salt Sea). ⁴ Now for twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵ So in the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, came and struck the ^(BK)Rephaim in ^(BL)Ashteroth-karnaim and the Zuzim in Ham and the Emim in ^[x](BM)Shaveh-kiriathaim, ⁶ and the ^(BN)Horites in their Mount Seir, as far as ^(BO)El-paran, which is by the wilderness. ⁷ Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, ^(BP)Kadesh). And they struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, who were living in ^(BQ)Hazazon-tamar. ⁸ And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out; and they arranged themselves for battle against them in ^(BR)the valley of Siddim, ⁹ against Chedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of ^[y]Goiim and Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five— ¹⁰ now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits—and ^(BS)the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell ^[z]into them; but those who remained behind fled to the ^(BT)hill country. ¹¹ Then they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply and departed. ¹² They also took Lot, ^(BU)Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed; ^(BV)now he was living in Sodom.

¹³ Then ^[aa]a fugitive came and told Abram the ^(BW)Hebrew. Now he was dwelling by the ^[ab](BX)oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, and these were ^[ac](BY)in a covenant with Abram. ¹⁴ So Abram heard that ^(BZ)his ^[ad]relative had been taken captive, and he ^[ae]led out his trained men, ^(CA)born in his house, 318 in number, and went in pursuit as far as ^(CB)Dan. ^15 (CC)And he divided ^[af]his men against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is ^[ag]north of ^(CD)Damascus. ¹⁶ And he ^(CE)brought back all the possessions, and he also brought back ^(CF)his ^[ah]relative Lot with his possessions and also the women and the people.

Melchizedek Blesses Abram

¹⁷ Then after he came back from striking down Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, ^(CG)the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, ^(CH)the King’s Valley). ¹⁸ And ^(CI)Melchizedek king of Salem brought out ^(CJ)bread and wine; now he was a ^(CK)priest of ^[ai]God Most High. ¹⁹ Then he blessed him and said,

^(CM)Then he gave him a tenth of all. ²¹ And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the ^[am]people to me, but take the possessions for yourself.” ²² Then Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have ^[an]raised my hand to Yahweh ^[ao](CN)God Most High, ^[ap](CO)possessor of heaven and earth, ²³ that ^(CP)I will not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, so that you would not say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ ^24 [aq]I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, ^(CQ)Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share.”

Yahweh Cuts a Covenant with Abram

15 After these things ^(CR)the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying,

² And Abram said, “O Lord Yahweh, what will You give me, as I go on being childless, and the ^[as]heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “^[at]Since You have given no seed to me, behold, ^[au]one ^(CV)born in my house is my heir.” ⁴ Then behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, “This one will not be your heir; ^(CW)but one who will come forth from your own ^[av]body, he shall be your heir.” ⁵ And He brought him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and ^(CX)number the stars, if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “^(CY)So shall your seed be.” ^6 (CZ)Then he believed in Yahweh; and He counted it to him as righteousness. ⁷ And He said to him, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of ^(DA)Ur of the Chaldeans, to ^(DB)give you this land to ^[aw]possess it.” ⁸ And he said, “O Lord Yahweh, ^(DC)how may I know that I will ^[ax]possess it?” ⁹ So He said to him, “^[ay]Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰ Then he ^[az]brought all these to Him and ^(DD)split them into parts ^[ba]down the middle and laid each part opposite the other; but he ^(DE)did not split apart the birds. ¹¹ Then the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

¹² Now it happened that when the sun was going down, ^(DF)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, ^[bb]terror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that ^(DG)your seed will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, ^[bc]and ^(DH)they will be enslaved and mistreated ^(DI)four hundred years. ¹⁴ But I will also judge the nation to whom they are enslaved, and afterward they will come out ^(DJ)with ^[bd]many possessions. ¹⁵ As for you, ^(DK)you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ Then in ^(DL)the fourth generation they will return here, for ^(DM)the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ Now it happened that the sun had set, and it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which ^(DN)passed between these pieces. ¹⁸ On that day Yahweh cut a covenant with Abram, saying,

^19 (DQ)the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite ²⁰ and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim ²¹ and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.”

Sarai and Hagar

16 Now ^(DR)Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children, and she had ^(DS)an Egyptian servant-woman whose name was Hagar. ² So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, Yahweh has shut my womb from bearing children. ^(DT)Please go in to my servant-woman; perhaps I will ^[be]obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. ³ And after Abram had ^[bf]lived ^(DU)ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant-woman, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. ⁴ So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. Then she saw that she had conceived, so her mistress became ^[bg]contemptible in her sight. ⁵ And Sarai said to Abram, “^(DV)May the violence done to me be upon you. I gave my servant-woman into your ^[bh]embrace, but she saw that she had conceived, so I became ^[bi]contemptible in her ^[bj]sight. ^(DW)May Yahweh judge between ^[bk]you and me.” ⁶ But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant-woman is in your ^[bl]hand; do to her what is good in your ^[bm]sight.” So Sarai afflicted her, and ^(DX)she fled from her presence.

⁷ Now ^(DY)the angel of Yahweh found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to ^(DZ)Shur. ⁸ And he said, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant-woman, ^(EA)where have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” ⁹ Then the angel of Yahweh said to her, “Return to your mistress and ^[bn]humble yourself under her hands.” ¹⁰ Moreover, the ^(EB)angel of Yahweh said to her, “^(EC)I will greatly multiply your seed so that ^[bo]they will be too many to be counted.” ¹¹ And the angel of Yahweh said to her further,

¹³ Then she called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “^[bs]You are ^[bt]a God who sees”; for she said, “^(EG)Have I even ^[bu]remained alive here after seeing Him?” ¹⁴ Therefore the well was called ^[bv]Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between ^(EH)Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ¹⁶ Now Abram was ^(EI)eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to ^[bw]him.