Genesis 12-15

New International Reader's Version

God Chooses Abram

12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s family. Go to the land I will show you.

⁴ So Abram went, just as the Lord had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Harran. ⁵ He took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot. They took all the people and possessions they had acquired in Harran. They started out for the land of Canaan. And they arrived there.

⁶ Abram traveled through the land. He went as far as the large tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were living in the land. ⁷ The Lord appeared to Abram at Shechem. He said, “I will give this land to your family who comes after you.” So Abram built an altar there to honor the Lord, who had appeared to him.

⁸ From there, Abram went on toward the hills east of Bethel. He set up his tent there. Bethel was to the west, and Ai was to the east. Abram built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord.

⁹ Then Abram left and continued south toward the Negev Desert.

Abram Goes to Egypt

¹⁰ At that time there was not enough food in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while. ¹¹ As he was about to enter Egypt, he spoke to his wife Sarai. He said, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. ¹² The people of Egypt will see you and say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me. But they will let you live. ¹³ Tell them you are my sister. Then I’ll be treated well and my life will be spared because of you.”

¹⁴ Abram arrived in Egypt. The Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. ¹⁵ When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they told Pharaoh how beautiful she was. So she was taken into his palace. ¹⁶ Pharaoh treated Abram well because of her. So Abram gained more sheep and cattle and male and female donkeys. He also gained more male and female servants and some camels.

¹⁷ But the Lord sent terrible sicknesses on Pharaoh and everyone in his palace. The Lord did it because of Abram’s wife Sarai. ¹⁸ So Pharaoh sent for Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say she was your sister? That’s why I took her to be my wife. Now then, here’s your wife. Take her and go!” ²⁰ Then Pharaoh gave orders to his men about Abram. They sent him on his way. So he left with his wife and everything he had.

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.

Abram Saves Lot

14 Amraphel was the king of Babylon. Arioch was the king of Ellasar. Kedorlaomer was the king of Elam. And Tidal was the king of Goyim. ² They went to war against five other kings. They were Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela. Bela was also called Zoar. ³ These five kings all gathered their armies together in the Valley of Siddim. It was also called the valley of the Dead Sea. ⁴ For 12 years Kedorlaomer had ruled over them. But in the 13th year they opposed him.

⁵ So in the 14th year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who helped him went to war. They won the battle against the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim. They also won the battle against the Zuzites in Ham and the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim. ⁶ They did the same thing to the Horites in the hill country of Seir. They marched all the way to El Paran near the desert. ⁷ Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat. En Mishpat was also called Kadesh. They took over the whole territory of the Amalekites. They also won the battle against the Amorites who were living in Hazezon Tamar.

⁸ Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboyim and Bela marched out. Bela was also called Zoar. They lined up their armies for battle in the Valley of Siddim. ⁹ They got ready to fight against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Babylonia, and Arioch king of Ellasar. There were four kings against five. ¹⁰ The Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah ran away from the battle. Some of their men fell into the pits, but the rest escaped to the hills. ¹¹ The four kings took all the things that belonged to Sodom and Gomorrah. They also took all their food and then left. ¹² They carried away Abram’s nephew Lot and the things he owned. Lot was living in Sodom at that time.

¹³ A man escaped and came to report everything to Abram. Abram was a Hebrew. He was living near the large trees of Mamre the Amorite. Mamre was a brother of Eshkol and Aner. All of them helped Abram. ¹⁴ Abram heard that Lot had been captured. So he called out his 318 trained men. All of them were sons of his servants. Abram and his men chased their enemies as far as Dan. ¹⁵ During the night Abram separated his men into groups. They attacked their enemies and drove them away. They chased them north of Damascus as far as Hobah. ¹⁶ Abram took back everything the kings had taken. He brought back his nephew Lot and the things Lot owned. He also brought back the women and the other people.

¹⁷ After Abram won the battle over Kedorlaomer and the kings who helped him, he returned home. The king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh. It was also called the King’s Valley.

¹⁸ Melchizedek was the king of Jerusalem. He brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of the Most High God. ¹⁹ He gave a blessing to Abram. He said,

Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.

²¹ The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people. Keep everything else for yourself.”

²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to make a promise to the Lord. He is the Most High God. He is the Creator of heaven and earth. ²³ I’ve said I will not accept anything that belongs to you. I will not take even a thread or the strap of a sandal. You will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ ²⁴ I’ll accept only what my men have eaten and what belongs to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. These three men went with me. Let them have their share.”

God Makes a Covenant With Abram

15 Some time later, Abram had a vision. The Lord said to him,

² But Abram said, “Lord and King, what can you give me? I still don’t have any children. My servant Eliezer comes from Damascus. When I die, he will get everything I own.” ³ Abram continued, “You haven’t given me any children. So this servant of mine will get everything I own.”

⁴ Then a message from the Lord came to Abram. The Lord said, “When you die, what you have will not go to this man. You will have a son of your own. He will get everything you have.” ⁵ The Lord took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky. Count the stars, if you can.” Then he said to him, “That’s how many children will be born into your family.”

⁶ Abram believed the Lord. The Lord was pleased with Abram because he believed. So Abram’s faith made him right with the Lord.

⁷ He also said to Abram, “I am the Lord. I brought you out of Ur in the land of Babylon. I will give you this land to have as your very own.”

⁸ But Abram said, “Lord and King, how can I know I will have this land as my own?”

⁹ So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a young cow, a goat and a ram. Each must be three years old. Bring a dove and a young pigeon along with them.”

¹⁰ Abram brought all of them to the Lord. Abram cut them in two and placed the halves opposite each other. But he didn’t cut the birds in half. ¹¹ Then large birds came down to eat the dead bodies of the animals and birds. But Abram chased the large birds away.

¹² As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep. A thick and scary darkness covered him. ¹³ Then the Lord said to him, “You can be sure of what I am about to tell you. For 400 years, your family who comes after you will be strangers in another country. They will become slaves there and will be treated badly. ¹⁴ But I will punish the nation that makes them slaves. After that, they will leave with many possessions. ¹⁵ But you will die in peace. You will join the members of your family who have already died. And you will be buried when you are very old. ¹⁶ Your children’s grandchildren will come back here. That’s because the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached the point where I must punish them.”

¹⁷ The sun set and it became dark. Then a burning torch and a pot filled with smoking coals appeared. They passed between the pieces of the animals that had been cut in two. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram. He said, “I am giving this land to your family who comes after you. It reaches from the River of Egypt to the great Euphrates River. ¹⁹ It includes the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰ Hittites, Perizzites and Rephaites. ²¹ The Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites also live there.”