Genesis 12:10-13:18

Good News Translation

Abram in Egypt

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. ¹¹ When he was about to cross the border into Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “You are a beautiful woman. ¹² When the Egyptians see you, they will assume that you are my wife, and so they will kill me and let you live. ^13 (A)Tell them that you are my sister; then because of you they will let me live and treat me well.” ¹⁴ When he crossed the border into Egypt, the Egyptians did see that his wife was beautiful. ¹⁵ Some of the court officials saw her and told the king how beautiful she was; so she was taken to his palace. ¹⁶ Because of her the king treated Abram well and gave him flocks of sheep and goats, cattle, donkeys, slaves, and camels.

¹⁷ But because the king had taken Sarai, the Lord sent terrible diseases on him and on the people of his palace. 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? 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!” 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.

Abram and Lot Separate

13 Abram went north out of Egypt to the southern part of Canaan with his wife and everything he owned, and Lot went with him. ² Abram was a very rich man, with sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as silver and gold. 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 ⁴ and had built an altar. There he worshiped the Lord.

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 (B)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 (C)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.