Abram and Lot Separate

13 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, ^(A)into the Negeb.

^2 (B)Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³ And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to ^(C)the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord. ⁵ And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, ⁶ so that ^(D)the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, ^7 (E)and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. At that time ^(F)the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.

⁸ Then Abram said to Lot, ^(G)“Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, ^(H)for we are kinsmen.^{[a] 9 (I)}Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” ¹⁰ And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the ^(J)Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like ^(K)the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of ^(L)Zoar. (This was before the Lord ^(M)destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) ¹¹ So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. ¹² Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. ¹³ Now the men of Sodom ^(N)were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.

¹⁴ The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, ^(O)northward and southward and eastward and westward, ¹⁵ for all the land that you see I will give ^(P)to you and ^(Q)to your offspring forever. ^16 (R)I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. ¹⁷ Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” ¹⁸ So Abram moved his tent and came and ^(S)settled by the ^(T)oaks^[b] of Mamre, which ^(U)are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

Abram Rescues Lot

14 In the days of Amraphel king of ^(V)Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of ^(W)Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, ² these kings made war with ^(X)Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of ^(Y)Admah, Shemeber king of ^(Z)Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). ³ And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (^(AA)that is, the Salt Sea). ⁴ Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵ In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the ^(AB)Rephaim in ^(AC)Ashteroth-karnaim, the ^(AD)Zuzim in Ham, the ^(AE)Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, ⁶ and the ^(AF)Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as ^(AG)El-paran on the border of the wilderness. ⁷ Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, ^(AH)Kadesh) and defeated all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling ^(AI)in Hazazon-tamar.

⁸ Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim ⁹ with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five. ¹⁰ Now the Valley of Siddim was full of ^(AJ)bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled ^(AK)to the hill country. ¹¹ So the enemy took ^(AL)all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. ¹² They also took Lot, ^(AM)the son of Abram's brother, ^(AN)who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.

¹³ Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, ^(AO)who was living by the ^(AP)oaks^[c] of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram. ¹⁴ When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, ^(AQ)born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as ^(AR)Dan. ¹⁵ And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. ¹⁶ Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot ^(AS)with his possessions, and the women and the people.

Abram Blessed by Melchizedek

¹⁷ After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the ^(AT)King's Valley). ¹⁸ And ^(AU)Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was ^(AV)priest of ^(AW)God Most High.) ¹⁹ And he blessed him and said,

And Abram gave him ^(AZ)a tenth of everything. ²¹ And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” ²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, ^(BA)“I have lifted my hand^[e] to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, ²³ that ^(BB)I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ ²⁴ I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let ^(BC)Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”

God's Covenant with Abram

15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: ^(BD)“Fear not, Abram, I am ^(BE)your shield; your reward shall be very great.” ² But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue^[f] childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and ^(BF)a member of my household will be my heir.” ⁴ And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; ^(BG)your very own son^[g] shall be your heir.” ⁵ And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and ^(BH)number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, ^(BI)“So shall your offspring be.” ⁶ And ^(BJ)he believed the Lord, and ^(BK)he counted it to him as righteousness.

⁷ And he said to him, “I am the Lord who ^(BL)brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans ^(BM)to give you this land to possess.” ⁸ But he said, “O Lord God, ^(BN)how am I to know that I shall possess it?” ⁹ He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰ And he brought him all these, ^(BO)cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But ^(BP)he did not cut the birds in half. ¹¹ And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

¹² As the sun was going down, a ^(BQ)deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain ^(BR)that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and ^(BS)they will be afflicted for ^(BT)four hundred years. ¹⁴ But ^(BU)I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward ^(BV)they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; ^(BW)you shall be buried in a good old age. ¹⁶ And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for ^(BX)the iniquity of the Amorites ^(BY)is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ^(BZ)“To your offspring I give^[h] this land, from ^(CA)the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

Peace with God Through Faith

5 ^(A)Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, ^(B)we^[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ² Through him we have also ^(C)obtained access by faith^[b] into this grace ^(D)in which we stand, and ^(E)we^[c] rejoice^[d] in hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only that, but we ^(F)rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering ^(G)produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and ^(H)hope does not put us to shame, because God's love ^(I)has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

⁶ For ^(J)while we were still weak, at the right time ^(K)Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸ but ^(L)God shows his love for us in that ^(M)while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since, therefore, ^(N)we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from ^(O)the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if ^(P)while we were enemies ^(Q)we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by ^(R)his life. ¹¹ More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received ^(S)reconciliation.

Death in Adam, Life in Christ

¹² Therefore, just as ^(T)sin came into the world through one man, and ^(U)death through sin, and ^(V)so death spread to all men^[e] because ^(W)all sinned— ¹³ for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but ^(X)sin is not counted where there is no law. ¹⁴ Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not ^(Y)like the transgression of Adam, ^(Z)who was a type of ^(AA)the one who was to come.

¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for ^(AB)many. ¹⁶ And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For ^(AC)the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought ^(AD)justification. ¹⁷ For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness ^(AE)reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ Therefore, as one trespass^[f] led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness^[g] leads to justification and life for ^(AF)all men. ¹⁹ For as by the one man's ^(AG)disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's ^(AH)obedience the many will be made righteous. ²⁰ Now ^(AI)the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, ^(AJ)grace abounded all the more, ²¹ so that, ^(AK)as sin reigned in death, ^(AL)grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.