Genesis 12 New International Version

The Call of Abram

12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household^(A) to the land^(B) I will show you.^(C)

²“I will make you into a great nation,^(D)
    and I will bless you;^(E)
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.^[a]^(F)
³I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;^(G)
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.^(H)”^[b]

⁴So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot^(I) went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old^(J) when he set out from Harran.^(K) ⁵He took his wife Sarai,^(L) his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated^(M) and the people^(N) they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan,^(O) and they arrived there.

⁶Abram traveled through the land^(P) as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh^(Q) at Shechem.^(R) At that time the Canaanites^(S) were in the land. ⁷The Lord appeared to Abram^(T) and said, “To your offspring^[c] I will give this land.^(U)”^(V) So he built an altar there to the Lord,^(W) who had appeared to him.

⁸From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel^(X) and pitched his tent,^(Y) with Bethel on the west and Ai^(Z) on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.^(AA)

⁹Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.^(AB)

Abram in Egypt^(AC)

¹⁰Now there was a famine in the land,^(AD) and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.^(AE) ¹¹As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai,^(AF) “I know what a beautiful woman^(AG) you are. ¹²When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. ¹³Say you are my sister,^(AH) so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

¹⁴When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman.^(AI) ¹⁵And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. ¹⁶He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.^(AJ)

¹⁷But the Lord inflicted^(AK) serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household^(AL) because of Abram’s wife Sarai. ¹⁸So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?”^(AM) he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?^(AN) ¹⁹Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’^(AO) so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” ²⁰Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

Footnotes

Genesis 12:2 Or be seen as blessed
Genesis 12:3 Or earth / will use your name in blessings (see 48:20)
Genesis 12:7 Or seed

Cross references

Genesis 15 New International Version

The Lord’s Covenant With Abram

15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram^(A) in a vision:^(B)

“Do not be afraid,^(C) Abram.
I am your shield,^[a]^(D)
your very great reward.^[b]^(E)”

²But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,^(F) what can you give me since I remain childless^(G) and the one who will inherit^[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?^(H)” ³And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant^(I) in my household^(J) will be my heir.”

⁴Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.^(K)” ⁵He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars^(L)—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring^[d] be.”^(M)

⁶Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.^(N)

⁷He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out^(O) of Ur of the Chaldeans^(P) to give you this land to take possession of it.”^(Q)

⁸But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,^(R) how can I know^(S) that I will gain possession of it?”^(T)

⁹So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer,^(U) a goat and a ram, each three years old,^(V) along with a dove and a young pigeon.^(W)”

¹⁰Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other;^(X) the birds, however, he did not cut in half.^(Y) ¹¹Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses,^(Z) but Abram drove them away.

¹²As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep,^(AA) and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. ¹³Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years^(AB) your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved^(AC) and mistreated there. ¹⁴But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out^(AD) with great possessions.^(AE) ¹⁵You, however, will go to your ancestors^(AF) in peace and be buried at a good old age.^(AG) ¹⁶In the fourth generation^(AH) your descendants will come back here,^(AI) for the sin of the Amorites^(AJ) has not yet reached its full measure.”

¹⁷When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch^(AK) appeared and passed between the pieces.^(AL) ¹⁸On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram^(AM) and said, “To your descendants I give this land,^(AN) from the Wadi^[e] of Egypt^(AO) to the great river, the Euphrates^(AP)— ¹⁹the land of the Kenites,^(AQ) Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰Hittites,^(AR) Perizzites,^(AS) Rephaites,^(AT) ²¹Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”^(AU)

Footnotes

Genesis 15:1 Or sovereign
Genesis 15:1 Or shield; / your reward will be very great
Genesis 15:2 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
Genesis 15:5 Or seed
Genesis 15:18 Or river

Cross references

Genesis 17 New International Version

The Covenant of Circumcision

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old,^(A) the Lord appeared to him^(B) and said, “I am God Almighty^[a];^(C) walk before me faithfully and be blameless.^(D) ²Then I will make my covenant between me and you^(E) and will greatly increase your numbers.”^(F)

³Abram fell facedown,^(G) and God said to him, ⁴“As for me, this is my covenant with you:^(H) You will be the father of many nations.^(I) ⁵No longer will you be called Abram^[b]; your name will be Abraham,^[c]^(J) for I have made you a father of many nations.^(K) ⁶I will make you very fruitful;^(L) I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.^(M) ⁷I will establish my covenant^(N) as an everlasting covenant^(O) between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God^(P) and the God of your descendants after you.^(Q) ⁸The whole land of Canaan,^(R) where you now reside as a foreigner,^(S) I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you;^(T) and I will be their God.^(U)”

⁹Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant,^(V) you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.^(W) ¹⁰This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.^(X) ¹¹You are to undergo circumcision,^(Y) and it will be the sign of the covenant^(Z) between me and you. ¹²For the generations to come^(AA) every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised,^(AB) including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. ¹³Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised.^(AC) My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.^(AD) ¹⁴Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised^(AE) in the flesh, will be cut off from his people;^(AF) he has broken my covenant.^(AG)”

¹⁵God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai^(AH) your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.^(AI) ¹⁶I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.^(AJ) I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations;^(AK) kings of peoples will come from her.”

¹⁷Abraham fell facedown;^(AL) he laughed^(AM) and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old?^(AN) Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”^(AO) ¹⁸And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael^(AP) might live under your blessing!”^(AQ)

¹⁹Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son,^(AR) and you will call him Isaac.^[d]^(AS) I will establish my covenant with him^(AT) as an everlasting covenant^(AU) for his descendants after him. ²⁰And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers.^(AV) He will be the father of twelve rulers,^(AW) and I will make him into a great nation.^(AX) ²¹But my covenant^(AY) I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you^(AZ) by this time next year.”^(BA) ²²When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.^(BB)

²³On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household^(BC) or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.^(BD) ²⁴Abraham was ninety-nine years old^(BE) when he was circumcised,^(BF) ²⁵and his son Ishmael^(BG) was thirteen; ²⁶Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. ²⁷And every male in Abraham’s household^(BH), including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.