1:7 so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation ¹  of our Lord Jesus Christ.

12:1 Now the Lord said ¹  to Abram, ² 

“Go out ³  from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household

to the land that I will show you. ⁴ 

12:2 Then I will make you ⁵  into a great nation, and I will bless you, ⁶ 

and I will make your name great, ⁷ 

so that you will exemplify divine blessing. ⁸ 

12:3 I will bless those who bless you, ⁹ 

but the one who treats you lightly ¹⁰  I must curse,

and all the families of the earth will bless one another ¹¹  by your name.”

12:4 So Abram left, ¹²  just as the Lord had told him to do, ¹³  and Lot went with him. (Now ¹⁴  Abram was 75 years old ¹⁵  when he departed from Haran.) 12:5 And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew ¹⁶  Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired ¹⁷  in Haran, and they left for ¹⁸  the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan.

12:6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the oak tree ¹⁹  of Moreh ²⁰  at Shechem. ²¹  (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) ²²  12:7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants ²³  I will give this land.” So Abram ²⁴  built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

12:8 Then he moved from there to the hill country east of Bethel ²⁵  and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and worshiped the Lord. ²⁶  12:9 Abram continually journeyed by stages ²⁷  down to the Negev. ²⁸ 

12:10 There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt ²⁹  to stay for a while ³⁰  because the famine was severe. ³¹  12:11 As he approached ³²  Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, ³³  I know that you are a beautiful woman. ³⁴  12:12 When the Egyptians see you they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will keep you alive. ³⁵  12:13 So tell them ³⁶  you are my sister ³⁷  so that it may go well ³⁸  for me because of you and my life will be spared ³⁹  on account of you.”

12:14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 12:15 When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife ⁴⁰  was taken ⁴¹  into the household of Pharaoh, ⁴²  12:16 and he did treat Abram well ⁴³  on account of her. Abram received ⁴⁴  sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

12:17 But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe diseases ⁴⁵  because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 12:18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, “What is this ⁴⁶  you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? 12:19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her ⁴⁷  to be my wife? ⁴⁸  Here is your wife! ⁴⁹  Take her and go!” ⁵⁰  12:20 Pharaoh gave his men orders about Abram, ⁵¹  and so they expelled him, along with his wife and all his possessions.

13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev. ⁵²  He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot. ⁵³  13:2 (Now Abram was very wealthy ⁵⁴  in livestock, silver, and gold.) ⁵⁵ 

13:3 And he journeyed from place to place ⁵⁶  from the Negev as far as Bethel. ⁵⁷  He returned ⁵⁸  to the place where he had pitched his tent ⁵⁹  at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai. 13:4 This was the place where he had first built the altar, ⁶⁰  and there Abram worshiped the Lord. ⁶¹ 

13:5 Now Lot, who was traveling ⁶²  with Abram, also had ⁶³  flocks, herds, and tents. 13:6 But the land could ⁶⁴  not support them while they were living side by side. ⁶⁵  Because their possessions were so great, they were not able to live ⁶⁶  alongside one another. 13:7 So there were quarrels ⁶⁷  between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen. ⁶⁸  (Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.) ⁶⁹ 

13:8 Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no quarreling between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are close relatives. ⁷⁰  13:9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself now from me. If you go ⁷¹  to the left, then I’ll go to the right, but if you go to the right, then I’ll go to the left.”

13:10 Lot looked up and saw ⁷²  the whole region ⁷³  of the Jordan. He noticed ⁷⁴  that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated ⁷⁵  Sodom and Gomorrah) ⁷⁶  like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, ⁷⁷  all the way to Zoar. 13:11 Lot chose for himself the whole region of the Jordan and traveled ⁷⁸  toward the east.

So the relatives separated from each other. ⁷⁹  13:12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled among the cities of the Jordan plain ⁸⁰  and pitched his tents next to Sodom. 13:13 (Now ⁸¹  the people ⁸²  of Sodom were extremely wicked rebels against the Lord.) ⁸³ 

13:14 After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, ⁸⁴  “Look ⁸⁵  from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west. 13:15 I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants ⁸⁶  forever. 13:16 And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted. ⁸⁷  13:17 Get up and ⁸⁸  walk throughout ⁸⁹  the land, ⁹⁰  for I will give it to you.”

13:18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live ⁹¹  by the oaks ⁹²  of Mamre in Hebron, and he built an altar to the Lord there.

14:1 At that time ⁹³  Amraphel king of Shinar, ⁹⁴  Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations ⁹⁵  14:2 went to war ⁹⁶  against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). ⁹⁷  14:3 These last five kings ⁹⁸  joined forces ⁹⁹  in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). ¹⁰⁰  14:4 For twelve years ¹⁰¹  they had served Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year ¹⁰²  they rebelled. ¹⁰³  14:5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who were his allies came and defeated ¹⁰⁴  the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 14:6 and the Horites in their hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is near the desert. ¹⁰⁵  14:7 Then they attacked En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh) again, ¹⁰⁶  and they conquered all the territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar.

14:8 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 prepared for battle. In the Valley of Siddim they met ¹⁰⁷  14:9 Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, ¹⁰⁸  Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar. Four kings fought against ¹⁰⁹  five. 14:10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. ¹¹⁰  When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into them, ¹¹¹  but some survivors ¹¹²  fled to the hills. ¹¹³  14:11 The four victorious kings ¹¹⁴  took all the possessions and food of Sodom and Gomorrah and left. 14:12 They also took Abram’s nephew ¹¹⁵  Lot and his possessions when ¹¹⁶  they left, for Lot ¹¹⁷  was living in Sodom. ¹¹⁸ 

14:13 A fugitive ¹¹⁹  came and told Abram the Hebrew. ¹²⁰  Now Abram was living by the oaks ¹²¹  of Mamre the Amorite, the brother ¹²²  of Eshcol and Aner. (All these were allied by treaty ¹²³  with Abram.) ¹²⁴  14:14 When Abram heard that his nephew ¹²⁵  had been taken captive, he mobilized ¹²⁶  his 318 trained men who had been born in his household, and he pursued the invaders ¹²⁷  as far as Dan. ¹²⁸  14:15 Then, during the night, ¹²⁹  Abram ¹³⁰  divided his forces ¹³¹  against them and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, which is north ¹³²  of Damascus. 14:16 He retrieved all the stolen property. ¹³³  He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, as well as the women and the rest of ¹³⁴  the people.

14:17 After Abram ¹³⁵  returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet Abram ¹³⁶  in the Valley of Shaveh (known as the King’s Valley). ¹³⁷  14:18 Melchizedek king of Salem ¹³⁸  brought out bread and wine. (Now he was the priest of the Most High God.) ¹³⁹  14:19 He blessed Abram, saying,

“Blessed be Abram by ¹⁴⁰  the Most High God,

Creator ¹⁴¹  of heaven and earth. ¹⁴² 

14:20 Worthy of praise is ¹⁴³  the Most High God,

who delivered ¹⁴⁴  your enemies into your hand.”

Abram gave Melchizedek ¹⁴⁵  a tenth of everything.

14:21 Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and take the possessions for yourself.” 14:22 But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I raise my hand ¹⁴⁶  to the Lord, the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth, and vow ¹⁴⁷  14:23 that I will take nothing ¹⁴⁸  belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal. That way you can never say, ‘It is I ¹⁴⁹  who made Abram rich.’ 14:24 I will take nothing ¹⁵⁰  except compensation for what the young men have eaten. ¹⁵¹  As for the share of the men who went with me – Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre – let them take their share.”