3:3 These were the nations: ¹  the five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo-Hamath. ²  3:4 They were left to test Israel, so the Lord would know if his people would obey the commands he gave their ancestors through Moses. ³ 

13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev. ¹  He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot. ²  13:2 (Now Abram was very wealthy ³  in livestock, silver, and gold.) ⁴ 

13:3 And he journeyed from place to place ⁵  from the Negev as far as Bethel. ⁶  He returned ⁷  to the place where he had pitched his tent ⁸  at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai. 13:4 This was the place where he had first built the altar, ⁹  and there Abram worshiped the Lord. ¹⁰ 

13:5 Now Lot, who was traveling ¹¹  with Abram, also had ¹²  flocks, herds, and tents. 13:6 But the land could ¹³  not support them while they were living side by side. ¹⁴  Because their possessions were so great, they were not able to live ¹⁵  alongside one another. 13:7 So there were quarrels ¹⁶  between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen. ¹⁷  (Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.) ¹⁸ 

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. ¹⁹  13:9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself now from me. If you go ²⁰  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 ²¹  the whole region ²²  of the Jordan. He noticed ²³  that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated ²⁴  Sodom and Gomorrah) ²⁵  like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, ²⁶  all the way to Zoar. 13:11 Lot chose for himself the whole region of the Jordan and traveled ²⁷  toward the east.

So the relatives separated from each other. ²⁸  13:12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled among the cities of the Jordan plain ²⁹  and pitched his tents next to Sodom. 13:13 (Now ³⁰  the people ³¹  of Sodom were extremely wicked rebels against the Lord.) ³² 

13:14 After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, ³³  “Look ³⁴  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 ³⁵  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. ³⁶  13:17 Get up and ³⁷  walk throughout ³⁸  the land, ³⁹  for I will give it to you.”

13:18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live ⁴⁰  by the oaks ⁴¹  of Mamre in Hebron, and he built an altar to the Lord there.

14:1 At that time ⁴²  Amraphel king of Shinar, ⁴³  Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations ⁴⁴  14:2 went to war ⁴⁵  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). ⁴⁶  14:3 These last five kings ⁴⁷  joined forces ⁴⁸  in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). ⁴⁹  14:4 For twelve years ⁵⁰  they had served Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year ⁵¹  they rebelled. ⁵²  14:5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who were his allies came and defeated ⁵³  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. ⁵⁴  14:7 Then they attacked En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh) again, ⁵⁵  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 ⁵⁶  14:9 Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, ⁵⁷  Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar. Four kings fought against ⁵⁸  five. 14:10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. ⁵⁹  When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into them, ⁶⁰  but some survivors ⁶¹  fled to the hills. ⁶²  14:11 The four victorious kings ⁶³  took all the possessions and food of Sodom and Gomorrah and left. 14:12 They also took Abram’s nephew ⁶⁴  Lot and his possessions when ⁶⁵  they left, for Lot ⁶⁶  was living in Sodom. ⁶⁷ 

14:13 A fugitive ⁶⁸  came and told Abram the Hebrew. ⁶⁹  Now Abram was living by the oaks ⁷⁰  of Mamre the Amorite, the brother ⁷¹  of Eshcol and Aner. (All these were allied by treaty ⁷²  with Abram.) ⁷³  14:14 When Abram heard that his nephew ⁷⁴  had been taken captive, he mobilized ⁷⁵  his 318 trained men who had been born in his household, and he pursued the invaders ⁷⁶  as far as Dan. ⁷⁷  14:15 Then, during the night, ⁷⁸  Abram ⁷⁹  divided his forces ⁸⁰  against them and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, which is north ⁸¹  of Damascus. 14:16 He retrieved all the stolen property. ⁸²  He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, as well as the women and the rest of ⁸³  the people.

14:17 After Abram ⁸⁴  returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet Abram ⁸⁵  in the Valley of Shaveh (known as the King’s Valley). ⁸⁶  14:18 Melchizedek king of Salem ⁸⁷  brought out bread and wine. (Now he was the priest of the Most High God.) ⁸⁸  14:19 He blessed Abram, saying,

“Blessed be Abram by ⁸⁹  the Most High God,

Creator ⁹⁰  of heaven and earth. ⁹¹ 

14:20 Worthy of praise is ⁹²  the Most High God,

who delivered ⁹³  your enemies into your hand.”

Abram gave Melchizedek ⁹⁴  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 ⁹⁵  to the Lord, the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth, and vow ⁹⁶  14:23 that I will take nothing ⁹⁷  belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal. That way you can never say, ‘It is I ⁹⁸  who made Abram rich.’ 14:24 I will take nothing ⁹⁹  except compensation for what the young men have eaten. ¹⁰⁰  As for the share of the men who went with me – Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre – let them take their share.”

15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield ¹⁰¹  and the one who will reward you in great abundance.” ¹⁰² 

15:2 But Abram said, “O sovereign Lord, ¹⁰³  what will you give me since ¹⁰⁴  I continue to be ¹⁰⁵  childless, and my heir ¹⁰⁶  is ¹⁰⁷  Eliezer of Damascus?” ¹⁰⁸  15:3 Abram added, ¹⁰⁹  “Since ¹¹⁰  you have not given me a descendant, then look, one born in my house will be my heir!” ¹¹¹ 

15:4 But look, ¹¹²  the word of the Lord came to him: “This man ¹¹³  will not be your heir, ¹¹⁴  but instead ¹¹⁵  a son ¹¹⁶  who comes from your own body will be ¹¹⁷  your heir.” ¹¹⁸  15:5 The Lord ¹¹⁹  took him outside and said, “Gaze into the sky and count the stars – if you are able to count them!” Then he said to him, “So will your descendants be.”

15:6 Abram believed ¹²⁰  the Lord, and the Lord ¹²¹  considered his response of faith ¹²²  as proof of genuine loyalty. ¹²³ 

15:7 The Lord said ¹²⁴  to him, “I am the Lord ¹²⁵  who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans ¹²⁶  to give you this land to possess.” 15:8 But ¹²⁷  Abram ¹²⁸  said, “O sovereign Lord, ¹²⁹  by what ¹³⁰  can I know that I am to possess it?”

15:9 The Lord ¹³¹  said to him, “Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” 15:10 So Abram ¹³²  took all these for him and then cut them in two ¹³³  and placed each half opposite the other, ¹³⁴  but he did not cut the birds in half. 15:11 When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

15:12 When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, ¹³⁵  and great terror overwhelmed him. ¹³⁶  15:13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain ¹³⁷  that your descendants will be strangers ¹³⁸  in a foreign country. ¹³⁹  They will be enslaved and oppressed ¹⁴⁰  for four hundred years. 15:14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. ¹⁴¹  Afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15:15 But as for you, ¹⁴²  you will go to your ancestors ¹⁴³  in peace and be buried at a good old age. ¹⁴⁴  15:16 In the fourth generation ¹⁴⁵  your descendants ¹⁴⁶  will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.” ¹⁴⁷ 

15:17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch ¹⁴⁸  passed between the animal parts. ¹⁴⁹  15:18 That day the Lord made a covenant ¹⁵⁰  with Abram: “To your descendants I give ¹⁵¹  this land, from the river of Egypt ¹⁵²  to the great river, the Euphrates River – 15:19 the land ¹⁵³  of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 15:20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 15:21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.” ¹⁵⁴ 

16:1 Now Sarai, ¹⁵⁵  Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, ¹⁵⁶  but she had an Egyptian servant ¹⁵⁷  named Hagar. ¹⁵⁸  16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since ¹⁵⁹  the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with ¹⁶⁰  my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” ¹⁶¹  Abram did what ¹⁶²  Sarai told him.

16:3 So after Abram had lived ¹⁶³  in Canaan for ten years, Sarai, Abram’s wife, gave Hagar, her Egyptian servant, ¹⁶⁴  to her husband to be his wife. ¹⁶⁵  16:4 He had sexual relations with ¹⁶⁶  Hagar, and she became pregnant. ¹⁶⁷  Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despised Sarai. ¹⁶⁸  16:5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You have brought this wrong on me! ¹⁶⁹  I allowed my servant to have sexual relations with you, ¹⁷⁰  but when she realized ¹⁷¹  that she was pregnant, she despised me. ¹⁷²  May the Lord judge between you and me!” ¹⁷³ 

16:6 Abram said to Sarai, “Since your ¹⁷⁴  servant is under your authority, ¹⁷⁵  do to her whatever you think best.” ¹⁷⁶  Then Sarai treated Hagar ¹⁷⁷  harshly, ¹⁷⁸  so she ran away from Sarai. ¹⁷⁹ 

16:7 The Lord’s angel ¹⁸⁰  found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert – the spring that is along the road to Shur. ¹⁸¹  16:8 He said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She replied, “I’m running away from ¹⁸²  my mistress, Sarai.”

16:9 Then the Lord’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit ¹⁸³  to her authority. 16:10 I will greatly multiply your descendants,” the Lord’s angel added, ¹⁸⁴  “so that they will be too numerous to count.” ¹⁸⁵  16:11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her,

“You are now ¹⁸⁶  pregnant

and are about to give birth ¹⁸⁷  to a son.

You are to name him Ishmael, ¹⁸⁸ 

for the Lord has heard your painful groans. ¹⁸⁹ 

16:12 He will be a wild donkey ¹⁹⁰  of a man.

He will be hostile to everyone, ¹⁹¹ 

and everyone will be hostile to him. ¹⁹² 

He will live away from ¹⁹³  his brothers.”

16:13 So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” ¹⁹⁴  for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” ¹⁹⁵  16:14 That is why the well was called ¹⁹⁶  Beer Lahai Roi. ¹⁹⁷  (It is located ¹⁹⁸  between Kadesh and Bered.)

16:15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, whom Abram named Ishmael. ¹⁹⁹  16:16 (Now ²⁰⁰  Abram was 86 years old ²⁰¹  when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.) ²⁰²