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Genesis 12
Easy-to-Read Version
Genesis 12
Easy-to-Read Version
God Calls Abram
12 The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country and your people. Leave your father’s family and go to the country that I will show you.
2 I will build a great nation from you.
I will bless you
and make your name famous.
People will use your name
to bless other people.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and I will curse those who curse you.
I will use you to bless
all the people on earth.”
Abram Goes to Canaan
4 So Abram left Haran just like the Lord said, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the slaves, and all the other things he had gotten in Haran. Then he and his group moved to the land of Canaan. 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the town of Shechem and then to the big tree at Moreh. The Canaanites were living in the land at that time.
7 The Lord appeared[a] to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.”
Abram built an altar to honor the Lord who appeared to him there. 8 Then he left that place and traveled to the mountains east of Bethel. He set up his tent there. Bethel was to the west, and Ai[b] was to the east. Abram built another altar at that place to honor the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord there. 9 Then he moved on toward the Negev, stopping for a time at several places on the way.
Abram in Egypt
10 During this time there was not enough food in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live. 11 Just before they arrived in Egypt, Abram told Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a very beautiful woman. 12 When the Egyptian men see you, they will say, ‘This woman is his wife.’ Then they will kill me and keep you alive because they want you. 13 So tell them that you are my sister. Then they will be good to me because of you. In this way you will save my life.”
14 So when Abram went into Egypt, the Egyptian men saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. 15 Even some of Pharaoh’s officials noticed her and told Pharaoh how beautiful she was. So they took her to Pharaoh’s house. 16 Pharaoh was kind to Abram because he thought Abram was Sarai’s brother. He gave Abram sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and men and women servants.
17 Pharaoh took Abram’s wife, so the Lord caused Pharaoh and all the people in his house to have very bad diseases. 18 Pharaoh called Abram and said to him, “You have done a very bad thing to me! Why didn’t you tell me Sarai was your wife? 19 You said, ‘She is my sister.’ Why did you say that? I took her so that she could be my wife, but now I give your wife back to you. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh commanded his men to lead Abram out of Egypt. So Abram and his wife left that place and took everything they had with them.
Footnotes
- Genesis 12:7 The Lord appeared God often used special shapes so that people could see him. Sometimes he was like a man, an angel, a fire, or a bright light.
- Genesis 12:8 Ai The name of this town means “the ruins.”
Genesis 12
New International Version
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)
3 I 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]
4 So 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) 5 He 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.
6 Abram 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. 7 The 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.
8 From 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)
9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.(AB)
Abram in Egypt(AC)
10 Now 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) 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai,(AF) “I know what a beautiful woman(AG) you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister,(AH) so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman.(AI) 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.(AJ)
17 But the Lord inflicted(AK) serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household(AL) because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?”(AM) he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?(AN) 19 Why 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!” 20 Then 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
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
New International Version (NIV) 
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