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The Call of Abram

12 And Yahweh said to Abram, “Go out from your land and from your relatives, and from the house of your father, to the land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great. And you will be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you I will curse. And all families of the earth will be blessed in you.”

Abram’s Journey

And Abram went out as Yahweh had told him, and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old[a] when he went out from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his nephew,[b] and all their possessions that they had gathered, and all the persons that they had acquired in Haran, and they went out to go to the land of Canaan. And they went to the land of Canaan. And Abram traveled through the land up to the place of Shechem, to the Oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time. And Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” And he built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him. And he moved on from there to the hill country, east of Bethel. And he pitched his tent at Bethel on the west, and at Ai on the east. And he built an altar there to Yahweh. And he called on the name of Yahweh. And Abram kept moving on,[c] toward the Negev. 10 And there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down to Egypt to dwell as an alien there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 And it happened that as he drew near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “Look now, I know that you are a woman beautiful of appearance, 12 and it shall happen that, if the Egyptians see you, then they will say, ‘This is his wife,’ then they will kill me but let you live. 13 Please say you are my sister so that it will go well for me on your account. Then I will live[d] on account of you.” 14 And it happened that as Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. 15 And the officials of Pharaoh saw her, and they praised her beauty to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to the house of Pharaoh. 16 And he dealt well with Abram on account of her, and he had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. 17 Then[e] Yahweh afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues on account of the matter of Sarai the wife of Abram. 18 Then Pharaoh called for Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to myself as a wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go.” 20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and then sent him and his wife and all that was with him away.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 12:4 Literally “the son of five years and seventy years”
  2. Genesis 12:5 Literally “the son of his brother”
  3. Genesis 12:9 Literally “And Abram moved on, going and moving on”
  4. Genesis 12:13 Literally “And my soul will live”
  5. Genesis 12:17 Or “And”

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)

“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)
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]

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) 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.

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. 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.

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)

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

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