Genesis 12
12
The Call of Abram
1#Heb 11:8; Ge 15:7Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, your family, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
2#Ge 18:18; Dt 26:5; Ge 15:5 I will make of you a great nation;
I will bless you
and make your name great,
so that you will be a blessing.
3#Ge 22:18; 26:4; 27:29 I will bless them who bless you
and curse him who curses you,#From the Septuagint, a cloak with long sleeves, a full-length cloak, or an embroidered cloak, showing favoritism.
and in you all families of the earth
will be blessed.”
4#Ge 11:27; 11:31So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Harran. 5#Ge 14:14; 11:31Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had accumulated, and the people that they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. They came to the land of Canaan.
6#Dt 11:30; Ge 35:4Then Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. The Canaanites were in the land at that time. 7#Ge 13:15; 17:1The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
8#Ge 4:26; Ne 11:31From there he continued on to a mountain to the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. 9#Ge 13:3; 24:62Then Abram continued his journey toward the Negev.
Abram in Egypt
Ge 20:1–18; 26:1–11
10#Ge 43:1Now there was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11#Ge 26:7; 29:17When he was getting near to Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know you are a beautiful woman. 12#Ge 20:11; 26:7Therefore, when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will then kill me, but they will let you live. 13#Ge 20:2; 26:7Say you are my sister so that I may be treated well for your sake. Then my life will be spared because of you.”
14So when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was very beautiful. 15#Ge 20:2The princes of Pharaoh saw her and commended her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16#Ge 13:2; 20:14He treated Abram well for her sake and he had sheep and livestock, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.
17#1Ch 16:21; Ge 20:18But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Abram’s wife, Sarai. 18#Ge 20:9–10So Pharaoh called Abram, and said, “What have you done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now here is your wife; take her and leave.” 20Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.
Military Bible Association
Genesis 12
12
1And Jehovah had said to Abram, Go out of thy land, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, to the land that I will shew thee. 2And I will make of thee a great nation, and bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. 3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
4And Abram departed as Jehovah had said to him. And Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had acquired, and the souls that they had obtained in Haran, and they went out to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
6And Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. 7And Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land. And there he built an altar to Jehovah who had appeared to him. 8And he removed thence towards the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel toward the west, and Ai toward the east; and there he built an altar to Jehovah, and called on the name of Jehovah. 9And Abram moved onward, going on still toward the south.
10And there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was grievous in the land. 11And it came to pass when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a woman fair to look upon. 12And it will come to pass when the Egyptians see thee, that they will say, She is his wife; and they will slay me, and save thee alive. 13Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister, that it may be well with me on thy account, and my soul may live because of thee.
14And it came to pass when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. 15And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. 16And he treated Abram well on her account; and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and bondmen, and bondwomen, and she-asses, and camels. 17And Jehovah plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife. 18And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this thou hast done to me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? 19Why didst thou say, She is my sister, so that I took her as my wife. And now, behold, there is thy wife: take her, and go away. 20And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.