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
The Call of Abram
1The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
4So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, 6Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites.
7Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.#12:7 Hebrew seed.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord. 9Then Abram continued traveling south by stages toward the Negev.
Abram and Sarai in Egypt
10At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner. 11As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, you are a very beautiful woman. 12When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife. Let’s kill him; then we can have her!’ 13So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.”
14And sure enough, when Abram arrived in Egypt, everyone noticed Sarai’s beauty. 15When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to Pharaoh, their king, and Sarai was taken into his palace. 16Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her—sheep, goats, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.
17But the Lord sent terrible plagues upon Pharaoh and his household because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18So Pharaoh summoned Abram and accused him sharply. “What have you done to me?” he demanded. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ and allow me to take her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and get out of here!” 20Pharaoh ordered some of his men to escort them, and he sent Abram out of the country, along with his wife and all his possessions.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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