Genesis 14
14
Abram Rescues Lot
1#Ge 10:10; 10:22In the days that Amraphel was king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goyim, 2#Ge 13:10; 10:19they made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3#Nu 34:12; Dt 3:17All these were joined together in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea). 4For twelve years they had served Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
5#Ge 15:20; Dt 1:4In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, and the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 6#Dt 2:22; Ge 21:21; Dt 2:12and the Horites in their hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness. 7#2Ch 20:2; Ge 16:14Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and conquered all the country of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who lived in Hazezon Tamar.
8#Ge 13:10; 19:20Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out, and they joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim 9against Kedorlaomer, the king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10#Ge 19:17; 19:30Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell in them, and the rest fled to the hill country. 11#Ge 14:16; 14:21Then they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and departed. 12#Ge 11:27; 12:5They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who lived in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.
13#Ge 13:18; 14:24; 40:15Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living near the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshkol and Aner, and these were allies with Abram. 14#Ge 15:3; Jdg 18:29When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants born in his own house, and pursued them as far as Dan. 15During the night he divided his men to attack them and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. 16#Ge 14:11–12; 1Sa 30:8He brought back all the possessions, along with his relative Lot and his possessions, and also the women and the people.
Melchizedek Blesses Abram
17#2Sa 18:18After his return from the defeat of Kedorlaomer and the kings who had joined with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
18#Ps 110:4; Heb 5:6; 5:10Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God Most High. 19#Ge 14:22; Mt 11:25And he blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator#Heb. a hundred qesitahs; a qesitah was a coin of unknown weight and value. of heaven and earth;
20#Ge 28:22; 24:27 and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
21The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and take the goods for yourself.”
22#Ex 6:8; Da 12:7But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted up my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, 23#2Ki 5:16; Est 9:15–16that I will take nothing that is yours, not a thread or a sandal strap; lest you say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ 24I will accept only that which my men have eaten and the portion that belongs to the men who went with me, Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion.”
Military Bible Association
Genesis 14
14
1-2Then this: Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim went off to war to fight Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar.
3-4This second group of kings, the attacked, came together at the Valley of Siddim, that is, the Salt Sea. They had been under the thumb of Kedorlaomer for twelve years. In the thirteenth year, they revolted.
5-7In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him set out and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El Paran on the far edge of the desert. On their way back they stopped at En Mishpat, that is, Kadesh, and conquered the whole region of the Amalekites as well as that of the Amorites who lived in Hazazon Tamar.
8-9That’s when the king of Sodom marched out with the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar. They drew up in battle formation against their enemies in the Valley of Siddim—against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five.
10-12The Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into the tar pits, but the rest escaped into the mountains. The four kings captured all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, all their food and equipment, and went on their way. They captured Lot, Abram’s nephew who was living in Sodom at the time, taking everything he owned with them.
13-16A fugitive came and reported to Abram the Hebrew. Abram was living at the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and Aner. They were allies of Abram. When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken prisoner, he lined up his servants, all of them born in his household—there were 318 of them—and chased after the captors all the way to Dan. Abram and his men split into small groups and attacked by night. They chased them as far as Hobah, just north of Damascus. They recovered all the plunder along with nephew Lot and his possessions, including the women and the people.
17-20After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and his allied kings, the king of Sodom came out to greet him in the Valley of Shaveh, the King’s Valley. Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine—he was priest of The High God—and blessed him:
Blessed be Abram by The High God,
Creator of Heaven and Earth.
And blessed be The High God,
who handed your enemies over to you.
Abram gave him a tenth of all the recovered plunder.
21The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me back the people but keep all the plunder for yourself.”
22-24But Abram told the king of Sodom, “I swear to God, The High God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, this solemn oath, that I’ll take nothing from you, not so much as a thread or a shoestring. I’m not going to have you go around saying, ‘I made Abram rich.’ Nothing for me other than what the young men ate and the share of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; they’re to get their share of the plunder.”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.