Bereshis 12
12
[LECH LECHA]
1Now Hashem had said unto Avram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from the bais avicha, unto ha'aretz that I will show thee;
2So that I will make of thee a goy gadol (great nation), so that I will bless thee, and make thy shem great; and so thou shalt be a brocha (blessing);
3And I will bless the one blessing you, and curse him that curses you; and kol mishpochot haadamah shall be blessed through you.#12:3 There is a brocha in this verse that many do not know but that every true follower of Moshiach should know.
4So Avram departed as Hashem had told him; and Lot went with him; and Avram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Charan.
5And Avram took Sarai his isha, and Lot his brotherʼs son, and all their possessions that they had amassed, and the nefesh that they had gotten in Charan; and they went forth to go into the land of Kena'an; and they arrived in the land of Kena'an.
6And Avram passed through the land unto the makom Shechem, unto Elon Moreh. And the Kena'ani was then in ha'aretz.
7And Hashem appeared unto Avram, and said, Unto thy zera will I give ha'aretz hazot: and there built he a Mizbe'ach unto Hashem, Who appeared unto him.
8And he removed from there unto the harah mikedem Beit-El, and pitched his tent, having Beit-El on the west, and Ai on the east; and there he built a Mizbe'ach unto Hashem, and called upon the Shem of Hashem.
9And Avram journeyed, going on still toward the Negev.
10And there was a ra'av in the land; and Avram went down into Mitzrayim to sojourn there; for the ra'av was severe in ha'aretz.
11And it came to pass, when he was about to enter into Mitzrayim, that he said unto Sarai his isha, Hinei now, I know that thou art an isha yafeh to look upon;
12Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his isha; and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.
13Say, now, thou art my achot; that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my nefesh shall live on account of thee.
14And it came to pass, that, when Avram was come into Mitzrayim, the Egyptians beheld the isha that she was yafeh me'od.
15The sarim of Pharaoh also saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh; and the isha was taken into Bais Pharaoh.
16And he treated Avram well for her sake: and he acquired sheep and oxen, and male donkeys, and avadim, and shfachot, and female donkeys, and camels.
17And Hashem plagued Pharaoh and his Bais with nega'im gedolim because of Sarai eshet Avram.
18And Pharaoh summoned Avram and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy isha?
19Why saidst thou, She is my achot? So I might have taken her to me to wife; now therefore, hinei, thy wife, take her, and go!
20And Pharaoh commanded his anashim concerning him; and they sent him away, and his isha, and all that he had.
THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Genesis 12
12
Abram and Sarai
1 God told Abram: “Leave your country, your family, and your father’s home for a land that I will show you.
2-3I’ll make you a great nation
and bless you.
I’ll make you famous;
you’ll be a blessing.
I’ll bless those who bless you;
those who curse you I’ll curse.
All the families of the Earth
will be blessed through you.”
4-6So Abram left just as God said, and Lot left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot with him, along with all the possessions and people they had gotten in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan and arrived safe and sound.
Abram passed through the country as far as Shechem and the Oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites occupied the land.
7 God appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your children.” Abram built an altar at the place God had appeared to him.
8He moved on from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent between Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar there and prayed to God.
9Abram kept moving, steadily making his way south, to the Negev.
10-13Then a famine came to the land. Abram went down to Egypt to live; it was a hard famine. As he drew near to Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai, “Look. We both know that you’re a beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you they’re going to say, ‘Aha! That’s his wife!’ and kill me. But they’ll let you live. Do me a favor: tell them you’re my sister. Because of you, they’ll welcome me and let me live.”
14-15When Abram arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians took one look and saw that his wife was stunningly beautiful. Pharaoh’s princes raved over her to Pharaoh. She was taken to live with Pharaoh.
16-17Because of her, Abram got along very well: he accumulated sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, men and women servants, and camels. But God hit Pharaoh hard because of Abram’s wife Sarai; everybody in the palace got seriously sick.
18-19Pharaoh called for Abram, “What’s this that you’ve done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she’s your wife? Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister’ so that I’d take her as my wife? Here’s your wife back—take her and get out!”
20Pharaoh ordered his men to get Abram out of the country. They sent him and his wife and everything he owned on their way.
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.