Genesis 12
12
The Call of Abram
1The Lord said to Abram:
Go from your land,
your relatives,
and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.#Gn 15:7; Ac 7:3; Heb 11:8
2I will make you into a great nation,#Gn 17:4–6; 18:18; 46:3; Dt 26:5
I will bless you,#Gn 22:17
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.#Zch 8:13
3I will bless those who bless you,
I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt,#Gn 27:29; Nm 24:9
and all the peoples on earth
will be blessed#12:3 Or will find blessing through you.#12:3 Or will bless themselves by you#Gn 18:18; 26:4; 28:14; Ac 3:25; Gl 3:8
4So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.#Gn 11:27,31 5He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem,#Gn 35:4; Dt 11:30; Heb 11:9 at the oak of Moreh. (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) 7The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring#12:7 Lit seed#Gn 13:15; Ex 33:1; Ps 105:9–12; Ac 7:5; Gl 3:16 I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 8From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to the Lord there, and he called on the name of the Lord.#Gn 4:26; 21:33 9Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev.
Abram in Egypt
10There was a famine in the land,#Gn 26:1; 43:1 so Abram went down to Egypt to stay there for a while because the famine in the land was severe. 11When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me but let you live.#Gn 20:1–18; 26:6–11 13Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.” 14When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s household. 16He treated Abram well because of her, and Abram acquired flocks and herds, male and female donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels.
17But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife, Sarai.#Gn 20:18; 1Ch 16:21; Ps 105:14 18So Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20Then Pharaoh gave his men orders about him, and they sent him away with his wife and all he had.
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Berĕshith (Genesis) 12
12
1And יהוה said to Aḇram, “Go yourself out of your land, from your relatives and from your father’s house, to a land which I show you.
2“And I shall make you a great nation, and bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing!
3“And I shall bless those who bless you, and curse him who curses you. And in you all the clans of the earth shall be blessed.”
4So Aḇram left, as יהוה had commanded him, and Lot went with him. And Aḇram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Ḥaran.
5And Aḇram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the beings whom they had acquired in Ḥaran, and they set out for the land of Kena‛an. And they came to the land of Kena‛an.
6And Aḇram passed through the land to the place of Sheḵem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. At that time the Kena‛anites were in the land.
7And יהוה appeared to Aḇram and said, “To your seed I give this land.” And he built there a slaughter-place to יהוה, who had appeared to him.
8And from there he moved to the mountain east of Bĕyth Ěl, and he pitched his tent, with Bĕyth Ěl on the west and Ai on the east. And he built there a slaughter-place to יהוה, and called on the Name of יהוה.
9And Aḇram set out, continuing toward the South.
10And a scarcity of food came to be in the land, and Aḇram went down to Mitsrayim to dwell there, for the scarcity of food was severe in the land.
11And it came to be, when he was close to entering Mitsrayim, that he said to Sarai his wife, “See, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at.
12“And it shall be, when the Mitsrites see you, that they shall say, ‘This is his wife.’ And they shall kill me, but let you live.
13“Please say you are my sister, so that it shall be well with me for your sake, and my life be spared because of you.”
14And it came to be, when Aḇram came into Mitsrayim, that the Mitsrites saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.
15And Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her before Pharaoh, and the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house.
16And he treated Aḇram well for her sake, and he had sheep, and cattle, and male donkeys, and male and female servants, and female donkeys, and camels.
17But יהוה plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Aḇram’s wife.
18And Pharaoh called Aḇram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not inform me that she was your wife?
19“Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? And so I was going to take her for my wife. Look, here is your wife, take her and go.”
20And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.
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