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
Genesis 12
12
The Lord chooses Abram
1The LORD said to Abram:#Ac 7.2,3; He 11.8.
Leave your country, your family, and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you. 2I will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. You will become famous and be a blessing to others. 3I will bless anyone who blesses you, but I will put a curse on anyone who puts a curse on you. Everyone on earth will be blessed because of you.#12.3 Everyone…you: Or “Everyone on earth will ask me to bless them as I have blessed you.”#Ga 3.8.
4-5Abram was seventy-five years old when the LORD told him to leave the city of Haran. He obeyed and left with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and slaves they had got while in Haran.
When they came to the land of Canaan, 6Abram went as far as the sacred tree of Moreh in a place called Shechem. The Canaanites were still living in the land at that time, 7but the LORD appeared to Abram and promised, “I will give this land to your family for ever.” Abram then built an altar there for the LORD.#Ac 7.5; Ga 3.16.
8Abram travelled to the hill country east of Bethel and camped between Bethel and Ai, where he built another altar and worshipped the LORD. 9Later, Abram started out towards the Southern Desert.
Abram in Egypt
10-11The crops failed, and there was no food anywhere in the land. So Abram and his wife Sarai went to live in Egypt for a while. But just before they got there, he said, “Sarai, you are really beautiful! 12When the Egyptians see how lovely you are, they will murder me because I am your husband. But they won't kill you. 13Please save my life by saying that you are my sister.”#Gn 20.2; 26.7.
14As soon as Abram and Sarai arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians noticed how beautiful she was. 15The king's#12.15 the king's: The Hebrew text has “Pharaoh's”, a Hebrew word sometimes used for the king of Egypt. officials told him about her, and she was taken to his house. 16The king was good to Abram because of Sarai, and Abram was given sheep, cattle, donkeys, slaves, and camels.
17Because of Sarai, the LORD struck the king and everyone in his palace with terrible diseases. 18Finally, the king sent for Abram and said to him, “What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me Sarai was your wife? 19Why did you make me believe she was your sister? Now I've married her. Take her and go! She's your wife.”
20So the king told his men to let Abram and Sarai take their possessions and leave.
© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012