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
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.