Genesis 12
12
1For the Lord had said vnto Abram, Get thee out of thy countrey, and from thy kindred, and from thy fathers house vnto the land that I will shewe thee. 2And I will make of thee a great nation, and will blesse thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. 3I will also blesse them that blesse thee, and curse them that curse thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4So Abram departed, euen as ye Lord spake vnto him, and Lot went with him. (And Abram was seuentie and fiue yeere olde, when he departed out of Haran) 5Then Abram tooke Sarai his wife, and Lot his brothers sonne, and all their substance that they possessed, and the soules that they had gotten in Haran, and they departed, to goe to the land of Canaan: and to the land of Canaan they came. 6So Abram passed through the land vnto the place of Shechem, and vnto the plaine of Moreh (and the Canaanite was then in ye land) 7And the Lord appeared vnto Abram, and said, Vnto thy seede will I giue this land. And there builded he an altar vnto the Lord, which appeared vnto him. 8Afterward remouing thence vnto a moutaine Eastward from Beth-el, he pitched his tent hauing Beth-el on the Westside, and Haai on the East: and there he built an altar vnto the Lord, and called on the Name of the Lord. 9Againe Abram went forth going and iourneying toward the South. 10Then there came a famine in the land: therefore Abram went downe into Egypt to soiourne there: for there was a great famine in the lande. 11And when he drewe neere to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, Beholde nowe, I know that thou art a faire woman to looke vpon: 12Therefore it will come to passe, that when the Egyptians see thee, they will say, She is his wife: so will they kill me, but they will keepe thee aliue. 13Say, I pray thee, that thou art my sister, that I may fare well for thy sake, and that my life may be preserued by thee. 14Nowe when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians behelde the woman: for she was very faire. 15And the Princes of Pharaoh sawe her, and commended her vnto Pharaoh: so the woman was taken into Pharaohs house: 16Who intreated Abram well for her sake, and he had sheepe, and beeues, and hee asses, and men seruants and maide seruants, and shee asses, and camelles. 17But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues, because of Sarai Abrams wife. 18Then Pharaoh called Abram, and saide, Why hast thou done this vnto me? Wherefore diddest thou not tell me, that she was thy wife? 19Why saidest thou, She is my sister, that I should take her to be my wife? Nowe therefore beholde thy wife, take her and goe thy way. 20And Pharaoh gaue men commandement concerning him: and they conueyed him forth, and his wife, and all that he had.
PUBLIC DOMAIN
Genesis 12
12
God Calls Abram
1The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country and your people. Leave your father’s family and go to the country that I will show you.
2I will build a great nation from you.
I will bless you
and make your name famous.
People will use your name
to bless other people.
3I will bless those who bless you,
and I will curse those who curse you.
I will use you to bless
all the people on earth.”
Abram Goes to Canaan
4So Abram left Haran just like the Lord said, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. 5He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the slaves, and all the other things he had gotten in Haran. Then he and his group moved to the land of Canaan. 6Abram traveled through the land as far as the town of Shechem and then to the big tree at Moreh. The Canaanites were living in the land at that time.
7The Lord appeared#12:7 The Lord appeared God often used special shapes so that people could see him. Sometimes he was like a man, an angel, a fire, or a bright light. to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.”
Abram built an altar to honor the Lord who appeared to him there. 8Then he left that place and traveled to the mountains east of Bethel. He set up his tent there. Bethel was to the west, and Ai#12:8 Ai The name of this town means “the ruins.” was to the east. Abram built another altar at that place to honor the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord there. 9Then he moved on toward the Negev, stopping for a time at several places on the way.
Abram in Egypt
10During this time there was not enough food in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live. 11Just before they arrived in Egypt, Abram told Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a very beautiful woman. 12When the Egyptian men see you, they will say, ‘This woman is his wife.’ Then they will kill me and keep you alive because they want you. 13So tell them that you are my sister. Then they will be good to me because of you. In this way you will save my life.”
14So when Abram went into Egypt, the Egyptian men saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. 15Even some of Pharaoh’s officials noticed her and told Pharaoh how beautiful she was. So they took her to Pharaoh’s house. 16Pharaoh was kind to Abram because he thought Abram was Sarai’s brother. He gave Abram sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and men and women servants.
17Pharaoh took Abram’s wife, so the Lord caused Pharaoh and all the people in his house to have very bad diseases. 18Pharaoh called Abram and said to him, “You have done a very bad thing to me! Why didn’t you tell me Sarai was your wife? 19You said, ‘She is my sister.’ Why did you say that? I took her so that she could be my wife, but now I give your wife back to you. Take her and go!” 20Then Pharaoh commanded his men to lead Abram out of Egypt. So Abram and his wife left that place and took everything they had with them.
© 1987, 2004 Bible League International