Genesis 12

CHAPTER 12

1Forsooth the Lord said to Abram, Go thou out of thy land, and of thy kindred, and of the house of thy father, and come thou into the land which I shall show to thee;

2and I shall make thee into a great folk, and I shall bless thee, and I shall magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed;

3I shall bless them that bless thee, and I shall curse them that curse thee; and all kindreds of [the] earth shall be blessed in thee.

4And so Abram went out, as the Lord commanded him, and Lot went with him. Abram was five and seventy years when he went out of Haran.

5And he took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, the son of his brother, and all the substance which they had in possession, and the men which they had begotten in Haran; and they went out that they should go into the land of Canaan. And when they came into it,

6Abram passed through the land till to the place of Shechem, and till to the noble valley. Forsooth Canaanite was then in the land.

7Soothly the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, I shall give this land to thy seed. And Abram built there an altar to the Lord, that appeared to him.

8And from thence he passed forth to the hill [or the mount of] Bethel, that was against the east, and setted there his tabernacle, having Bethel from the west, and Hai from the east. And he builded also there an altar to the Lord, and inwardly called his name.

9And Abram went going, and going forth over to the south.

10Soothly hunger was made in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt, to be a pilgrim there, for hunger had the mastery in the land.

11And when he was nigh to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai, his wife, I know that thou art a fair woman,

12and that when Egyptians shall see thee, they shall say, It is his wife, and they shall slay me, and keep thee.

13Therefore, I beseech thee, say that thou art my sister, that it be well to me for thee, and that my life live for the love of thee.

14And so when Abram had entered into Egypt, Egyptians saw the woman, that she was full fair;

15and the princes told to Pharaoh, and praised her with him; and the woman was taken up into the house of Pharaoh.

16Forsooth they used well Abram for her; and sheep, and oxen, and asses, and servants, and servantesses, and she-asses, and camels were given to him.

17Forsooth the Lord beat Pharaoh and his house with most vengeances for Sarai, the wife of Abram.

18And Pharaoh called Abram, and said to him, What is it that thou hast done to me? why showedest thou not to me that she was thy wife?

19for what cause saidest thou, that she was thy sister, that I should take her into wife to me? Now therefore lo! thy wife; take thou her, and go.

20And Pharaoh commanded to men on Abram, and they led forth him, and his wife, and all things that he had.

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Genesis 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.

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