Genesis 13

Abram and Lot

1So Abram went up from Egypt to the #13:1 I.e., South countryNegev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him.

2Now Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. 3And he went #13:3 Lit by his stageson his journeys from the #13:3 I.e., South countryNegev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4to the place of the altar which he had made there previously; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. 5Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents. 6And the land could not #13:6 Lit bearsupport both of them #13:6 Lit to livewhile living together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together. 7And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.

8So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are relatives! 9Is the entire land not before you? Please separate from me; if you choose the left, then I will go to the right; or if you choose the right, then I will go to the left.” 10Lot raised his eyes and saw all the #13:10 Lit circlevicinity of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt #13:10 Lit as you gogoing toward Zoar. 11So Lot chose for himself all the #13:11 Lit circlevicinity of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. So they separated from each other. 12Abram #13:12 Lit dweltsettled in the land of Canaan, while Lot #13:12 Lit dweltsettled in the cities of the #13:12 Lit circlevicinity of the Jordan, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. 13Now the men of Sodom were #13:13 Lit wicked and sinners exceedinglyexceedingly wicked sinners against the Lord.

14The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Now raise your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward, and eastward and westward; 15for all the land which you see I will give to you and to your #13:15 Lit seeddescendants forever. 16I will make your #13:16 Lit seeddescendants as plentiful as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can count the dust of the earth, then your #13:16 Lit seeddescendants could also be counted. 17Arise, walk about in the land through its length and width; for I will give it to you.” 18Then Abram moved his tent and came and lived by the #13:18 Or terebinthsoaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron; and there he built an altar to the Lord.

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Genesis 13

Abram and his nephew Lot split up

1So Abram, Sarai, and Lot left Egypt and went back to the dry desert country. They took everything they owned, and all their workers. 2Abram was a very rich man. He had a lot of silver and gold, and a big mob of animals.

3They were in that dry desert country for a while, then they went north from place to place until they got back to the town called Bethel. They camped in the same place that they camped at before. It was between Bethel and the town called Ayi. 4That was the place where Abram built a special stone table to burn animals, to show respect to God. After Abram got back there, he prayed to God, and he called God by his special name Yahweh.

5Abram and his nephew Lot were still together. And Lot also had a big mob of sheep, and goats, and cows, and bulls. And he had a lot of tents for all his workers too. 6-7But there was a problem. There were other people already living in that country. They were called the Canaan mob, and the Periz mob. And they had animals too, and all those animals needed grass and water, as well as Abram’s animals, and Lot’s animals too. But there wasn’t enough grass and water in that place for all those animals. So Abram’s work-men and Lot’s work-men started to argue and fight with each other about whose animals got the grass and water. 8Then Abram said to Lot, “I don’t like this trouble. You and me, we are family, and I don’t want trouble between us. And I don’t want our work-men to argue and fight with each other. 9Look, there is a lot of country here. Just look around, and you will see that there’s plenty of country for both of us. So I reckon we have to split up. I want you to pick the part of the country you want, and then I will go somewhere else. If you pick the country to the east, then I will go to the country to the west, but if you pick the west country, then I will go to the east country.”

10Lot looked to the east, towards a town called Zoar, in the flat country around the Jordan River. He saw that the flat country had plenty of grass and water. It looked just like God’s garden, and like the country in Egypt. (That was before God burned up the towns in the flat country called Sodom and Gomorrah.#Genesis 19:24) 11-12So Lot picked the flat country around the Jordan River, to the east.

Then Abram did what he promised, and he went to the country called Canaan. In that way, Lot’s mob and Abram’s mob went to different places, and there was no more trouble between their work-men.

Lot went to the flat country around the Jordan River. There were some towns there, and Lot camped near the town called Sodom. 13The people that lived in Sodom were very bad. They were always going against God, and they did bad things all the time.

God made a promise to Abram

14Then, after Lot left, God said to Abram, “Look at all the country around you. Look to the north, and to the south, and to the east, and to the west. 15I will give you all the country that you can see. Later on, you will have a son and lots of people will be born into his family, and they will own all this country, for ever.#Acts 7:5 16Look at the ground you are standing on, it has lots of little bits of dirt. Nobody can count all those little bits of dirt on the ground, and just like that, nobody will be able to count all the people that will be in your family later on. 17All right, Abram, I want you to get up and walk all around the country that I’m giving you, and look at it all properly.”

18So Abram went to the big trees that belonged to a man called Mamreh, near a town called Hebron, and he camped there. He piled up stones there and made another special table with a flat top, so that he could burn animals to show respect to God.

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