Genesis 12
12
1 Then the Lord said to Abram: "Depart from your land, and from your kindred, and from your father's house, and come into the land that I will show you.
2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and magnify your name, and you will be blessed.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."
4 And so Abram departed just as the Lord had instructed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
5 And he took his wife Sarai, and Lot, the son of his brother, and all the substance which they had come to possess, and the lives which they had acquired in Haran, and they departed in order to go to the land of Canaan. And when they arrived in it,
6 Abram passed through the land even to the place of Shechem, as far as the famous steep valley. Now at that time, the Canaanite was in the land.
7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and he said to him, "To your offspring, I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
8 And passing on from there to a mountain, which was opposite the east of Bethel, he pitched his tent there, having Bethel to the west, and Hai on the east. He also built an altar there to the Lord, and he called upon his name.
9 And Abram traveled, going out and continuing further on, toward the south.
10 But a famine occurred in the land. And Abram descended to Egypt, to sojourn there. For famine prevailed over the land.
11 And when he was close to entering Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai: "I know you to be a beautiful woman.
12 And when the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'She is his wife.' And they will put me to death, and retain you.
13 Therefore, I beg you to say that you are my sister, so that it may be well with me because of you, and so that my soul may live by your favor."
14 And so, when Abram had arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was exceedingly beautiful.
15 And the princes reported it to Pharaoh, and they praised her to him. And the woman was inducted into the house of Pharaoh.
16 In truth, they treated Abram well because of her. And he had sheep and oxen and male donkeys, and men servants, and women servants, and female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the Lord scourged Pharaoh and his house with great wounds because of Sarai, the wife of Abram.
18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and he said to him: "What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me she was your wife?
19 For what reason did you claim her to be your sister, so that I would take her to me as a wife? Now therefore, behold your mate, receive her and go."
20 And Pharaoh instructed his men about Abram. And they led him away with his wife and all that he had.
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