Genesis 13
13
Abram and Lot Separate
1Abram left Egypt with his wife and everything he had and went to the Negev. Lot was with him. 2Abram was very rich because he had livestock, silver, and gold. 3He traveled from place to place. He went from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the area between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been originally, 4where he had first made an altar. There Abram worshiped the Lord.
5Lot, who had been traveling with Abram, also had his own sheep, cattle, and tents. 6There wasn’t enough pastureland for both of them. They had so many possessions that they were unable to remain together. 7Quarrels broke out between Abram’s herders and Lot’s herders. (Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in that area.)
8Abram said to Lot, “Please, let’s not have any more quarrels between us or between our herders. After all, we’re relatives. 9Isn’t all this land yours also? Let’s separate. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right, and if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” 10Then Lot looked in the direction of Zoar as far as he could see. He saw that the whole Jordan Plain was well-watered like the Lord’s garden or like Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
11Lot chose the whole Jordan Plain for himself. He moved toward the east. They each went their own way. 12Abram lived in Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain, moving his tents as far as Sodom. 13(The people who lived in Sodom were very wicked. They committed terrible sins against the Lord.)
The LORD’s Third Promise to Abram
14After Lot left, the Lord said to Abram, “Look north, south, east, and west of where you are. 15I will give all the land you see to you and to your descendants for an indefinite period of time. 16I will also give you as many descendants as the dust of the earth. If anyone could count the dust of the earth, then he could also count your descendants. 17Go! Walk back and forth across the entire land because I will give it to you.” 18So Abram moved his tents and went to live by the oak trees belonging to Mamre at Hebron. There he built an altar for the Lord.
GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Genesis 13
13
1 SO ABRAM went up out of Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South [country of Judah, the Negeb].
2 Now Abram was extremely rich in livestock and in silver and in gold.
3 And he journeyed on from the South [country of Judah, the Negeb] as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
4 Where he had built an altar at first; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. [Gal. 3:6-9.]
5 But Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.
6 Now the land was not able to nourish and support them so they could dwell together, for their possessions were too great for them to live together.
7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land [making fodder more difficult to obtain].
8 So Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife, I beg of you, between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are relatives.
9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself, I beg of you, from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you choose the right hand, then I will go to the left.
10 And Lot looked and saw that everywhere the Jordan Valley was well watered. Before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, [it was all] like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar.
11 Then Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley and [he] traveled east. So they separated.
12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the [Jordan] Valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom and dwelt there.
13 But the men of Sodom were wicked and exceedingly great sinners against the Lord.
14 The Lord said to Abram after Lot had left him, Lift up now your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;
15 For all the land which you see I will give to you and to your posterity forever. [Acts 7:5.]
16 And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if a man could count the dust of the earth, then could your descendants also be counted. [Gen. 28:14.]
17 Arise, walk through the land, the length of it and the breadth of it, for I will give it to you.
18 Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt among the oaks or terebinths of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and built there an altar to the Lord.
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