Genesis 12

1And Jehovah saith unto Abram, ‘Go for thyself, from thy land, and from thy kindred, and from the house of thy father, unto the land which I shew thee.

2And I make thee become a great nation, and bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing.

3And I bless those blessing thee, and him who is disesteeming thee I curse, and blessed in thee have been all families of the ground.’

4And Abram goeth on, as Jehovah hath spoken unto him, and Lot goeth with him, and Abram [is] a son of five and seventy years in his going out from Charan.

5And Abram taketh Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they have gained, and the persons that they have obtained in Charan; and they go out to go towards the land of Canaan; and they come in to the land of Canaan.

6And Abram passeth over into the land, unto the place Shechem, unto the oak of Moreh; and the Canaanite [is] then in the land.

7And Jehovah appeareth unto Abram, and saith, ‘To thy seed I give this land;’ and he buildeth there an altar to Jehovah, who hath appeared unto him.

8And he removeth from thence towards a mountain at the east of Beth-El, and stretcheth out the tent (Beth-El at the west, and Hai at the east), and he buildeth there an altar to Jehovah, and preacheth in the name of Jehovah.

9And Abram journeyeth, going on and journeying towards the south.

10And there is a famine in the land, and Abram goeth down towards Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine [is] grievous in the land;

11and it cometh to pass as he hath drawn near to enter Egypt, that he saith unto Sarai his wife, ‘Lo, I pray thee, I have known that thou [art] a woman of beautiful appearance;

12and it hath come to pass that the Egyptians see thee, and they have said, ‘This [is] his wife,’ and they have slain me, and thee they keep alive:

13say, I pray thee, thou [art] my sister, so that it is well with me because of thee, and my soul hath lived for thy sake.’

14And it cometh to pass, at the entering of Abram into Egypt, that the Egyptians see the woman that she [is] exceeding fair;

15and princes of Pharaoh see her, and praise her unto Pharaoh, and the woman is taken [to] Pharaoh's house;

16and to Abram he hath done good because of her, and he hath sheep and oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants, and handmaids, and she-asses, and camels.

17And Jehovah plagueth Pharaoh and his house — great plagues — for the matter of Sarai, Abram's wife.

18And Pharaoh calleth for Abram, and saith, ‘What [is] this thou hast done to me? why hast thou not declared to me that she [is] thy wife?

19Why hast thou said, She [is] my sister, and I take her to myself for a wife? and now, lo, thy wife, take and go.’

20And Pharaoh chargeth men concerning him, and they send him away, and his wife, an all that he hath.

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Genesis 12

God Calls Abram

1The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land I will show you.

2I will make you a great nation,

and I will bless you.

I will make you famous,

and you will be a blessing to others.

3I will bless those who bless you,

and I will place a curse on those who harm you.

And all the people on earth

will be blessed through you.”

4So Abram left Haran as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. At this time Abram was 75 years old. 5He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and everything they owned, as well as all the servants they had gotten in Haran. They set out from Haran, planning to go to the land of Canaan, and in time they arrived there.

6Abram traveled through that land as far as the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. The Canaanites were living in the land at that time. 7The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8Then he traveled from Shechem to the mountain east of Bethel and set up his tent there. Bethel was to the west, and Ai was to the east. There Abram built another altar to the Lord and worshiped him. 9After this, he traveled on toward southern Canaan.

Abram Goes to Egypt

10At this time there was not much food in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live because there was so little food. 11Just before they arrived in Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know you are a very beautiful woman. 12When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This woman is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but let you live. 13Tell them you are my sister so that things will go well with me and I may be allowed to live because of you.”

14When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was very beautiful. 15The Egyptian officers saw her and told the king of Egypt how beautiful she was. They took her to the king’s palace, and 16the king was kind to Abram because he thought Abram was her brother. He gave Abram sheep, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

17But the Lord sent terrible diseases on the king and all the people in his house because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18So the king sent for Abram and said, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me Sarai was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’ so that I made her my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and leave!” 20Then the king commanded his men to make Abram leave Egypt; so Abram and his wife left with everything they owned.

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