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Genesis 12-15
The Message
Genesis 12-15
The Message
Abram and Sarai
12 God told Abram: “Leave your country, your family, and your father’s home for a land that I will show you.
2-3 I’ll make you a great nation
and bless you.
I’ll make you famous;
you’ll be a blessing.
I’ll bless those who bless you;
those who curse you I’ll curse.
All the families of the Earth
will be blessed through you.”
4-6 So Abram left just as God said, and Lot left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot with him, along with all the possessions and people they had gotten in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan and arrived safe and sound.
Abram passed through the country as far as Shechem and the Oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites occupied the land.
7 God appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your children.” Abram built an altar at the place God had appeared to him.
8 He moved on from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent between Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar there and prayed to God.
9 Abram kept moving, steadily making his way south, to the Negev.
10-13 Then a famine came to the land. Abram went down to Egypt to live; it was a hard famine. As he drew near to Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai, “Look. We both know that you’re a beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you they’re going to say, ‘Aha! That’s his wife!’ and kill me. But they’ll let you live. Do me a favor: tell them you’re my sister. Because of you, they’ll welcome me and let me live.”
14-15 When Abram arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians took one look and saw that his wife was stunningly beautiful. Pharaoh’s princes raved over her to Pharaoh. She was taken to live with Pharaoh.
16-17 Because of her, Abram got along very well: he accumulated sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, men and women servants, and camels. But God hit Pharaoh hard because of Abram’s wife Sarai; everybody in the palace got seriously sick.
18-19 Pharaoh called for Abram, “What’s this that you’ve done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she’s your wife? Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister’ so that I’d take her as my wife? Here’s your wife back—take her and get out!”
20 Pharaoh ordered his men to get Abram out of the country. They sent him and his wife and everything he owned on their way.
13 1-2 So Abram left Egypt and went back to the Negev, he and his wife and everything he owned, and Lot still with him. By now Abram was very rich, loaded with cattle and silver and gold.
3-4 He moved on from the Negev, camping along the way, to Bethel, the place he had first set up his tent between Bethel and Ai and built his first altar. Abram prayed there to God.
5-7 Lot, who was traveling with Abram, was also rich in sheep and cattle and tents. But the land couldn’t support both of them; they had too many possessions. They couldn’t both live there—quarrels broke out between Abram’s shepherds and Lot’s shepherds. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living on the land at the time.
8-9 Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have fighting between us, between your shepherds and my shepherds. After all, we’re family. Look around. Isn’t there plenty of land out there? Let’s separate. If you go left, I’ll go right; if you go right, I’ll go left.”
10-11 Lot looked. He saw the whole plain of the Jordan spread out, well watered (this was before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah), like God’s garden, like Egypt, and stretching all the way to Zoar. Lot took the whole plain of the Jordan. Lot set out to the east.
11-12 That’s how they came to part company, uncle and nephew. Abram settled in Canaan; Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent near Sodom.
13 The people of Sodom were evil—flagrant sinners against God.
14-17 After Lot separated from him, God said to Abram, “Open your eyes, look around. Look north, south, east, and west. Everything you see, the whole land spread out before you, I will give to you and your children forever. I’ll make your descendants like dust—counting your descendants will be as impossible as counting the dust of the Earth. So—on your feet, get moving! Walk through the country, its length and breadth; I’m giving it all to you.”
18 Abram moved his tent. He went and settled by the Oaks of Mamre in Hebron. There he built an altar to God.
* * *
14 1-2 Then this: Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim went off to war to fight Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar.
3-4 This second group of kings, the attacked, came together at the Valley of Siddim, that is, the Salt Sea. They had been under the thumb of Kedorlaomer for twelve years. In the thirteenth year, they revolted.
5-7 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him set out and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El Paran on the far edge of the desert. On their way back they stopped at En Mishpat, that is, Kadesh, and conquered the whole region of the Amalekites as well as that of the Amorites who lived in Hazazon Tamar.
8-9 That’s when the king of Sodom marched out with the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar. They drew up in battle formation against their enemies in the Valley of Siddim—against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five.
10-12 The Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into the tar pits, but the rest escaped into the mountains. The four kings captured all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, all their food and equipment, and went on their way. They captured Lot, Abram’s nephew who was living in Sodom at the time, taking everything he owned with them.
13-16 A fugitive came and reported to Abram the Hebrew. Abram was living at the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and Aner. They were allies of Abram. When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken prisoner, he lined up his servants, all of them born in his household—there were 318 of them—and chased after the captors all the way to Dan. Abram and his men split into small groups and attacked by night. They chased them as far as Hobah, just north of Damascus. They recovered all the plunder along with nephew Lot and his possessions, including the women and the people.
17-20 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and his allied kings, the king of Sodom came out to greet him in the Valley of Shaveh, the King’s Valley. Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine—he was priest of The High God—and blessed him:
Blessed be Abram by The High God,
Creator of Heaven and Earth.
And blessed be The High God,
who handed your enemies over to you.
Abram gave him a tenth of all the recovered plunder.
21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me back the people but keep all the plunder for yourself.”
22-24 But Abram told the king of Sodom, “I swear to God, The High God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, this solemn oath, that I’ll take nothing from you, not so much as a thread or a shoestring. I’m not going to have you go around saying, ‘I made Abram rich.’ Nothing for me other than what the young men ate and the share of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; they’re to get their share of the plunder.”
* * *
15 After all these things, this word of God came to Abram in a vision: “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I’m your shield. Your reward will be grand!”
2-3 Abram said, “God, Master, what use are your gifts as long as I’m childless and Eliezer of Damascus is going to inherit everything?” Abram continued, “See, you’ve given me no children, and now a mere house servant is going to get it all.”
4 Then God’s Message came: “Don’t worry, he won’t be your heir; a son from your body will be your heir.”
5 Then he took him outside and said, “Look at the sky. Count the stars. Can you do it? Count your descendants! You’re going to have a big family, Abram!”
6 And he believed! Believed God! God declared him “Set-Right-with-God.”
7 God continued, “I’m the same God who brought you from Ur of the Chaldees and gave you this land to own.”
8 Abram said, “Master God, how am I to know this, that it will all be mine?”
9 God said, “Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, and a dove and a young pigeon.”
10-12 He brought all these animals to him, split them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. But he didn’t split the birds. Vultures swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram scared them off. As the sun went down a deep sleep overcame Abram and then a sense of dread, dark and heavy.
13-16 God said to Abram, “Know this: your descendants will live as outsiders in a land not theirs; they’ll be enslaved and beaten down for 400 years. Then I’ll punish their slave masters; your offspring will march out of there loaded with plunder. But not you; you’ll have a long and full life and die a good and peaceful death. Not until the fourth generation will your descendants return here; sin is still a thriving business among the Amorites.”
17-21 When the sun was down and it was dark, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch moved between the split carcasses. That’s when God made a covenant with Abram: “I’m giving this land to your children, from the Nile River in Egypt to the River Euphrates in Assyria—the country of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
* * *
Genesis 12-15
New International Version
Genesis 12-15
New International Version
The Call of Abram
12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household(A) to the land(B) I will show you.(C)
2 “I will make you into a great nation,(D)
and I will bless you;(E)
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.[a](F)
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;(G)
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.(H)”[b]
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot(I) went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old(J) when he set out from Harran.(K) 5 He took his wife Sarai,(L) his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated(M) and the people(N) they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan,(O) and they arrived there.
6 Abram traveled through the land(P) as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh(Q) at Shechem.(R) At that time the Canaanites(S) were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram(T) and said, “To your offspring[c] I will give this land.(U)”(V) So he built an altar there to the Lord,(W) who had appeared to him.
8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel(X) and pitched his tent,(Y) with Bethel on the west and Ai(Z) on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.(AA)
9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.(AB)
Abram in Egypt(AC)
10 Now there was a famine in the land,(AD) and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.(AE) 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai,(AF) “I know what a beautiful woman(AG) you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister,(AH) so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman.(AI) 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.(AJ)
17 But the Lord inflicted(AK) serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household(AL) because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?”(AM) he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?(AN) 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’(AO) so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.
Abram and Lot Separate
13 So Abram went up from Egypt(AP) to the Negev,(AQ) with his wife and everything he had, and Lot(AR) went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy(AS) in livestock(AT) and in silver and gold.
3 From the Negev(AU) he went from place to place until he came to Bethel,(AV) to the place between Bethel and Ai(AW) where his tent had been earlier 4 and where he had first built an altar.(AX) There Abram called on the name of the Lord.(AY)
5 Now Lot,(AZ) who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together.(BA) 7 And quarreling(BB) arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites(BC) and Perizzites(BD) were also living in the land(BE) at that time.
8 So Abram said to Lot,(BF) “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me,(BG) or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives.(BH) 9 Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”(BI)
10 Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain(BJ) of the Jordan toward Zoar(BK) was well watered, like the garden of the Lord,(BL) like the land of Egypt.(BM) (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom(BN) and Gomorrah.)(BO) 11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan,(BP) while Lot(BQ) lived among the cities of the plain(BR) and pitched his tents near Sodom.(BS) 13 Now the people of Sodom(BT) were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.(BU)
14 The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west.(BV) 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring[d] forever.(BW) 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.(BX) 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land,(BY) for I am giving it to you.”(BZ)
18 So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre(CA) at Hebron,(CB) where he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the Lord.(CC)
Abram Rescues Lot
14 At the time when Amraphel was king of Shinar,[e](CD) Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer(CE) king of Elam(CF) and Tidal king of Goyim, 2 these kings went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim,(CG) and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).(CH) 3 All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim(CI) (that is, the Dead Sea Valley(CJ)). 4 For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer,(CK) but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer(CL) and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites(CM) in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites(CN) in Shaveh Kiriathaim 6 and the Horites(CO) in the hill country of Seir,(CP) as far as El Paran(CQ) near the desert. 7 Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh),(CR) and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites,(CS) as well as the Amorites(CT) who were living in Hazezon Tamar.(CU)
8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah,(CV) the king of Admah, the king of Zeboyim(CW) and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar)(CX) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim(CY) 9 against Kedorlaomer(CZ) king of Elam,(DA) Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim(DB) was full of tar(DC) pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah(DD) fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills.(DE) 11 The four kings seized all the goods(DF) of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. 12 They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot(DG) and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.
13 A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew.(DH) Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre(DI) the Amorite, a brother[f] of Eshkol(DJ) and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his relative(DK) had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained(DL) men born in his household(DM) and went in pursuit as far as Dan.(DN) 15 During the night Abram divided his men(DO) to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.(DP) 16 He recovered(DQ) all the goods(DR) and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.
17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer(DS) and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom(DT) came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).(DU)
18 Then Melchizedek(DV) king of Salem(DW) brought out bread(DX) and wine.(DY) He was priest of God Most High,(DZ) 19 and he blessed Abram,(EA) saying,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,(EB)
Creator of heaven and earth.(EC)
20 And praise be to God Most High,(ED)
who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.(EE)
21 The king of Sodom(EF) said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods(EG) for yourself.”
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom,(EH) “With raised hand(EI) I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High,(EJ) Creator of heaven and earth,(EK) 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you,(EL) not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ 24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre.(EM) Let them have their share.”
The Lord’s Covenant With Abram
15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram(EN) in a vision:(EO)
2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,(ES) what can you give me since I remain childless(ET) and the one who will inherit[i] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?(EU)” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant(EV) in my household(EW) will be my heir.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.(EX)” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars(EY)—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring[j] be.”(EZ)
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.(FA)
7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out(FB) of Ur of the Chaldeans(FC) to give you this land to take possession of it.”(FD)
8 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,(FE) how can I know(FF) that I will gain possession of it?”(FG)
9 So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer,(FH) a goat and a ram, each three years old,(FI) along with a dove and a young pigeon.(FJ)”
10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other;(FK) the birds, however, he did not cut in half.(FL) 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses,(FM) but Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep,(FN) and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years(FO) your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved(FP) and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out(FQ) with great possessions.(FR) 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors(FS) in peace and be buried at a good old age.(FT) 16 In the fourth generation(FU) your descendants will come back here,(FV) for the sin of the Amorites(FW) has not yet reached its full measure.”
17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch(FX) appeared and passed between the pieces.(FY) 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram(FZ) and said, “To your descendants I give this land,(GA) from the Wadi[k] of Egypt(GB) to the great river, the Euphrates(GC)— 19 the land of the Kenites,(GD) Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites,(GE) Perizzites,(GF) Rephaites,(GG) 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”(GH)
Footnotes
- Genesis 12:2 Or be seen as blessed
- Genesis 12:3 Or earth / will use your name in blessings (see 48:20)
- Genesis 12:7 Or seed
- Genesis 13:15 Or seed; also in verse 16
- Genesis 14:1 That is, Babylonia; also in verse 9
- Genesis 14:13 Or a relative; or an ally
- Genesis 15:1 Or sovereign
- Genesis 15:1 Or shield; / your reward will be very great
- Genesis 15:2 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
- Genesis 15:5 Or seed
- Genesis 15:18 Or river
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.