7The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will assign this land to your offspring.” And he built an altar there to the LORD who had ap- peared 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; and he built there an altar to the LORD and invoked the LORD by name. 9Then Abram journeyed by stages toward the Negeb.
10There was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I knowb what a beautiful woman you are. 12If the Egyptians see you, and think, ‘She is his wife,’ they will kill me and let you live. 13Please say that you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may remain alive thanks to you.”
14When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw how very beautiful the woman was. 15Pharaoh’s courtiers saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s palace. 16And because of her, it went well with Abram; he acquired sheep, oxen, asses, male and female slaves, she-asses, and camels.
17But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his household with mighty plagues on account of Sarai, the wife of Abram. 18Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me! Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife; take her and begone!” 20And Pharaoh put men in charge of him, and they sent him off with his wife and all that he possessed.
13 From Egypt, Abram went up into the Negeb, with his wife and all that he possessed, together with Lot. 2Now Abram was very rich in cattle, silver, and gold. 3And he proceeded by stages from the Negeb as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been formerly, between Bethel and Ai, 4the site of the altar that he had built there at first; and there Abram invoked the LORD by name.
5Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, 6so that the land could not support them staying together; for their posses- sions were so great that they could not remain together. 7And there was quarreling between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and those of Lot’s cattle.—The Canaanites and Perizzites were then dwelling in the land.— 8Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, between my herdsmen and yours, for we are kinsmen. 9Is not the whole land before you? Let us separate:a if you go north, I will go south; and if you go south, I will go north.” 10Lot looked about him and saw how well watered was the whole plain of the Jordan, all of it—this was before the LORD had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—all the way to Zoar, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. 11So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they parted from each other; 12Abram remained in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the Plain, pitching his tents near Sodom. 13Now the in- habitants of Sodom were very wicked sinners against the LORD.
14And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had parted from him, “Raise your eyes and look out from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west, 15for I give all the land that you see to you and your offspring forever. 16I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, then your offspring too can be counted. 17Up, walk about the land, through its length and its breadth, for I give it to you.” 18And Abram moved his tent, and came to dwell at the terebinths of Mamre, which are in Hebron; and he built an altar there to the LORD.
14 Now, when King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim 2made war on King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar, 3all the latter joined forces at the Valley of Siddim, now the Dead Sea.a 4Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim at Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim at Ham, the Emim at Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran, which is by the wilderness. 7On their way back they came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, and subdued all the territory of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazazon-tamar. 8Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar, went forth and engaged them in battle in the Valley of Siddim: 9King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Shinar, and King Arioch of Ellasar—four kings against those five.
10Now the Valley of Siddim was dotted with bitumen pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, in their flight, threw themselves into them, while the rest escaped to the hill country. 11[The invaders] seized all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions, and went their way. 12They also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, and his possessions, and departed; for he had settled in Sodom.
13A fugitive brought the news to Abram the Hebrew, who was dwelling at the terebinths of Mamre the Amorite, kinsman of Eshkol and Aner, these being Abram’s allies. 14When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he mustered his retainers,b born into his household, numbering three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15At night, he and his servants deployed against them and defeated them; and he pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. 16He brought back all the possessions; he also brought back his kinsman Lot and his possessions, and the women and the rest of the people.
17When he returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh, which is the Valley of the King. 18And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High.c 19He blessed him, saying,
“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
20And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your foes into your hand.”
And [Abram] gave him a tenth of everything.
21Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the possessions for yourself.” 22But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I sweard to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth: 23I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal strap of what is yours; you shall not say, ‘It is I who made Abram rich.’ 24For me, nothing but what my servants have used up; as for the share of the men who went with me—Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre—let them take their share.”
15 Some time later, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision. He said,
“Fear not, Abram,
I am a shield to you;
Your reward shall be very great.”
2But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, seeing that I shall die childless, a-and the one in charge of my household is Dammesek Eliezer!”-a 3Abram said further, “Since You have granted me no offspring, my steward will be my heir.” 4The word of the LORD came to him in reply, “That one shall not be your heir; none but your very own issue shall be your heir.” 5He took him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He added, “So shall your offspring be.” 6And because he put his trust in the LORD, He reckoned it to his merit.
7Then He said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to assign this land to you as a possession.” 8And he said, “O Lord GOD, how shall I know that I am to possess it?” 9He answered, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat, a three-year- old ram, a turtledove, and a young bird.” 10He brought Him all these and cut them in two, placing each half opposite the other; but he did not cut up the bird. 11Birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. 12As the sun was about to set, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great dark dread descended upon him. 13And He said to Abram, “Know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years; 14but I will execute judgment on
