14
Lot Is Captured
1Now Amraphel was king of Babylonia, Arioch was king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer was king of Elam, and Tidal was king of Goiim. 2All these kings went to war against several other kings: Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela. (Bela is also called Zoar.)
3These kings who were attacked united their armies in the Valley of Siddim (now the Dead Sea). 4They had served Kedorlaomer for twelve years, but in the thirteenth year, they all turned against him. 5Then in the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings with him came and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, and the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim. 6They also defeated the Horites in the mountains of Edom to El Paran (near the desert). 7Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh). They defeated all the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who lived in Hazazon Tamar.
8At that time the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela went out to fight in the Valley of Siddim. (Bela is called Zoar.) 9They fought against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Babylonia, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings fighting against five. 10There were many tar pits in the Valley of Siddim. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and their armies ran away, some of the soldiers fell into the tar pits, but the others ran away to the mountains.
11Now Kedorlaomer and his armies took everything the people of Sodom and Gomorrah owned, including their food. 12They took Lot, Abram’s nephew who was living in Sodom, and everything he owned. Then they left. 13One of the men who was not captured went to Abram, the Hebrew, and told him what had happened. At that time Abram was camped near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite. Mamre was a brother of Eshcol and Aner, and they had all made an agreement to help Abram.
Abram Rescues Lot
14When Abram learned that Lot had been captured, he called out his 318 trained men who had been born in his camp. He led the men and chased the enemy all the way to the town of Dan. 15That night he divided his men into groups, and they made a surprise attack against the enemy. They chased them all the way to Hobah, north of Damascus. 16Then Abram brought back everything the enemy had stolen, the women and the other people, and Lot, and everything Lot owned.
17After defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, Abram went home. As he was returning, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (now called King’s Valley).
18Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was a priest for God Most High 19and blessed Abram, saying,
“Abram, may you be blessed by God Most High,
the God who made heaven and earth.
20And we praise God Most High,
who has helped you to defeat your enemies.”
Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything he had brought back from the battle.
21The king of Sodom said to Abram, “You may keep all these things for yourself. Just give me my people who were captured.”
22But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I make a promise to the Lord, the God Most High, who made heaven and earth. 23I promise that I will not keep anything that is yours. I will not keep even a thread or a sandal strap so that you cannot say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ 24I will keep nothing but the food my young men have eaten. But give Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre their share of what we won, because they went with me into battle.”