1Now Adonai said to Avram, “Get yourself out of your country, away from your kinsmen and away from your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. 2I will make of you a great nation, I will bless you, and I will make your name great; and you are to be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse anyone who curses you; and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

4So Avram went, as Adonai had said to him, and Lot went with him. Avram was 75 years old when he left Haran. 5Avram took his wife Sarai, his brother’s son Lot, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, as well as the people they had acquired in Haran; then they set out for the land of Kena‘an and entered the land of Kena‘an.

6Avram passed through the land to the place called Sh’khem, to the oak of Moreh. The Kena‘ani were then in the land. 7Adonai appeared to Avram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to Adonai, who had appeared to him.

8He left that place, went to the hill east of Beit-El and pitched his tent. With Beit-El to the west and ‘Ai to the east, he built an altar there and called on the name of Adonai. 9Then Avram traveled on, continuing toward the Negev. 10But there was a famine in the land, so Avram went down into Egypt to stay there, because the famine in the land was severe.

11When he came close to Egypt and was about to enter, he said to Sarai his wife, “Here now, I know that you are a good-looking woman; 12so that when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife,’ and kill me but keep you alive. 13Please say that you are my sister, so that it will go well with me for your sake, and so that I will stay alive because of you.”

(ii) 14When Avram entered Egypt, the Egyptians did notice that the woman was very beautiful. 15Pharaoh’s princes saw her and commended her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16He treated Avram well for her sake, giving him sheep, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels.

17But Adonai inflicted great plagues on Pharaoh and his household because of Sarai Avram’s wife. 18Pharaoh called Avram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my own wife? Now therefore, here is your wife! Take her, and go away!” 20So Pharaoh gave orders concerning him to his men, and they sent him on his way with his wife and everything he had.

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Genesis 12

Promises to Abram

1Now the #Gen. 15:7; Acts 7:2, 3; (Heb. 11:8)Lord had said to Abram:

“Get #Gen. 13:9out of your country,

From your family

And from your father’s house,

To a land that I will show you.

2#(Gen. 17:4–6); 18:18; 46:3; Deut. 26:5; 1 Kin. 3:8I will make you a great nation;

#Gen. 22:17; 24:35I will bless you

And make your name great;

#Gen. 28:4; Zech. 8:13; Gal. 3:14And you shall be a blessing.

3#Gen. 24:35; 27:29; Ex. 23:22; Num. 24:9I will bless those who bless you,

And I will curse him who curses you;

And in #Gen. 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14; Ps. 72:17; Matt. 1:1; Luke 3:34; Acts 3:25; (Gal. 3:8)you all the families of the earth shall be #Is. 41:27blessed.”

4So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and #Gen. 14:14the people whom they had acquired in #Gen. 11:31Haran, and they #Gen. 13:18departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. 6Abram #Heb. 11:9passed through the land to the place of Shechem, #Deut. 11:30; Judg. 7:1as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. #Gen. 10:18, 19And the Canaanites were then in the land.

7#Gen. 17:1; 18:1Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, #Gen. 13:15; 15:18; 17:8; Deut. 34:4; Ps. 105:9–12; Acts 7:5; Gal. 3:16“To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an #Gen. 13:4, 18; 22:9altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and #Gen. 4:26; 13:4; 21:33called on the name of the Lord. 9So Abram journeyed, #Gen. 13:1, 3; 20:1; 24:62going on still toward the South.

Abram in Egypt

10Now there was #Gen. 26:1a famine in the land, and Abram #Ps. 105:13went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was #Gen. 43:1severe in the land. 11And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are #Gen. 12:14; 26:7; 29:17a woman of beautiful countenance. 12Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they #Gen. 20:11; 26:7will kill me, but they will let you live. 13#Gen. 20:1–18; 26:6–11Please say you are my #Gen. 20:12sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.”

14So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. 15The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. 16He #Gen. 20:14treated Abram well for her sake. He #Gen. 13:2had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

17But the Lord #Gen. 20:18; 1 Chr. 16:21; (Ps. 105:14)plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18And Pharaoh called Abram and said, #Gen. 20:9, 10; 26:10“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’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.” 20#(Prov. 21:1)So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.

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B'resheet (Gen) 12

Genesis 12