Genesis 12

1 # Acts 7.3; Heb 11.8. Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2#Gen 15.5; 17.4,5; 18.18; 22.17; 28.14; 32.12; 35.11; 46.3. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3#Gen 18.18; 22.17,18; 26.4; 28.14; Gal 3.8. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.”#12.3 Or in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed

4So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions which they had gathered, and the persons that they had gotten in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, 6Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak#12.6 Or terebinth of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7#Gen 13.15; 15.18; 17.8; 24.7; 26.3; 28.4,13; 35.12; 48.4; Acts 7.5; Gal 3.16. Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8Thence he removed to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. 9And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.

10 # Gen 20.1-18; 26.7-11. Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful to behold; 12and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared on your account.” 14When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. 16And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, he-asses, menservants, maidservants, she-asses, and camels.

17But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. 18So Pharaoh called 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 for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her, and be gone.” 20And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him; and they set him on the way, with his wife and all that he had.

Genesis 12

Abram and Sarai

1 God told Abram: “Leave your country, your family, and your father’s home for a land that I will show you.

2-3I’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.”

4-6So 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.

8He 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.

9Abram kept moving, steadily making his way south, to the Negev.

10-13Then 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.”

14-15When 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.

16-17Because 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.

18-19Pharaoh 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!”

20Pharaoh ordered his men to get Abram out of the country. They sent him and his wife and everything he owned on their way.

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Genesis 12

Genesis 12