1Forsooth the Lord said to Abram, Go thou out of thy land, and of thy kindred, and of the house of thy father, and come thou into the land which I shall show to thee;

2and I shall make thee into a great folk, and I shall bless thee, and I shall magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed;

3I shall bless them that bless thee, and I shall curse them that curse thee; and all kindreds of [the] earth shall be blessed in thee.

4And so Abram went out, as the Lord commanded him, and Lot went with him. Abram was five and seventy years when he went out of Haran.

5And he took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, the son of his brother, and all the substance which they had in possession, and the men which they had begotten in Haran; and they went out that they should go into the land of Canaan. And when they came into it,

6Abram passed through the land till to the place of Shechem, and till to the noble valley. Forsooth Canaanite was then in the land.

7Soothly the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, I shall give this land to thy seed. And Abram built there an altar to the Lord, that appeared to him.

8And from thence he passed forth to the hill [or the mount of] Bethel, that was against the east, and setted there his tabernacle, having Bethel from the west, and Hai from the east. And he builded also there an altar to the Lord, and inwardly called his name.

9And Abram went going, and going forth over to the south.

10Soothly hunger was made in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt, to be a pilgrim there, for hunger had the mastery in the land.

11And when he was nigh to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai, his wife, I know that thou art a fair woman,

12and that when Egyptians shall see thee, they shall say, It is his wife, and they shall slay me, and keep thee.

13Therefore, I beseech thee, say that thou art my sister, that it be well to me for thee, and that my life live for the love of thee.

14And so when Abram had entered into Egypt, Egyptians saw the woman, that she was full fair;

15and the princes told to Pharaoh, and praised her with him; and the woman was taken up into the house of Pharaoh.

16Forsooth they used well Abram for her; and sheep, and oxen, and asses, and servants, and servantesses, and she-asses, and camels were given to him.

17Forsooth the Lord beat Pharaoh and his house with most vengeances for Sarai, the wife of Abram.

18And Pharaoh called Abram, and said to him, What is it that thou hast done to me? why showedest thou not to me that she was thy wife?

19for what cause saidest thou, that she was thy sister, that I should take her into wife to me? Now therefore lo! thy wife; take thou her, and go.

20And Pharaoh commanded to men on Abram, and they led forth him, and his wife, and all things that he had.

Learn More

Genesis 12

The Call of Abram

1The Lord said to Abram:

Go out from your land,

your relatives,

and your father’s house

to the land that I will show you. # Gn 15:7; Ac 7:3; Heb 11:8

2I will make you into a great nation, # Gn 17:4-6; 18:18; 46:3; Dt 26:5

I will bless you, # Gn 22:17

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing. # Or great. Be a blessing! # Zch 8:13

3I will bless those who bless you,

I will curse those who treat you with contempt, # Gn 27:29; Nm 24:9

and all the peoples # Lit clans on earth

will be blessed # Or will find blessing through you. # Or will bless themselves by you # Gn 18:18; 26:4; 28:14; Ac 3:25; Gl 3:8

4So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. # Gn 11:27,31 5He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people he had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem, # Gn 35:4; Dt 11:30; Heb 11:9 at the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” # Gn 13:15; Ex 33:1; Ps 105:9-12; Ac 7:5; Gl 3:16 So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared 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. He built an altar to Yahweh there, and he called on the name of Yahweh. # Gn 4:26; 21:33 9Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev.

Abram in Egypt

10There was a famine in the land, # Gn 26:1; 43:1 so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine in the land was severe. 11When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me but let you live. # Gn 20:1-18; 26:6-11 13Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.” 14When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s household. 16He treated Abram well because of her, and Abram acquired flocks and herds, male and female donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels.

17But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai. # Gn 20:18; 1Ch 16:21; Ps 105:14 18So Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and go! ” 20Then Pharaoh gave his men orders about him, and they sent him away with his wife and all he had.

Learn More

Choose your language

Genesis 12

Genesis 12