Genesis 12

1And Jehovah had said to Abram, Go out of thy land, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, to the land that I will shew thee. 2And I will make of thee a great nation, and bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. 3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

4And Abram departed as Jehovah had said to him. And Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had acquired, and the souls that they had obtained in Haran, and they went out to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

6And Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. 7And Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land. And there he built an altar to Jehovah who had appeared to him. 8And he removed thence towards the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel toward the west, and Ai toward the east; and there he built an altar to Jehovah, and called on the name of Jehovah. 9And Abram moved onward, going on still toward the south.

10And there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was grievous in the land. 11And it came to pass when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a woman fair to look upon. 12And it will come to pass when the Egyptians see thee, that they will say, She is his wife; and they will slay me, and save thee alive. 13Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister, that it may be well with me on thy account, and my soul may live because of thee.

14And it came to pass when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. 15And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. 16And he treated Abram well on her account; and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and bondmen, and bondwomen, and she-asses, and camels. 17And Jehovah plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife. 18And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this thou hast done to me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? 19Why didst thou say, She is my sister, so that I took her as my wife. And now, behold, there is thy wife: take her, and go away. 20And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away, and 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