14
Abram Rescues Lot
1#Ge 10:10; 10:22In the days that Amraphel was king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goyim, 2#Ge 13:10; 10:19they made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3#Nu 34:12; Dt 3:17All these were joined together in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea). 4For twelve years they had served Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
5#Ge 15:20; Dt 1:4In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, and the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 6#Dt 2:22; Ge 21:21; Dt 2:12and the Horites in their hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness. 7#2Ch 20:2; Ge 16:14Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and conquered all the country of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who lived in Hazezon Tamar.
8#Ge 13:10; 19:20Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out, and they joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim 9against Kedorlaomer, the king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10#Ge 19:17; 19:30Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell in them, and the rest fled to the hill country. 11#Ge 14:16; 14:21Then they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and departed. 12#Ge 11:27; 12:5They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who lived in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.
13#Ge 13:18; 14:24; 40:15Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living near the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshkol and Aner, and these were allies with Abram. 14#Ge 15:3; Jdg 18:29When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants born in his own house, and pursued them as far as Dan. 15During the night he divided his men to attack them and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. 16#Ge 14:11–12; 1Sa 30:8He brought back all the possessions, along with his relative Lot and his possessions, and also the women and the people.
Melchizedek Blesses Abram
17#2Sa 18:18After his return from the defeat of Kedorlaomer and the kings who had joined with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
18#Ps 110:4; Heb 5:6; 5:10Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God Most High. 19#Ge 14:22; Mt 11:25And he blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator#Heb. a hundred qesitahs; a qesitah was a coin of unknown weight and value. of heaven and earth;
20#Ge 28:22; 24:27 and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
21The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and take the goods for yourself.”
22#Ex 6:8; Da 12:7But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted up my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, 23#2Ki 5:16; Est 9:15–16that I will take nothing that is yours, not a thread or a sandal strap; lest you say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ 24I will accept only that which my men have eaten and the portion that belongs to the men who went with me, Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion.”