1Abram left Egypt with his wife and everything he had and went to the Negev. Lot was with him. 2Abram was very rich because he had livestock, silver, and gold. 3He traveled from place to place. He went from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the area between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been originally, 4where he had first made an altar. There Abram worshiped the Lord.

5Lot, who had been traveling with Abram, also had his own sheep, cattle, and tents. 6There wasn’t enough pastureland for both of them. They had so many possessions that they were unable to remain together. 7Quarrels broke out between Abram’s herders and Lot’s herders. (Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in that area.)

8Abram said to Lot, “Please, let’s not have any more quarrels between us or between our herders. After all, we’re relatives. 9Isn’t all this land yours also? Let’s separate. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right, and if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” 10Then Lot looked in the direction of Zoar as far as he could see. He saw that the whole Jordan Plain was well-watered like the Lord’s garden or like Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

11Lot chose the whole Jordan Plain for himself. He moved toward the east. They each went their own way. 12Abram lived in Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain, moving his tents as far as Sodom. 13(The people who lived in Sodom were very wicked. They committed terrible sins against the Lord.)

The LORD’s Third Promise to Abram

14After Lot left, the Lord said to Abram, “Look north, south, east, and west of where you are. 15I will give all the land you see to you and to your descendants for an indefinite period of time. 16I will also give you as many descendants as the dust of the earth. If anyone could count the dust of the earth, then he could also count your descendants. 17Go! Walk back and forth across the entire land because I will give it to you.” 18So Abram moved his tents and went to live by the oak trees belonging to Mamre at Hebron. There he built an altar for the Lord.

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Genesis 13

1 Therefore, Abram ascended from Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, toward the southern region.

2 But he was very wealthy by the possession of gold and silver.

3 And he returned by the way that he came, from the meridian into Bethel, all the way to the place where before he had pitched his tent, between Bethel and Hai.

4 There, at the place of the altar he had made before, he again called upon the name of the Lord.

5 But Lot also, who was with Abram, had flocks of sheep, and cattle, and tents.

6 Neither was the land able to contain them, so that they might dwell together. Indeed, their substance was so great that they could not live in common.

7 And then there also arose a conflict between the shepherds of Abram and of Lot. Now at that time the Canaanite and the Perizzite lived in that land.

8 Therefore, Abram said to Lot: "I ask you, let there be no quarrel between me and you, and between my shepherds and your shepherds. For we are brothers.

9 Behold, the entire land is before your eyes. Withdraw from me, I beg you. If you will go to the left, I will take the right. If you choose the right, I will pass to the left."

10 And so Lot, lifting up his eyes, saw all the region around the Jordan, which was thoroughly irrigated, before the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It was like the Paradise of the Lord, and it was like Egypt, approaching toward Zoar.

11 And Lot chose for himself the region around the Jordan, and he withdrew by way of the east. And they were divided, one brother from the other.

12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan. In truth, Lot stayed in the towns that were around the Jordan, and he lived in Sodom.

13 But the men of Sodom were very wicked, and they were sinners before the Lord beyond measure.

14 And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was divided from him: "Lift up your eyes, and gaze out from the place where you are now, to the north and to the meridian, to the east and to the west.

15 All the land that you see, I will give to you, and to your offspring even forever.

16 And I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth. If any man is able to number the dust of the earth, he will be able to number your offspring as well.

17 Arise and walk through the land in its length, and breadth. For I will give it to you."

18 Therefore, moving his tent, Abram went and dwelt by the steep valley of Mamre, which is in Hebron. And he built an altar there to the Lord.

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Genesis 13

Genesis 13