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

1Abram went up out of Egypt—he, his wife, all that he had, and Lot with him—into the South. 2Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3He went on his journeys from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4to the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. There Abram called on Yahweh’s name. 5Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, herds, and tents. 6The land was not able to bear them, that they might live together; for their possessions were so great that they couldn’t live together. 7There was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites lived in the land at that time. 8Abram said to Lot, “Please, let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen; for we are relatives. 9Isn’t the whole land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If you go to the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to the right hand, then I will go to the left.”

10Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere, before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar. 11So Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan for himself. Lot traveled east, and they separated themselves from one other. 12Abram lived in the land of Canaan, and Lot lived in the cities of the plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 13Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against Yahweh.

14Yahweh said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him, “Now, lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15for I will give all the land which you see to you and to your offspring forever. 16I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can count the dust of the earth, then your offspring may also be counted. 17Arise, walk through the land in its length and in its width; for I will give it to you.”

18Abram moved his tent, and came and lived by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to Yahweh.

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Genesis 13

Genesis 13