3And he goeth on his journeyings from the south, even unto Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the commencement, between Bethel and Hai —

4unto the place of the altar which he made there at the first, and there doth Abram preach in the name of Jehovah.

5And also to Lot, who is going with Abram, there hath been sheep and oxen and tents;

6and the land hath not suffered them to dwell together, for their substance hath been much, and they have not been able to dwell together;

7and there is a strife between those feeding Abram's cattle and those feeding Lot's cattle; and the Canaanite and the Perizzite [are] then dwelling in the land.

8And Abram saith unto Lot, ‘Let there not, I pray thee, be strife between me and thee, and between my shepherds and thy shepherds, for we [are] men — brethren.

9Is not all the land before thee? be parted, I pray thee, from me; if to the left, then I to the right; and if to the right, then I to the left.’

10And Lot lifteth up his eyes, and seeth the whole circuit of the Jordan that it [is] all a watered country (before Jehovah's destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, as Jehovah's garden, as the land of Egypt,) in thy coming toward Zoar,

11and Lot chooseth for himself the whole circuit of the Jordan; and Lot journeyeth from the east, and they are parted — a man from his companion;

12Abram hath dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot hath dwelt in the cities of the circuit, and tenteth unto Sodom;

13and the men of Sodom [are] evil, and sinners before Jehovah exceedingly.

14And Jehovah said unto Abram, after Lot's being parted from him, ‘Lift up, I pray thee, thine eyes, and look from the place where thou [art], northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward;

15for the whole of the land which thou are seeing, to thee I give it, and to thy seed — to the age.

16And I have set thy seed as dust of the earth, so that, if one is able to number the dust of the earth, even thy seed is numbered;

17rise, go up and down through the land, to its length, and to its breadth, for to thee I give it.’

18And Abram tenteth, and cometh, and dwelleth among the oaks of Mamre, which [are] in Hebron, and buildeth there an altar to Jehovah.

maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society

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Genesis 13

Abram and Lot separate

1Abram went up from Egypt toward the arid southern plain with his wife, with everything he had, and with Lot. 2Abram was very wealthy in livestock, silver, and gold. 3Abram traveled, making and breaking camp, from the arid southern plain to Bethel and to the sacred place there, where he had first pitched his tent between Bethel and Ai, 4that is, to the place at which he had earlier built the altar. There he worshipped in the LORD’s name. 5Now Lot, who traveled with Abram, also had flocks, cattle, and tents. 6They had so many possessions between them that the land couldn’t support both of them. They could no longer live together. 7Conflicts broke out between those herding Abram’s livestock and those herding Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites lived in the land.

8Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have disputes between me and you and between our herders since we are relatives. 9Isn’t the whole land in front of you? Let’s separate. If you go north, I will go south; and if you go south, I will go north.” 10Lot looked up and saw the entire Jordan Valley. All of it was well irrigated, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as far as Zoar (this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah). 11So Lot chose for himself the entire Jordan Valley. Lot set out toward the east, and they separated from each other. 12Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled near the cities of the valley and pitched his tent close to Sodom. 13The citizens of Sodom were very evil and sinful against the LORD.

14After Lot separated from him, the LORD said to Abram, “From the place where you are standing, look up and gaze to the north, south, east, and west, 15because all the land that you see I give you and your descendants forever. 16I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth. If someone could count the bits of dust on the earth, then they could also count your descendants. 17Stand up and walk around through the length and breadth of the land because I am giving it to you.” 18So Abram packed his tent and went and settled by the oaks of Mamre in Hebron. There he built an altar to the LORD.

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Genesis 13

Genesis 13