Genesis 13

1And Abram goeth up from Egypt (he and his wife, and all that he hath, and Lot with him) towards the south;

2and Abram [is] exceedingly wealthy in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

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.

Genesis 13

1-2So Abram left Egypt and went back to the Negev, he and his wife and everything he owned, and Lot still with him. By now Abram was very rich, loaded with cattle and silver and gold.

3-4He moved on from the Negev, camping along the way, to Bethel, the place he had first set up his tent between Bethel and Ai and built his first altar. Abram prayed there to God.

5-7Lot, who was traveling with Abram, was also rich in sheep and cattle and tents. But the land couldn’t support both of them; they had too many possessions. They couldn’t both live there—quarrels broke out between Abram’s shepherds and Lot’s shepherds. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living on the land at the time.

8-9Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have fighting between us, between your shepherds and my shepherds. After all, we’re family. Look around. Isn’t there plenty of land out there? Let’s separate. If you go left, I’ll go right; if you go right, I’ll go left.”

10-11a Lot looked. He saw the whole plain of the Jordan spread out, well watered (this was before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah), like God’s garden, like Egypt, and stretching all the way to Zoar. Lot took the whole plain of the Jordan. Lot set out to the east.

11b-12 That’s how they came to part company, uncle and nephew. Abram settled in Canaan; Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent near Sodom.

13The people of Sodom were evil—flagrant sinners against God.

14-17After Lot separated from him, God said to Abram, “Open your eyes, look around. Look north, south, east, and west. Everything you see, the whole land spread out before you, I will give to you and your children forever. I’ll make your descendants like dust—counting your descendants will be as impossible as counting the dust of the Earth. So—on your feet, get moving! Walk through the country, its length and breadth; I’m giving it all to you.”

18Abram moved his tent. He went and settled by the Oaks of Mamre in Hebron. There he built an altar to God.

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Genesis 13

Genesis 13