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12 Forsooth the Lord said to Abram, Go thou out of thy land, and (out) of thy kindred, and (out) of the house of thy father, and come thou into the land which I shall show to thee;

and I shall make thee into a great folk (and I shall make thee into a great nation), and I shall bless thee, and I shall magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed;

I shall bless them that bless thee, and I shall curse them that curse thee; and all kindreds of [the] earth shall be blessed in thee (and all the families on the earth shall pray to be blessed as thou art blessed/and through thee I shall bless all the nations of the earth).

And so Abram went out, as the Lord commanded him, and Lot went with him. Abram was five and seventy years (old) when he went out of Haran.

And he took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, the son of his brother, and all the substance which they had in possession, and the men which they had begotten in Haran (and all the men, or all the slaves, which they had gotten, or had acquired, in Haran); and they went out (so) that they should go into the land of Canaan. And when they came into it,

Abram passed through the land till to the place of Sichem, and till to the noble valley. Forsooth Canaanite was then in the land. (And Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, and to the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.)

Soothly the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, I shall give this land to thy seed. And Abram built there an altar to the Lord, that appeared to him (And Abram build an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him).

And from thence he passed forth to the hill [of] Bethel, that was against the east, and setted there his tabernacle, having Bethel from the west, and Hai from the east. And he builded also there an altar to the Lord, and inwardly called his name. (And from there he went on to the hill country that was east of Bethel, and pitched his tent there, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east. And there he also built an altar to the Lord, and inwardly called on his name.)

And Abram went going, and going forth over to the south. (And Abram continued on, and went down to the south.)

10 Soothly hunger was made in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt, to be a pilgrim there (to live there for a while), for hunger had the mastery in the land.

11 And when he was nigh to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai, his wife, I know that thou art a fair woman,

12 and that when (the) Egyptians shall see thee, they shall say, It is his wife, and they shall slay me, and keep thee (and then they shall kill me, but keep thee alive).

13 Therefore, I beseech thee, say that thou art my sister, that it be well to me for thee, and that my life live for the love of thee. (And so I beseech thee, say that thou art my sister, and then all shall be well with me, because of thee, and I shall remain alive, because thou hast shown thy love for me.)

14 And so when Abram had entered into Egypt, (the) Egyptians saw the woman, (and) that she was full fair;

15 and the princes told (about her) to Pharaoh, and praised her with him; and (so) the woman was taken up into the house of Pharaoh.

16 Forsooth they used well Abram for her; and sheep, and oxen, and asses, and servants, and servantesses, and she-asses, and camels were (given) to him. (And Pharaoh treated Abram well because of her; and sheep, and oxen, and donkeys, and male and female slaves, and female donkeys, and camels were given to him.)

17 Forsooth the Lord beat Pharaoh and his house with most vengeances for Sarai, the wife of Abram. (But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with great plagues, because of Sarai, the wife of Abram.)

18 And Pharaoh called (for) Abram, and said to him, What is it that thou hast done to me? why showedest thou not to me that she was thy wife?

19 for what cause saidest thou, that she was thy sister, (so) that I should take her into wife to me? Now therefore lo! thy wife; take thou her, and go(!).

20 And Pharaoh commanded to men on Abram, and they led forth him, and his wife, and all things that he had. (And Pharaoh commanded to his men about Abram, and they sent him away with his wife, and all the things that he had been given.)

The Call of Abram

12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household(A) to the land(B) I will show you.(C)

“I will make you into a great nation,(D)
    and I will bless you;(E)
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.[a](F)
I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;(G)
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.(H)[b]

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot(I) went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old(J) when he set out from Harran.(K) He took his wife Sarai,(L) his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated(M) and the people(N) they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan,(O) and they arrived there.

Abram traveled through the land(P) as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh(Q) at Shechem.(R) At that time the Canaanites(S) were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram(T) and said, “To your offspring[c] I will give this land.(U)(V) So he built an altar there to the Lord,(W) who had appeared to him.

From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel(X) and pitched his tent,(Y) with Bethel on the west and Ai(Z) on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.(AA)

Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.(AB)

Abram in Egypt(AC)

10 Now there was a famine in the land,(AD) and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.(AE) 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai,(AF) “I know what a beautiful woman(AG) you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister,(AH) so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman.(AI) 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.(AJ)

17 But the Lord inflicted(AK) serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household(AL) because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?”(AM) he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?(AN) 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’(AO) so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 12:2 Or be seen as blessed
  2. Genesis 12:3 Or earth / will use your name in blessings (see 48:20)
  3. Genesis 12:7 Or seed