Abram Journeys to Egypt

12 Now (A)the Lord said to Abram,

“Go from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
And (B)I will make you into a great nation,
And (C)I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And you shall (D)be a blessing;
And (E)I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who [a]curses you I will [b]curse.
(F)And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

So Abram went away as the Lord had spoken to him; and (G)Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, and all their (H)possessions which they had accumulated, and (I)the [c]people which they had acquired in Haran, and they [d]set out for the land of Canaan; (J)so they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land as far as the site of (K)Shechem, to the [e]oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time. And the Lord (L)appeared to Abram and said, “(M)To your [f]descendants I will give this land.” So he built (N)an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent with (O)Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and (P)called upon the name of the Lord. Then Abram journeyed on, continuing toward (Q)the [g]Negev.

10 Now there was (R)a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a time, because the famine was (S)severe in the land. 11 It came about, when he [h]was approaching Egypt, that he said to his wife Sarai, “See now, I know that you are a [i](T)beautiful woman; 12 (U)and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Please say that you are (V)my sister so that it may go well for me because of you, and that [j](W)I may live on account of you.” 14 Now it came about, when Abram entered Egypt, that the Egyptians [k]saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and (X)the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16 Therefore (Y)he treated Abram well for her sake; and [l](Z)he gave him sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

17 But the Lord (AA)struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “(AB)What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for myself as a wife? Now then, [m]here is your wife, take her and go!” 20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they [n]escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 12:3 Or reviles
  2. Genesis 12:3 Or bind under a curse
  3. Genesis 12:5 Lit souls
  4. Genesis 12:5 Lit went forth to go to
  5. Genesis 12:6 Or terebinth
  6. Genesis 12:7 Lit seed
  7. Genesis 12:9 I.e., South country
  8. Genesis 12:11 Lit came near to enter
  9. Genesis 12:11 Lit woman of beautiful appearance
  10. Genesis 12:13 Lit my soul
  11. Genesis 12:14 Lit saw the woman that she was
  12. Genesis 12:16 Lit there was to him
  13. Genesis 12:19 Or behold
  14. Genesis 12:20 Lit sent

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