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GENESIS 13
traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the
oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was
inhabited by Canaanites.
7Then the Lord appeared to Abram
and said, “I will give this land to your
descendants.” And Abram built an altar
there and dedicated it to the Lord, who
had appeared to him. 8After that, Abram
traveled south and set up camp in the
hill country, with Bethel to the west and
Ai to the east. There he built another
altar and dedicated it to the Lord, and
he worshiped the Lord. 9Then Abram
continued traveling south by stages toward the Negev.
Abram and Sarai in Egypt
10At that time a severe famine struck
the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to
go down to Egypt, where he lived as a
foreigner. 11As he was approaching the
border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife,
Sarai, “Look, you are a very beautiful
woman. 12When the Egyptians see you,
they will say, ‘This is his wife. Let’s kill
him; then we can have her!’ 13So please
tell them you are my sister. Then they
will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.”
14And sure enough, when Abram arrived in Egypt, everyone noticed Sarai’s
beauty. 15When the palace officials saw
her, they sang her praises to Pharaoh,
their king, and Sarai was taken into his
palace. 16Then Pharaoh gave Abram
many gifts because of her—sheep,
goats, cattle, male and female donkeys,
male and female servants, and camels.
17But the Lord sent terrible plagues
upon Pharaoh and his household because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18So Pharaoh summoned Abram and accused
him sharply. “What have you done to
me?” he demanded. “Why didn’t you tell
me she was your wife? 19Why did you
say, ‘She is my sister,’ and allow me to
take her as my wife? Now then, here is
your wife. Take her and get out of here!”
20Pharaoh ordered some of his men to
escort them, and he sent Abram out of
the country, along with his wife and all
his possessions.
Abram and Lot Separate
So Abram left Egypt and trav-
13 eled north into the Negev, along
with his wife and Lot and all that they
owned. 2(Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold.) 3From the Negev, they continued traveling by stages
toward Bethel, and they pitched their
tents between Bethel and Ai, where they
had camped before. 4This was the same
place where Abram had built the altar,
and there he worshiped the Lord again.
5Lot, who was traveling with Abram,
had also become very wealthy with
flocks of sheep and goats, herds of
cattle, and many tents. 6But the land
could not support both Abram and Lot
with all their flocks and herds living so
close together. 7So disputes broke out
between the herdsmen of Abram and
Lot. (At that time Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land.)
8Finally Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not
allow this conflict to come between us
or our herdsmen. After all, we are close
relatives! 9The whole countryside is
open to you. Take your choice of any
section of the land you want, and we
will separate. If you want the land to the
left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If
you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll
go to the left.”
10Lot took a long look at the fertile
plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar. The whole area was well
watered everywhere, like the garden of
the Lord or the beautiful land of Egypt.
(This was before the Lord destroyed
Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11Lot chose for
himself the whole Jordan Valley to the
east of them. He went there with his
flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram. 12So Abram
settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot
moved his tents to a place near Sodom
and settled among the cities of the plain.
