Genesis 12

¹Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.

²I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

³I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”

⁴So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

⁵And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,

⁶Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the Oak of Moreh at Shechem. And at that time the Canaanites were in the land.

⁷Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

⁸From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.

⁹And Abram journeyed on toward the Negev.

¹⁰Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.

¹¹As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman,

¹²and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live.

¹³Please say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and on account of you my life will be spared.”

¹⁴So when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.

¹⁵When Pharaoh’s officials saw Sarai, they commended her to him, and she was taken into the palace of Pharaoh.

¹⁶He treated Abram well on her account, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

¹⁷The LORD, however, afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai.

¹⁸So Pharaoh summoned Abram and asked, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?

¹⁹Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!”

²⁰Then Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning Abram, and they sent him away with his wife and all his possessions.

Genesis 12

¹And Jehovah saith unto Abram, `Go for thyself, from thy land, and from thy kindred, and from the house of thy father, unto the land which I shew thee.

²And I make thee become a great nation, and bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing.

³And I bless those blessing thee, and him who is disesteeming thee I curse, and blessed in thee have been all families of the ground.'

⁴And Abram goeth on, as Jehovah hath spoken unto him, and Lot goeth with him, and Abram is a son of five and seventy years in his going out from Charan.

⁵And Abram taketh Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they have gained, and the persons that they have obtained in Charan; and they go out to go towards the land of Canaan; and they come in to the land of Canaan.

⁶And Abram passeth over into the land, unto the place Shechem, unto the oak of Moreh; and the Canaanite is then in the land.

⁷And Jehovah appeareth unto Abram, and saith, `To thy seed I give this land;' and he buildeth there an altar to Jehovah, who hath appeared unto him.

⁸And he removeth from thence towards a mountain at the east of Beth-El, and stretcheth out the tent (Beth-El at the west, and Hai at the east), and he buildeth there an altar to Jehovah, and preacheth in the name of Jehovah.

⁹And Abram journeyeth, going on and journeying towards the south.

¹⁰And there is a famine in the land, and Abram goeth down towards Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine is grievous in the land;

¹¹and it cometh to pass as he hath drawn near to enter Egypt, that he saith unto Sarai his wife, `Lo, I pray thee, I have known that thou art a woman of beautiful appearance;

¹²and it hath come to pass that the Egyptians see thee, and they have said, `This is his wife,' and they have slain me, and thee they keep alive:

¹³say, I pray thee, thou art my sister, so that it is well with me because of thee, and my soul hath lived for thy sake.'

¹⁴And it cometh to pass, at the entering of Abram into Egypt, that the Egyptians see the woman that she is exceeding fair;

¹⁵and princes of Pharaoh see her, and praise her unto Pharaoh, and the woman is taken to Pharaoh's house;

¹⁶and to Abram he hath done good because of her, and he hath sheep and oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants, and handmaids, and she-asses, and camels.

¹⁷And Jehovah plagueth Pharaoh and his housegreat plaguesfor the matter of Sarai, Abram's wife.

¹⁸And Pharaoh calleth for Abram, and saith, `What is this thou hast done to me? why hast thou not declared to me that she is thy wife?

¹⁹Why hast thou said, She is my sister, and I take her to myself for a wife? and now, lo, thy wife, take and go.'

²⁰And Pharaoh chargeth men concerning him, and they send him away, and his wife, an all that he hath.