The Living Bible (6 page)

Genesis
12

God had told Abram, “Leave your own country behind you, and your own people, and go to the land I will guide you to.
²
 If you do, I will cause you to become the father of a great nation; I will bless you and make your name famous, and you will be a blessing to many others.
*
³
 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and the entire world will be blessed because of you.”
*

    
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 So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed him, and Lot went too; Abram was seventy-five years old at that time.
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 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—the cattle and slaves he had gotten in Haran—and finally arrived in Canaan.
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 Traveling through Canaan, they came to a place near Shechem, and set up camp beside the oak at Moreh. (This area was inhabited by Canaanites at that time.)

    
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 Then Jehovah appeared to Abram and said, “I am going to give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there to commemorate Jehovah’s visit.
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 Afterwards Abram left that place and traveled southward
*
to the hilly country between Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he made camp, and made an altar to the Lord and prayed to him.
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 Thus he continued slowly southward to the Negeb, pausing frequently.

    
¹⁰
 There was at that time a terrible famine in the land: and so Abram went on down to Egypt to live.
^11-13
 But as he was approaching the borders of Egypt, he asked Sarai his wife to tell everyone that she was his sister! “You are very beautiful,” he told her, “and when the Egyptians see you they will say, ‘This is his wife. Let’s kill him and then we can have her!’ But if you say you are my sister, then the Egyptians will treat me well because of you, and spare my life!”
¹⁴
 And sure enough, when they arrived in Egypt everyone spoke of her beauty.
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 When the palace aides saw her, they praised her to their king, the Pharaoh, and she was taken into his harem.
*
¹⁶
 Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her—sheep, oxen, donkeys, men and women slaves, and camels.

    
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 But the Lord sent a terrible plague upon Pharaoh’s household on account of her being there.
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 Then Pharaoh called Abram before him and accused him sharply. “What is this you have done to me?” he demanded. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?
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 Why were you willing to let me marry her, saying she was your sister? Here, take her and be gone!”
²⁰
 And Pharaoh sent them out of the country under armed escort—Abram, his wife, and all his household and possessions.

Genesis
13

So they left Egypt and traveled north into the Negeb—Abram with his wife, and Lot, and all that they owned, for Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold.
^3-4
 Then they continued northward toward Bethel where he had camped before, between Bethel and Ai—to the place where he had built the altar. And there he again worshiped the Lord.

    
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 Lot too was very wealthy, with sheep and cattle and many servants.
*
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 But the land could not support both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds. There were too many animals for the available pasture.
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 So fights broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot, despite the danger they all faced
*
from the tribes of Canaanites and Perizzites present in the land.
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 Then Abram talked it over with Lot. “This fighting between our men has got to stop,” he said. “We can’t afford to let a rift develop between our clans. Close relatives such as we are must present a united front!
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 I’ll tell you what we’ll do. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want that part over there to the east, then I’ll stay here in the western section. Or, if you want the west, then I’ll go over there to the east.”

    
¹⁰
 Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan River, well watered everywhere (this was before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah); the whole section was like the Garden of Eden,
*
or like the beautiful countryside around Zoar in Egypt.
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 So that is what Lot chose—the Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants, and thus he and Abram parted company.
¹²
 For Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain, settling at a place near the city of Sodom.
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 The men of this area were unusually wicked, and sinned greatly against Jehovah.

    
¹⁴
 After Lot was gone, the Lord said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every direction,
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 for I am going to give it all to you and your descendants.
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 And I am going to give you so many descendants that, like dust, they can’t be counted!
¹⁷
 Hike in all directions and explore the new possessions I am giving you.”
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 Then Abram moved his tent to the oaks of Mamre, near Hebron, and built an altar to Jehovah there.

Genesis
14

Now war filled the land—Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim
²
 fought against: Bera, king of Sodom, Birsha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah, Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (later called Zoar).

    
³
 These kings (of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela) mobilized their armies in Siddim Valley (that is, the valley of the Dead Sea).
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 For twelve years they had all been subject to King Chedorlaomer, but now in the thirteenth year, they rebelled.

    
^5-6
 One year later, Chedorlaomer and his allies arrived and the slaughter began. For they were victorious over the following tribes at the places indicated: the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim; the Zuzim in Ham; the Emim in the plain of Kiriathaim; the Horites in Mount Seir, as far as El-paran at the edge of the desert.

    
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 Then they swung around to Enmishpat (later called Kadesh) and destroyed the Amalekites, and also the Amorites living in Hazazan-tamar.

    
^8-9
 But now the other army, that of the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (Zoar), unsuccessfully
*
attacked Chedorlaomer and his allies as they were in the Dead Sea Valley (four kings against five).
¹⁰
 As it happened, the valley was full of asphalt pits. And as the army of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some slipped into the pits, and the remainder fled to the mountains.
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 Then the victors plundered
*
Sodom and Gomorrah and carried off all their wealth and food, and went on their homeward way,
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 taking with them Lot—Abram’s nephew
*
who lived in Sodom—and all he owned.
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 One of the men who escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was camping among the oaks belonging to Mamre the Amorite (brother of Eshcol and Aner, Abram’s allies).

    
¹⁴
 When Abram learned that Lot had been captured, he called together the men born into his household, 318 of them in all, and chased after the retiring army as far as Dan.
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 He divided his men and attacked during the night from several directions, and pursued the fleeing army to Hobah, north of Damascus,
¹⁶
 and recovered everything—the loot that had been taken, his relative Lot, and all of Lot’s possessions, including the women and other captives.

    
¹⁷
 As Abram returned from his strike against Chedorlaomer and the other kings at the valley of Shaveh (later called King’s Valley), the king of Sodom came out to meet him,
¹⁸
 and Melchizedek, the king of Salem (Jerusalem), who was a priest of the God of Highest Heaven, brought him bread and wine.
^19-20
 Then Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing:

“The blessing of the supreme God, Creator of heaven and earth, be upon you, Abram; and blessed be God, who has delivered your enemies over to you.”

Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the loot.

    
²¹
 The king of Sodom told him, “Just give me back my people who were captured; keep for yourself the booty stolen from my city.”

    
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 But Abram replied, “I have solemnly promised Jehovah, the supreme God, Creator of heaven and earth,
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 that I will not take so much as a single thread from you, lest you say, ‘Abram is rich because of what I gave him!’
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 All I’ll accept is what these young men of mine have eaten; but give a share of the loot to Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, my allies.”