GenesisChapter 12

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¹The LORD said to Abram, "Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's family. Go to the land I will show you. ²I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you. I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³I will bless those who bless you. I will curse those who curse you. And all the families on earth will be blessed through you." ⁴So Abram left, just as the LORD had told him. And Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. ⁵Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot. He took everything they owned and the people they had gotten in Haran. They set out for the land of Canaan. And they arrived there. ⁶Abram traveled through the land as far as the place of the oak tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were living in the land. ⁷The LORD appeared to Abram. He 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 went on to the hills east of Bethel. He set up his tent there. Bethel was to the west, and Ai was to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD. And he called on the name of the LORD. ⁹Then Abram kept traveling toward the Negev.a ¹⁰There was a famine in the land. The famine was very bad. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while. ¹¹When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "Look, I know you are a beautiful woman. ¹²When the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³Please say you are my sister. Then they will treat me well because of you. My life will be spared because of you." ¹⁴Abram came into Egypt. The Egyptians saw that Sarai was very beautiful. ¹⁵Pharaoh's officials saw her too. They praised her to Pharaoh. So she was taken into Pharaoh's palace. ¹⁶Pharaoh treated Abram well because of her. Abram got sheep, cattle, and male and female donkeys. He got male and female servants and camels. ¹⁷But the LORD struck Pharaoh and his household with terrible plagues. He did this because of Abram's wife Sarai. ¹⁸So Pharaoh sent for Abram. He said, "What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? ¹⁹Why did you say, 'She is my sister'? Because of that, I took her to be my wife. Now here is your wife. Take her and go!" ²⁰Then Pharaoh gave his men orders about Abram. They sent him away with his wife and everything he owned.