Genesis 12

{One day} God commanded Abram, “You must move away from your homeland and your relatives, including your father’s family, {and move} to the land that I will guide you to. 2 I will make you {and your descendants} become an important people group, and I will cause you {all} to prosper. I will make you well-known, and you {and your descendants} will bless {many people}. 3 I will bless everyone who blesses you, but I will curse anyone who curses you. I will bless all the people on the earth through you.” \* 4 So Abram left {the city of Haran} exactly as God had commanded him {to do}, and {his nephew} Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left from there.

He took {with him} his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot and everything that they owned, including servants {and everything else} they had acquired in {the city of} Haran, and they {all} started traveling to the region of Canaan. When they arrived there, \*

they traveled through that region as far as the city of Shechem, to Moreh’s oak tree. At that time the Canaanites were {still living} in that land,

but God came to Abram and said {to him}, “I will give this land to your descendants.” So Abram built an altar {out of large stones} in that place {and burned sacrifices on it} to worship God, because God had appeared to him {there}. \*

From {the city of} Shechem, Abram {and his family} moved {south} to the hill country that was east of {the town of} Bethel. They set up their tents between Bethel to the west and {the town of} Ai to the east. There Abram built another altar {and burned sacrifices on it} to worship God, and he addressed God by {his} name as he worshiped him.

Then Abram {and his family} moved from place to place {southward} until they reached the Negev {Desert}. \*

Now there was a serious food shortage in that region. It was so severe that Abram {and his family} {left there and} went down to {the country of} Egypt to live for a while.

Just before they arrived in Egypt, Abram said to his wife Sarai, “Please listen {to me}: you {are} a very beautiful woman.

When the people in Egypt see you {with me}, they will say that you are my wife. Then they will kill me and let you live {so that they can take you}.

{So} please tell people {that} you {are} my sister so that they will treat me well because of you and let me live.” \*

That is {exactly} what happened: When Abram {and his family} arrived in {the country of} Egypt, the people there noticed that Sarai was {truly} very beautiful.

When some officers under Pharaoh {the king of Egypt} noticed her, they highly recommended her to him. So he had them bring her to his palace {to be one of his wives}.

The king thought that Abram was Sarai’s brother, so he treated him well. He gave him many sheep and cattle, as well as men and women servants, male and female donkeys, and camels. \*

But since {King} Pharaoh had taken Abram’s wife Sarai, God afflicted the king and his family {with} severe illnesses.

So the king summoned Abram {before him} and said {to him}, “You have treated me very badly! You should have told me that Sarai {is} your wife!

You should not have said that she {is} your sister, so that I ended up taking her to be my wife! So now, here is your wife. Take {her} and leave {my country}!”

Then {King} Pharaoh ordered {some of} his soldiers to make sure that Abram left, so they forced him to leave {the country}, along with his wife and everything that he owned. \*