Genesis 13

So Abram left {the country of} Egypt {and traveled} {back} to the Negev {Desert}. {He took} with him his wife and everything that they owned, and also {his nephew} Lot.

{By that time} Abram {had become} very rich, so that he owned {many} livestock and {much} silver and gold. \*

From the Negev {Desert} he {and his family} traveled from place to place {northward} {until they came} to {the town of} Bethel, to the place where he had lived in tents before, between {the towns of} Bethel and Ai.

{That was} the {same} place where he had previously built an altar. There {again} he {sacrificed animals on the altar and} worshiped God by name. \*

Lot was traveling with {his uncle} Abram, and he {and his family} also owned many sheep and cattle, as well as {many} tents.

In fact, there was not enough land to have enough food and water for both families {and their animals} if they lived in the same area. They each owned so many servants and animals that it was not possible for them to {all} live near each other.

As a result, the men who took care of Abram’s livestock and the men who took care of Lot’s livestock started to argue with each other. Besides that, the Canaanites and the Perizzites were {also} living in that land at that time. \*

Finally {one day} Abram said to Lot, “Please, since we {are} close relatives, we need to do something so that you and I and our herdsmen will not argue.

Look, the entire land is available to you {to choose from}. Please {choose where you want to live, and} let’s live in separate places. If {you choose} {the land to} the left {of here}, then I will take {the land to} the right. Or if {you choose} {the land to} the right {of here}, then I will take {the land to} the left.” \*

Lot looked {all} around and he noticed that the entire Jordan {River} Valley, all the way to {the town of} Zoar, had plenty of water. {It was lush and green} like the garden that God had planted or like the country of Egypt. {That is what it was like} before God destroyed {the cities of} Sodom and Gomorrah, {which were also in that valley}.

So Lot chose the entire Jordan {River} Valley for himself. Then he {left Abram and} moved to the east {to live there}. After that, Abram and Lot lived in separate places. \*

Abram stayed {where he was} in the region of Canaan, while Lot lived {in another part of the region} among the cities in the {Jordan River} valley and {eventually} moved his tents to {the city of} Sodom {and stayed there}.

But the people {who lived} in {the city of} Sodom {were} extremely wicked and were {always} sinning against God. \*

After Lot had left Abram, God said to Abram, “Look {all} around you from the place where you {live}. Look north, south, east, and west.

All the land that you see I will give to you and your descendants {to own} forever. \*

In fact, I will give you so many descendants that they will be as {numerous as} the {specks of} dust on the earth. No one will be able to count how many descendants you have, just as no one can count how many {specks of} dust there are.

{So now,} start walking through the land {in all directions}. Go throughout the entire land {and look it over}, because I am giving it {all} to you.”

Then Abram {obeyed God and} moved his tents and settled near the oak trees {on the land} owned by {a man named} Mamre, near {the city of} Hebron. There he built an altar {out of stones} {and burned sacrifices on it} to {thank and} worship God. \*