< Genesis 13 >

1 So Abram went up out of Egypt into the Negev—he and his wife and all his possessions—and Lot was with him.
And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.
2 And Abram had become extremely wealthy in livestock and silver and gold.
And he was very rich in possession of gold and silver.
3 From the Negev he journeyed from place to place toward Bethel, until he came to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been pitched,
And he returned by the way that he came, from the south to Bethel, to the place where before he had pitched his tent between Bethel and Hai:
4 to the site where he had built the altar. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
In the place of the altar which he had made before; and there he called upon the name of the Lord.
5 Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.
But Lot also, who was with Abram, had flocks of sheep, and herds of beasts, and tents.
6 But the land was unable to support both of them while they stayed together, for they had so many possessions that they were unable to coexist.
Neither was the land able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, and they could not dwell together.
7 And there was discord between the herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen of Lot. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were also living in the land.
Whereupon also there arose a strife between the herdsmen of Abram and of Lot. And at that time the Chanaanite and the Pherezite dwelled in that country.
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no contention between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen. After all, we are brothers.
Abram therefore said to Lot: Let there be no quarrel, I beseech thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen: for we are brethren.
9 Is not the whole land before you? Now separate yourself from me. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”
Behold the whole land is before thee: depart from me I pray thee: if thou wilt go to the left hand, I will take the right: if thou choose the right hand, I will pass to the left.
10 And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
And Lot, lifting up his eyes, saw all the country about the Jordan, which was watered throughout, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, as the paradise of the Lord, and like Egypt as one comes to Segor.
11 So Lot chose the whole plain of the Jordan for himself and set out toward the east. And Abram and Lot parted company.
And Lot chose to himself the country about the Jordan, and he departed from the east: and they were separated one brother from the other.
12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
Abram dwelt in the land of Chanaan; and Lot abode in the towns that were about the Jordan, and dwelt in Sodom.
13 But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.
And the men of Sodom were very wicked, and sinners before the face of the Lord, beyond measure.
14 After Lot had departed, the LORD said to Abram, “Now lift up your eyes from the place where you are, and look to the north and south and east and west,
And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him: Lift up thy eyes, and look from the place wherein thou now art, to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west.
15 for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.
All the land which thou seest, I will give to thee, and to thy seed for ever.
16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted.
And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: if any man be able to number the dust of the earth, he shall be able to number thy seed also.
17 Get up and walk around the land, through its length and breadth, for I will give it to you.”
Arise and walk through the land in the length, and in the breadth thereof: for I will give it to thee.
18 So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the Oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.
So Abram removing his tent came and dwelt by the vale of Mambre, which is in Hebron: and he built there an altar to the Lord.

< Genesis 13 >