Genesis 12
1 And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father’s house, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.
The Lord told Abram, “Leave your country, your relatives, your family home, and travel to the country I'm going to show you.
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed.
I will make you the ancestor of a great nation and I will bless you. I will make sure you have a great reputation and that you are a blessing to others.
3 I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and IN THEE shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed:
I will bless those who bless you; I will curse those who curse you. Everyone on earth will be blessed through you.”
4 So Abram went out as the Lord had commanded him, and Lot went with him: Abram was seventy-five years old when he went forth from Haran.
So Abram left following the Lord's instructions, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 when he left Haran.
5 And he took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all the substance which they had gathered, and the souls which they had gotten in Haran: and they went out to go into the land of Chanaan. And when they were come into it,
With him went his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, together with all the possessions they had collected and the people that had joined them in Harran. They left for the land of Canaan. When they arrived there,
6 Abram passed through the country into the place of Sichem, as far as the noble vale: now the Chanaanite was at that time in the land.
Abram traveled on through the country as far as a place called Shechem, stopping at the oak tree of Moreh. At that time the country was occupied by Canaanites.
7 And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him: To thy seed will I give this land. And he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I'm going to give this land to your descendants.” So Abram built an altar to the Lord there because that was where the Lord appeared to him.
8 And passing on from thence to a mountain, that was on the east side of Bethel, he there pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east; he built there also an altar to the Lord, and called upon his name.
Then he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and set up camp there. Bethel was to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar to the Lord there and worshiped him.
9 And Abram went forward, going, and proceeding on to the south.
After that he went on his way, heading towards the Negev.
10 And there came a famine in the country; and Abram went down into Egypt, to sojourn there: for the famine was very grievous in the land.
But the land had been hit by famine. So Abram continued on to Egypt, planning to live there because the famine was so bad.
11 And when he was near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife: I know that thou art a beautiful woman:
As he approached Egypt and was about to cross the border, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are.
12 And that when the Egyptians shall see thee, they will say: She is his wife: and they will kill me, and keep thee.
When the Egyptians see you, they'll say, ‘She's his wife,’ and they'll kill me but not you!
13 Say, therefore, I pray thee, that thou art my sister: that I may be well used for thee, and that my soul may live for thy sake.
Tell them you're my sister so I'll be treated well because of you, and my life will be spared for your sake.”
14 And when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman that she was very beautiful.
When Abram arrived in Egypt, the people there saw how beautiful Sarai was.
15 And the princes told Pharao, and praised her before him: and the woman was taken into the house of Pharao.
Pharaoh's officials also noticed and spoke positively about her to Pharaoh. So Sarai was taken to his palace to become one of his wives.
16 And they used Abram well for her sake. And he had sheep and oxen, and he asses, and men servants and maid servants, and she asses, and camels.
Pharaoh treated Abram well because of her, giving him sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the Lord scourged Pharao and his house with most grievous stripes for Sarai, Abram’s wife.
But the Lord caused Pharaoh and the people in his palace to suffer from terrible diseases because of Sarai, Abram's wife.
18 And Pharao called Abram, and said to him: What is this that thou hast done to me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
So Pharaoh ordered Abram brought to him and said, “What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me that she was your wife?
19 For what cause didst thou say, she was thy sister, that I might take her to my wife? Now, therefore, there is thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
Why did you say, ‘She's my sister,’ and let me take her to become one of my wives? So here's your wife! Take her and leave!”
20 And Pharao gave his men orders concerning Abram: and they led him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
Pharaoh ordered his guards to expel him and his wife from the country, along with everyone with them and all their possessions.
