< Genesis 12 >
1 The Lord told Abram, “Leave your country, your relatives, your family home, and travel to the country I'm going to show you.
Now the Lord said to Abram, Go out from your country and from your family and from your father's house, into the land to which I will be your guide:
2 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.
And I will make of you a great nation, blessing you and making your name great; and you will be a blessing:
3 I will bless those who bless you; I will curse those who curse you. Everyone on earth will be blessed through you.”
To them who are good to you will I give blessing, and on him who does you wrong will I put my curse: and you will become a name of blessing to all the families of the earth.
4 So Abram left following the Lord's instructions, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 when he left Haran.
So Abram went as the Lord had said to him, and Lot went with him: Abram was seventy-five years old when he went away from Haran.
5 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,
And Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their goods and the servants which they had got in Haran, and they went out to go to the land of Canaan.
6 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.
And Abram went through the land till he came to Shechem, to the holy tree of Moreh. At that time, the Canaanites were still living in the land.
7 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.
And the Lord came to Abram, and said, I will give all this land to your seed; then Abram made an altar there to the Lord who had let himself be seen by him.
8 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.
And moving on from there to the mountain on the east of Beth-el, he put up his tent, having Beth-el on the west and Ai on the east: and there he made an altar and gave worship to the name of the Lord.
9 After that he went on his way, heading towards the Negev.
And he went on, journeying still to the South.
10 But the land had been hit by famine. So Abram continued on to Egypt, planning to live there because the famine was so bad.
And because there was little food to be had in that land, he went down into Egypt.
11 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.
Now when he came near to Egypt, he said to Sarai, his wife, Truly, you are a fair woman and beautiful to the eye;
12 When the Egyptians see you, they'll say, ‘She's his wife,’ and they'll kill me but not you!
And I am certain that when the men of Egypt see you, they will say, This is his wife: and they will put me to death and keep you.
13 Tell them you're my sister so I'll be treated well because of you, and my life will be spared for your sake.”
Say, then, that you are my sister, and so it will be well with me because of you, and my life will be kept safe on your account.
14 When Abram arrived in Egypt, the people there saw how beautiful Sarai was.
And so it was that when Abram came into Egypt, the men of Egypt, looking on the woman, saw that she was fair.
15 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.
And Pharaoh's great men, having seen her, said words in praise of her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into Pharaoh's house.
16 Pharaoh treated Abram well because of her, giving him sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
And because of her, he was good to Abram, and he had sheep and oxen and asses, and men-servants and women-servants, and camels.
17 But the Lord caused Pharaoh and the people in his palace to suffer from terrible diseases because of Sarai, Abram's wife.
And the Lord sent great troubles on Pharaoh's house because of Sarai, Abram's wife.
18 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?
Then Pharaoh sent for Abram, and said, What have you done to me? why did you not say that she was your wife?
19 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!”
Why did you say that she was your sister? so that I took her for my wife: now, take your wife and go on your way.
20 Pharaoh ordered his guards to expel him and his wife from the country, along with everyone with them and all their possessions.
And Pharaoh gave orders to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and all he had.