Genesis 12
1 And Yahweh said unto Abram: Come thou on thy way, Out of thy land and out of the place of thy birth and out of the house of thy father, —Unto the land that I will show thee;
Then Yahweh said to Abram, “Leave this country where you are now living. Leave your father’s clan and his family. Go to a land that I will show you.
2 That I may make thee into a great nation, And bless thee and make great thy name, And become thou a blessing;
I will cause your descendants to become a large nation. I will bless you and cause you to become (famous/highly esteemed). What I do for you will be a blessing to others.
3 That I may bless them who bless thee, But him who maketh light of thee, will I curse, —So shall be, blessed in thee, all the families of the ground.
I will bless those who (bless/ask God to do good things for) you, and I will (curse/ask God to punish) those who do evil things to you. And because of what you do, groups of people all over the earth will receive blessings (OR, people will wish that God will bless others as much as he has blessed you).”
4 And Abram came on his way, according to that which Yahweh had spoken unto him, and Lot came with him, —now, Abram, was seventy-five years old, when he came forth out of Haran.
So Abram left Haran [town], as Yahweh told him to do. Abram was 75 years old when he left there along with his wife, Sarai, and his nephew, Lot.
5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, with all the goods that they had gathered and the souls that they had gained in Haran, —and they came forth to go towards the land of Canaan, and came in to the land of Canaan.
Abram also took along all the possessions and slaves that they had accumulated/acquired in Haran [town], and they left there and went to Canaan land.
6 And Abram passed along throughout the land, as far as the place of Shechem as far as the Teacher’s Terebinth, the Canaanite being then in the land.
In Canaan they traveled as far as Shechem [town] and camped by a huge tree called the tree of Moreh. The Canaan people-group were still living in that land.
7 And Yahweh appeared unto Abram, and said: To thy seed, will I give this land, —And he built there an altar, unto Yahweh who appeared unto him.
Then Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I will give this land to your descendants.” Then Abram built a stone altar to offer a sacrifice to Yahweh because Yahweh had appeared to him.
8 And he moved on from thence towards the hill country, on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, —with Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east, and built there an altar to Yahweh, and called on the name of Yahweh.
From Shechem, Abram and his family traveled to the hills that were east of Bethel [town]. Bethel [town] was to the west of where they set up their tent, and Ai [town] was further to the east. There he built another stone altar and offered a sacrifice and worshiped Yahweh there.
9 Thus Abram brake up, again and again, towards the South.
Then they left there and started traveling south to the Negev [Desert].
10 And it came to pass that there was a famine, in the land, —so Abram went down towards Egypt, to sojourn there, because grievous, was the famine in the land.
There was (a famine/very little food to eat) in Canaan, so they went south to live in Egypt for a while.
11 And it came to pass when he had come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife: Behold! I beseech thee I know that a woman fair to look on, thou art:
Just as they were about to enter Egypt, Abram said to his wife Sarai, “Listen, I know that you are a very beautiful woman.
12 so will it come to pass when the Egyptians behold thee, that they will say, His wife, this! and will slay me while thee, they preserve alive.
When the people in Egypt see you, they will say, ‘This woman is his wife!’ and they will kill me in order to get you, but they will not kill you.
13 Say, I beseech thee that my sister, art thou, —to the end it may be well with me for thy sake, so shall my soul be preserved alive because of thee.
So I ask you to tell them that you are my sister, so that because of you telling them that, they will (spare my life/not kill me).”
14 And so it was when Abram entered into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman, that fair, was she exceedingly.
And as soon as they arrived in Egypt, the people in Egypt saw that his wife was indeed very beautiful.
15 And the princes of Pharaoh beheld her, and praised her unto Pharaoh, —so the woman was taken to the house of Pharaoh;
When the king’s officials saw her, they told the king how beautiful she was. And they took her to the king’s palace.
16 and with Abram, dealt he well for her sake, —so that he came to have flocks and herds and he-asses, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and she-asses and camels.
The king treated Abram kindly because of Sarai, and he gave Abram many sheep and cattle and donkeys and male and female slaves and camels.
17 And Yahweh plagued Pharaoh with great plagues, also his house, —for the matter of Sarai, wife of Abram.
But because the king had taken Sarai, Abram’s wife, Yahweh caused the king and the others in his household to be inflicted with terrible diseases.
18 And Pharaoh called out to Abram, and said, What is this thou hast done to me? Wherefore didst thou not tell me, that she was, thy wife?
When the king realized why that was happening, he summoned Abram and said to him, “Why did you do this to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
19 Wherefore saidst thou My sister, she; and so I was about to take her to me, to wife? But now, lo! thy wife take her and go thy way.
Why did you lie, saying she is your sister, with the result that I took her to be my wife? You should not have done that! So now take your wife, leave here and go!”
20 And Pharaoh gave command concerning him unto certain men, —and sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.
Then the king told his officials/servants to take Abram and his wife and all his possessions out of Egypt.
