< Genesis 12 >
1 Now the LORD had said to Abram, Depart from thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, to a land that I will show thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him: and Abram [was] seventy and five years old when he departed from Haran.
5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went to go forth into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
6 And Abram passed through the land to the place of Sichem, to the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite [was] then in the land.
7 And the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, To thy seed will I give this land: and there he erected an altar to the LORD, who appeared to him.
8 And he removed from thence to a mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, [having] Beth-el on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he erected an altar to the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
9 And Abram journeyed, going on still towards the south.
10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to dwell there; for the famine [was] grievous in the land.
11 And it came to pass, when he had come near to enter into Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou [art] a fair woman to look upon:
12 Therefore it will come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they will say, This [is] his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.
13 Say, I pray thee, thou [art] my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.
14 And it came to pass, that when Abram had come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she [was] very fair.
15 The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
16 And he treated 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.
17 And the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues, because of Sarai, Abram's wife.
18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What [is] this [that] thou hast done to me? why didst thou not tell me that she [is] thy wife?
19 Why saidst thou, She [is] my sister? so I might have taken her to me for a wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take [her], and go thy way.
20 And Pharaoh commanded [his] men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.