< בראשית 12 >

ויאמר יהוה אל אברם לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך 1
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.
ואעשך לגוי גדול ואברכך ואגדלה שמך והיה ברכה 2
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.
ואברכה מברכיך ומקללך אאר ונברכו בך כל משפחת האדמה 3
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).”
וילך אברם כאשר דבר אליו יהוה וילך אתו לוט ואברם בן חמש שנים ושבעים שנה בצאתו מחרן 4
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.
ויקח אברם את שרי אשתו ואת לוט בן אחיו ואת כל רכושם אשר רכשו ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן ויצאו ללכת ארצה כנען ויבאו ארצה כנען 5
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.
ויעבר אברם בארץ עד מקום שכם עד אלון מורה והכנעני אז בארץ 6
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.
וירא יהוה אל אברם ויאמר לזרעך אתן את הארץ הזאת ויבן שם מזבח ליהוה הנראה אליו 7
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.
ויעתק משם ההרה מקדם לבית אל--ויט אהלה בית אל מים והעי מקדם ויבן שם מזבח ליהוה ויקרא בשם יהוה 8
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.
ויסע אברם הלוך ונסוע הנגבה 9
Then they left there and started traveling south to the Negev [Desert].
ויהי רעב בארץ וירד אברם מצרימה לגור שם כי כבד הרעב בארץ 10
There was (a famine/very little food to eat) in Canaan, so they went south to live in Egypt for a while.
ויהי כאשר הקריב לבוא מצרימה ויאמר אל שרי אשתו הנה נא ידעתי כי אשה יפת מראה את 11
Just as they were about to enter Egypt, Abram said to his wife Sarai, “Listen, I know that you are a very beautiful woman.
והיה כי יראו אתך המצרים ואמרו אשתו זאת והרגו אתי ואתך יחיו 12
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.
אמרי נא אחתי את--למען ייטב לי בעבורך וחיתה נפשי בגללך 13
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).”
ויהי כבוא אברם מצרימה ויראו המצרים את האשה כי יפה הוא מאד 14
And as soon as they arrived in Egypt, the people in Egypt saw that his wife was indeed very beautiful.
ויראו אתה שרי פרעה ויהללו אתה אל פרעה ותקח האשה בית פרעה 15
When the king’s officials saw her, they told the king how beautiful she was. And they took her to the king’s palace.
ולאברם היטיב בעבורה ויהי לו צאן ובקר וחמרים ועבדים ושפחת ואתנת וגמלים 16
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.
וינגע יהוה את פרעה נגעים גדלים ואת ביתו על דבר שרי אשת אברם 17
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.
ויקרא פרעה לאברם ויאמר מה זאת עשית לי למה לא הגדת לי כי אשתך הוא 18
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?
למה אמרת אחתי הוא ואקח אתה לי לאשה ועתה הנה אשתך קח ולך 19
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!”
ויצו עליו פרעה אנשים וישלחו אתו ואת אשתו ואת כל אשר לו 20
Then the king told his officials/servants to take Abram and his wife and all his possessions out of Egypt.

< בראשית 12 >