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.
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;
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.
That I may make thee into a great nation, And bless thee and make great thy name, And become thou 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.”
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.
4 So Abram left following the Lord's instructions, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 when he left Haran.
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.
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, 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
9 After that he went on his way, heading towards the Negev.
Thus Abram brake up, again and again, towards 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 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.
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.
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:
12 When the Egyptians see you, they'll say, ‘She's his wife,’ and they'll kill me but not you!
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.
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, 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.
14 When Abram arrived in Egypt, the people there saw how beautiful Sarai was.
And so it was when Abram entered into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman, that fair, was she exceedingly.
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 the princes of Pharaoh beheld her, and praised her unto Pharaoh, —so the woman was taken to the house of Pharaoh;
16 Pharaoh treated Abram well because of her, giving him sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
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.
17 But the Lord caused Pharaoh and the people in his palace to suffer from terrible diseases because of Sarai, Abram's wife.
And Yahweh plagued Pharaoh with great plagues, also his house, —for the matter of Sarai, wife of Abram.
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?
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?
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!”
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.
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 command concerning him unto certain men, —and sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.
