Genesis 12
1 Now the LORD said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will shew 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 and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be 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 and I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
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 So Abram went, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed 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, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
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 through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the oak of Moreh. And the Canaanite was 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 the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, 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 removed from thence unto the mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Ai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
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 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.
Then they left there and started traveling south to the Negev [Desert].
10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was sore 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 was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:
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 and it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee 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 pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake, and that my soul may live 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 it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
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 saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
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 he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and menservants, and maidservants, 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 the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.
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 Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why 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 Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so that I took her to be my wife: now therefore behold 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 men charge concerning him: and they brought him on the way, and 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.
