Genesis 14

Abram Rescues Lot

1 About this time, King Amraphel of Babylonia,t King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim2 attacked King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, also known as the city of Zoar.

3-4 King Chedorlaomer and his allies had ruled these last five kings for twelve years, but in the thirteenth year the kings rebelled and came together in Siddim Valley, which is now covered by the southern part of the Dead Sea.
5 A year later King Chedorlaomer and his allies attacked and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, and the Emites in Shaveh-Kiriathaim.

6 They also defeated the Horites in the hill country of Edom,t as far as El-Paran, near the desert.

7 They went back to the city of Enmishpat, better known as Kadesh. Then they captured all the land that belonged to the Amalekites, and they defeated the Amorites who were living in Hazazon-Tamar.
8-9 At Siddim Valley, the armies of the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela fought the armies of King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Babylonia, and King Arioch of Ellasar. The valley10 was full of tar pits, and when the troops from Sodom and Gomorrah started running away, some of them fell into the pits. Others escaped to the hill country.11 Their enemies took everything of value from Sodom and Gomorrah, including their food supplies.

12 They also captured Abram’s nephew Lot, who lived in Sodom. They took him and his possessions and then left.
13 At this time Abram the Hebrew was living near the oaks that belonged to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his brothers Eshcol and Aner were Abram’s friends. Someone who had escaped from the battle told Abram

14 that his nephew Lot had been taken away. Three hundred eighteen of Abram’s servants were fighting men, so he took them and followed the enemy as far north as the city of Dan.
15 That night, Abram divided up his troops, attacked from all sides, and won a great victory. But some of the enemy escaped to the town of Hobah north of Damascus,16 and Abram went after them. He brought back his nephew Lot, together with Lot’s possessions and the women and everyone else who had been captured.

Abram is Blessed by Melchizedek

17 Abram returned after he had defeated King Chedorlaomer and the other kings. Then the king of Sodom went to meet Abram in Shaveh Valley, which is also known as King’s Valley.

18 t King Melchizedek of Salem was a priest of God Most High. He brought out some bread and wine

19 and said to Abram: “I bless you in the name
of God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.

20 All praise belongs to God Most High
for helping you defeat
your enemies.”
Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.

21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “All I want are my people. You can keep everything else.”
22 Abram answered: The Lord God Most High made the heavens and the earth. And I have promised him23 that I won’t keep anything of yours, not even a sandal strap or a piece of thread. Then you can never say that you are the one who made me rich.

24 Let my share be the food that my men have eaten. But Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre went with me, so give them their share of what we brought back.

Genesis 15

The Lord’s Promise to Abram

1 Later the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision, “Abram, don’t be afraid! I will protect you and reward you greatly.”
2 But Abram answered, “Lord All-Powerful, you have given me everything I could ask for, except children. And when I die, Eliezer of Damascus will get all I own.t

3 You have not given me any children, and this servant of mine will inherit everything.”
4 The Lord replied, “No, he won’t! You will have a son of your own, and everything you have will be his.”5 t5 Then the Lord took Abram outside and said, “Look at the sky and see if you can count the stars. That’s how many descendants you will have.”6 t6 Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord was pleased with him.

The Lord Makes Another Promise to Abram

7 The Lord said to Abram, “I brought you here from Ur in Chaldea, and I gave you this land.”

8 Abram asked, “Lord God, how can I know the land will be mine?”

9 Then the Lord told him, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a dove, and a young pigeon.”
10 Abram obeyed the Lord. Then he cutt the animals in half and laid the two halves of each animal opposite each other on the ground. But he did not cut the doves and pigeons in half.

11 And when birds came down to eat the animals, Abram chased them away.
12 t As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and everything became dark and frightening.

13-15 tt13-15 Then the Lord said: Abram, you will live to an old age and die in peace.
But I solemnly promise that your descendants will live as foreigners in a land that doesn’t belong to them. They will be forced into slavery and abused for four hundred years. But I will terribly punish the nation that enslaves them, and they will leave with many possessions.

16 Four generations later,t your descendants will return here and take this land, because only then will the people who live heret be so sinful that they deserve to be punished.
17 Sometime after sunset, when it was very dark, a smoking cooking pott and a flaming fire went between the two halves of each animal.18 t18 At that time the Lord made an agreement with Abram and told him: I will give your descendants the land east of the Shihor Rivert on the border of Egypt as far as the Euphrates River.19 They will possess the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaites,

21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

Genesis 16

Hagar and Ishmael

1 Abram’s wife Sarai had not been able to have any children. But she owned a young Egyptian slave woman named Hagar,2 and Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has not given me any children. Sleep with my slave, and if she has a child, it will be mine.”t Abram agreed,3 and Sarai gave him Hagar to be his wife. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan for ten years.

4 Later, when Hagar knew she was going to have a baby, she became proud and was hateful to Sarai.

5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “It’s all your fault!t I gave you my slave woman, but she has been hateful to me ever since she found out she was pregnant. You have done me wrong, and you will have to answer to the Lord for this.”

6 Abram said, “All right! She’s your slave, and you can do whatever you want with her.” But Sarai began treating Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.
7 Hagar stopped to rest at a spring in the desert on the road to Shur. While she was there, the angel of the Lord came to her

8 and asked, “Hagar, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She answered, “I’m running away from Sarai, my owner.”

9 The angel said, “Go back to Sarai and be her slave.10-11 I will give you a son, who will be called Ishmael,t because I have heard your cry for help. And later I will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all.

12 But your son will live far from his relatives; he will be like a wild donkey, fighting everyone, and everyone fighting him.”
13 Hagar thought, “Have I really seen God and lived to tell about it?”t So from then on she called him, “The God Who Sees Me.”t

14 That’s why people call the well between Kadesh and Bered, “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.” t

15-16 t15-16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to their son, and he named him Ishmael.