The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and IN THEE shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

So Abram went out as the Lord had commanded him, and Lot went with him: Abram was seventy-five years old when he went forth from Haran.

And he took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all the substance which they had gathered, and the souls which they had gotten in Haran: and they went out to go into the land of Chanaan. And when they were come into it,

Abram passed through the country unto the place of Sichem, as far as the noble vale: now the Chanaanite was at that time in the land.

And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him: To thy seed will I give this land. And he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

And passing on from thence to a mountain, that was on the east side of Bethel, he there pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: he built there also an altar to the Lord, and called upon his name.

And Abram went forward, going and proceeding on to the south.

And there came a famine in the country: and Abram went down into Egypt, to sojourn there: for the famine was very grievous in the land.

And when he was near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife: I know that thou art a beautiful woman:

And that when the Egyptians shall see thee, they will say: She is his wife: and they will kill me, and keep thee.

Say, therefore, I pray thee, that thou art my sister: that I may be well used for thee, and that my soul may live for thy sake.

And when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman that she was very beautiful.

And the princes told Pharao, and praised her before him: and the woman was taken into the house of Pharao.

And they used 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.

But the Lord scourged Pharao and his house with most grievous stripes for Sarai, Abram's wife.

And Pharao called Abram, and said to him: What is this that thou hast done to me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?

For what cause didst thou say, she was thy sister, that I might take her to my wife? Now therefore there is thy wife, take her, and go thy way.

And Pharao gave his men orders concerning Abram: and they led him away and his wife, and all that he had.

And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him into the south.

And he was very rich in possession of gold and silver.

And he returned by the way, that he came, from the south to Bethel, to the place where before he had pitched his tent between Bethel and Hai,

In the place of the altar which he had made before, and there he called upon the name of the Lord.

But Lot also, who was with Abram, had flocks of sheep, and herds of beasts, and tents.

Neither was the land able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, and they could not dwell together.

Whereupon also there arose a strife between the herdsmen of Abram and of Lot. And at that time the Chanaanite and the Pherezite dwelled in that country.

Abram therefore said to Lot: Let there be no quarrel, I beseech thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen: for we are brethren.

Behold the whole land is before thee: depart from me, I pray thee: if thou wilt go to the left hand, I will take the right: if thou choose the right hand, I will pass to the left.

And Lot lifting up his eyes, saw all the country about the Jordan, which was watered throughout, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, as the paradise of the Lord, and like Egypt as one comes to Segor.

And Lot chose to himself the country about the Jordan, and he departed from the east: and they were separated one brother from the other.

Abram dwelt in the land of Chanaan: and Lot abode in the towns, that were about the Jordan, and dwelt in Sodom.

And the men of Sodom were very wicked, and sinners before the face of the Lord beyond measure.

And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him: Lift up thy eyes, and look from the place wherein thou now art, to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west.

All the land which thou seest, I will give to thee, and to thy seed for ever.

And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: if any man be able to number the dust of the earth, he shall be able to number thy seed also.

Arise and walk through the land in the length, and the breadth thereof: for I will give it to thee.

So Abram removing his tent, came, and dwelt by the vale of Mambre, which is in Hebron: and he built there an altar to the Lord.

And it came to pass at that time, that Amraphel, king of Sennaar, and Arioch, king of Pontus, and Chodorlahomor, king of the Elamites, and Thadal, king of nations,

Made war against Bara, king of Sodom, and against Bersa, king of Gomorrha, and against Sennaab, king of Adama, and against Semeber, king of Seboim, and against the king of Bala, which is Segor.

All these came together into the woodland vale, which now is the salt sea.

For they had served Chodorlahomor twelve years, and in the thirteenth year they revolted from him.

And in the fourteenth year came Chodorlahomor, and the kings that were with him: and they smote the Raphaim in Astarothcarnaim, and the Zuzim with them, and the Emim in Save of Cariathaim.

And the Chorreans in the mountains of Seir, even to the plains of Pharan, which is in the wilderness.

And they returned, and came to the fountain of Misphat, the same is Cades: and they smote all the country of the Amalecites, and the Amorrhean that dwelt in Asasonthamar.

And the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha, and the king of Adama, and the king of Seboim, and the king of Bala, which is Segor, went out: and they set themselves against them in battle array, in the woodland vale:

To wit, against Chodorlahomor king of the Elamites, and Thadal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Sennaar, and Arioch king of Pontus: four kings against five.

Now the woodland vale had many pits of slime. And the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha turned their backs, and were overthrown there: and they that remained, fled to the mountain.

And they took all the substance of the Sodomites, and Gomorrhites, and all their victuals, and went their way:

And Lot also, the son of Abram's brother, who dwelt in Sodom, and his substance.

And behold one, that had escaped, told Abram the Hebrew, who dwelt in the vale of Mambre the Amorrhite, the brother of Escol, and the brother of Aner: for these had made a league with Abram.

Which when Abram had heard, to wit, that his brother Lot was taken, he numbered of the servants born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, well appointed: and pursued them to Dan.

And dividing his company, he rushed upon them in the night, and defeated them: and pursued them as far as Hoba, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

And he brought back all the substance, and Lot his brother, with his substance, the women also, and the people.

And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after he returned from the slaughter of Chodorlahomor, and of the kings that were with him in the vale of Save, which is the king's vale.

But Melchisedech, the king of Salem, bringing forth bread and wine, for he was the priest of the most high God,

Blessed him, and said: Blessed be Abram by the most high God, who created heaven and earth.

And blessed be the most high God, by whose protection, the enemies are in thy hands. And he gave him the tithes of all.

And the king of Sodom said to Abram: Give me the persons, and the rest take to thyself.

And he answered him: I lift up my hand to the Lord God the most high, the possessor of heaven and earth,

That from the very woof thread unto the shoe latchet, I will not take of any things that are thine, lest thou say: I have enriched Abram.

Except such things as the young men have eaten, and the shares of the men that came with me, Aner, Escol, and Mambre: these shall take their shares.

Now when these things were done, the word of the Lord came to Abram by a vision, saying: Fear not, Abram, I am thy protector, and thy reward exceeding great.

And Abram said: Lord God, what wilt thou give me? I shall go without children: and the son of the steward of my house is this Damascus Eliezer.

And Abram added: But to me thou hast not given seed: and lo my servant born in my house, shall be my heir.

And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: He shall not be thy heir: but he that shall come out of thy bowels, him shalt thou have for thy heir.

And he brought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to heaven and number the stars if thou canst. And he said to him: So shall thy seed be.

Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.

And he said to him: I am the Lord who brought thee out from Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land, and that thou mightest possess it.

But he said: Lord God, whereby may I know that I shall possess it?

And the Lord answered, and said: Take me a cow of three years old, and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years, a turtle also, and a pigeon.

And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid the two pieces of each one against the other: but the birds he divided not.

And the fowls came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great and darksome horror seized upon him.

And it was said unto him: Know thou beforehand that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own, and they shall bring them under bondage, and afflict them four hundred years.

But I will judge the nation which they shall serve, and after this they shall come out with great substance.

And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried in a good old age.

But in the fourth generation they shall return hither: for as yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full until this present time.

And when the sun was set, there arose a dark mist, and there appeared a smoking furnace, and a lamp of fire passing between those divisions.

That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: To thy seed will I give this land, from the river to Egypt even to the great river Euphrates.

The Cineans, and Cenezites, the Cedmonites,

And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also,

And the Amorrhites, and the Chanaanites, and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.

Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, had brought forth no children: but having a handmaid, an Egyptian, named Agar,

She said to her husband: Behold, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: go in unto my handmaid, it may be I may have children of her at least. And when he agreed to her request,

She took Agar the Egyptian her handmaid, ten years after they first dwelt in the land of Chanaan, and gave her to her husband to wife.

And he went in to her. But she perceiving that she was with child, despised her mistress.

And Sarai said to Abram: Thou dost unjustly with me: I gave my handmaid into thy bosom, and she perceiving herself to be with child, despiseth me. The Lord judge between me and thee.

And Abram made answer, and said to her: Behold thy handmaid is in thy own hand, use her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai afflicted her, she ran away.

And the angel of the Lord having found her, by a fountain of water in the wilderness, which is in the way to Sur in the desert,

He said to her: Agar, handmaid of Sarai, whence comest thou? and whither goest thou? And she answered: I flee from the face of Sarai, my mistress.

And the angel of the Lord said to her: Return to thy mistress, and humble thyself under her hand.

And again he said: I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, and it shall not be numbered for multitude.

And again: Behold, said he, thou art with child, and thou shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Ismael, because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.

He shall be a wild man: his hand will be against all men, and all men's hands against him: and he shall pitch his tents over against all his brethren.

And she called the name of the Lord that spoke unto her: Thou the God who hast seen me. For she said: Verily, here have I seen the hinder parts of him that seeth me.

Therefore she called that well, the well of him that liveth and seeth me. The same is between Cades and Barad.

And Agar brought forth a son to Abram: who called his name Ismael.

Abram was four score and six years old when Agar brought him forth Ismael.

And after he began to be ninety and nine years old, the Lord appeared to him: and said unto him: I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and be perfect.

And I will make my covenant between me and thee: and I will multiply thee exceedingly.

Abram fell flat on his face.