Genesis 12

1The Lord said to Abram: ‘You must leave your land. Go away from it and from your family and the house of your father. I will show you where you must go.

2I will build a great nation from you. I will bless you and make your name famous. People will use your name to bless other people.

3I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you. I will use you to bless all the people on earth

4So Abram left Haran just like the Lord said, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.

5Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the slaves, and all the other things he had gotten in Haran. Then he and his group moved to the land of Canaan.

6Abram walked from one side of the land to the other side. At that time the Canaanite people lived in the land. Abram went to the town of Shechem, to the big tree of Moreh.

7The Lord appeared to Abram and the Lord said to him: I will give this land to your children and your family. Then Abram made an altar for the Lord because the Lord had appeared to him.

8Then Abram left Shechem and traveled to the mountains east of Bethel. Abram set up his tent there. Bethel was to the west, and Ai was to the east. Abram built an altar there to worship the Lord.

9Later, Abram took his tents and he went away to the south of Canaan.

10During this time there was not enough food in the land of Canaan and Abram went to the land of Egypt to stay there, because there was very little food in his own land.

11When they came near Egypt, Abram said to his wife Sarai: I know you are a beautiful woman.

12When the Egyptian people see you, Sari, they will kill me and take you because I am your husband, but they will not kill you.

13Sarai must tell the Egyptians that you are my sister, and then they will not kill me. They will think I am your brother, and they will be good to me. If you do this, you will help me and save my life.’

14When Abram and Sarai came into the land of Egypt, the people of Egypt saw how beautiful Sarai was.

15The people who worked for Pharaoh told him about Sarai and they took Sarai and said she must stay in the palace of the Pharaoh.

16Pharaoh was good to Abram because he thought that Sarai was his sister. Pharaoh gave Abram sheep, cattle, donkeys, slaves and camels.

17But the Lord made Pharaoh and his family very sick because he had taken Sarai was Abram’s wife

18Then Pharaoh called Abram, and he asked Abram: Why have you done this bad thing to me? Why didn’t you tell me that Sarai is your wife?

19Why did you lie to me and say Sarai is your sister? Because you lied to me, I took her as my wife and God has made us sick. Now you must take Sarai and go away. She is your wife.

20Pharaoh told his servants to take Abram and his wife and all the things that belonged to him out of the land of Egypt.