Abram Rescues Lot

14 At the time when Amraphel was king of Shinar,a f Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomerg king of Elamh and Tidal king of Goyim, 2 these kings went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim,i and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).j 3 All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddimk (that is, the Dead Sea Valleyl). 4 For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer,m but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomern and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaiteso in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emitesp in Shaveh Kiriathaim 6 and the Horitesq in the hill country of Seir,r as far as El Parans near the desert. 7 Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh),t and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites,u as well as the Amoritesv who were living in Hazezon Tamar.w

8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah,x the king of Admah, the king of Zeboyimy and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar)z marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddima 9 against Kedorlaomerb king of Elam,c Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddimd was full of tare pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrahf fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills.g 11 The four kings seized all the goodsh of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. 12 They also carried off Abram’s nephew Loti and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.

13 A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew.j Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamrek the Amorite, a brotherb of Eshkoll and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his relativem had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trainedn men born in his householdo and went in pursuit as far as Dan.p 15 During the night Abram divided his menq to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.r 16 He recovereds all the goodst and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.

17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomeru and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodomv came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).w

18 Then Melchizedekx king of Salemy brought out breadz and wine.a He was priest of God Most High,b 19 and he blessed Abram,c saying,

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,d

Creator of heaven and earth.e

20 And praise be to God Most High,f

who delivered your enemies into your hand.”

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.g

21 The king of Sodomh said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goodsi for yourself.”

22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom,j “With raised handk I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High,l Creator of heaven and earth,m 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you,n not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ 24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre.o Let them have their share.”

The Lord’s Covenant With Abram

15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abramp in a vision:q

“Do not be afraid,r Abram.

I am your shield,a s

your very great reward.b t”

2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,u what can you give me since I remain childlessv and the one who will inheritc my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?w” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servantx in my householdy will be my heir.”

4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.z” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the starsa—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspringd be.”b

6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.c

7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you outd of Ur of the Chaldeanse to give you this land to take possession of it.”f

8 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,g how can I knowh that I will gain possession of it?”i

9 So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer,j a goat and a ram, each three years old,k along with a dove and a young pigeon.l”

10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other;m the birds, however, he did not cut in half.n 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses,o but Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep,p and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred yearsq your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslavedr and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come outs with great possessions.t 15 You, however, will go to your ancestorsu in peace and be buried at a good old age.v 16 In the fourth generationw your descendants will come back here,x for the sin of the Amoritesy has not yet reached its full measure.”

17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torchz appeared and passed between the pieces.a 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abramb and said, “To your descendants I give this land,c from the Wadie of Egyptd to the great river, the Euphratese—19 the land of the Kenites,f Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites,g Perizzites,h Rephaites,i 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”j

Hagar and Ishmael

16 Now Sarai,k Abram’s wife, had borne him no children.l But she had an Egyptian slavem named Hagar;n 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children.o Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”p

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaanq ten years,r Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar,s and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.t 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”u

6 “Your slave is in your hands,v” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreatedw Hagar; so she fled from her.

7 The angel of the Lordx found Hagar near a springy in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.z 8 And he said, “Hagar,a slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”b

“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”c

11 The angel of the Lordd also said to her:

“You are now pregnant

and you will give birth to a son.e

You shall name himf Ishmael,a g

for the Lord has heard of your misery.h

12 He will be a wild donkeyi of a man;

his hand will be against everyone

and everyone’s hand against him,

and he will live in hostility

towardb all his brothers.j”

13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,k” for she said, “I have now seenc the One who sees me.”l 14 That is why the wellm was called Beer Lahai Roid;n it is still there, between Kadesho and Bered.

15 So Hagarp bore Abram a son,q and Abram gave the name Ishmaelr to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years olds when Hagar bore him Ishmael.