1 Now 1the LORDsaid to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father'shouse, To the landwhich I will show you;
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And 2I will make you a greatnation, And 3I will bless you, And make your namegreat; And so 4you shall be a blessing;
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And 5I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. 6And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."
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So Abramwent forth as the LORD had spoken to him; and 7Lotwent with him. Now Abram was seventy-fiveyearsold when he departed from Haran.
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AbramtookSarai his wife and Lot his nephew*, and all their 8possessionswhich they had accumulated, and 9the personswhich they had acquired in Haran, and they set* out for the land of Canaan; 10thus they came to the land of Canaan.
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Abrampassedthrough the land as far as the site of 11Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land.
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The LORD12appeared to Abram and said, "13To your descendants I will givethisland." So he built14an altarthere to the LORD who had appeared to him.
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Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with 15Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and 16called upon the name of the LORD.
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Abramjourneyed on, continuing* toward 17the Negev.
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Now there was 18a famine in the land; so Abramwentdown to Egypt to sojournthere, for the famine was 19severe in the land.
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It came about when he came*near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "Seenow, I know that you are a 20beautifulwoman;
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21and when the Egyptianssee you, they will say, 'This is his wife '; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.
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"Pleasesay that you are 22my sisterso that it may gowell with me because of you, and that 23I may live on account of you."
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It came about when Abramcame into Egypt, the Egyptianssaw that the woman was verybeautiful.
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Pharaoh'sofficialssaw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and 24the woman was taken into Pharaoh'shouse.
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Therefore 25he treatedAbramwell for her sake; and 26gave him sheep and oxen and donkeys and male and femaleservants and femaledonkeys and camels.
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But the LORD27struckPharaoh and his house with greatplaguesbecause* of Sarai, Abram'swife.
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Then PharaohcalledAbram and said, "28What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
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"Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her and go."
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Pharaohcommanded his menconcerning him; and they escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.