The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 So Abram left Egypt and went back to the Negev, he and his wife and everything he owned, and Lot still with him.
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So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.
2 By now Abram was very rich, loaded with cattle and silver and gold.
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Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.
3 He moved on from the Negev, camping along the way, to Bethel, the place he had first set up his tent between Bethel and Ai
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And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
4 and built his first altar. Abram prayed there to God.
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to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the LORD.
5 Lot, who was traveling with Abram, was also rich in sheep and cattle and tents.
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And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents,
6 But the land couldn't support both of them; they had too many possessions. They couldn't both live there -
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so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together,
7 quarrels broke out between Abram's shepherds and Lot's shepherds. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living on the land at the time.
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and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.
8 Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have fighting between us, between your shepherds and my shepherds. After all, we're family.
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Then Abram said to Lot, "Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen.
9 Look around. Isn't there plenty of land out there? Let's separate. If you go left, I'll go right; if you go right, I'll go left."
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Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left."
10 Lot looked. He saw the whole plain of the Jordan spread out, well watered (this was before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah), like God's garden, like Egypt, and stretching all the way to Zoar.
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And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
11 Lot took the whole plain of the Jordan. Lot set out to the east.
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So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other.
12 Abram settled in Canaan; Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent near Sodom.
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Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom.
13 The people of Sodom were evil - flagrant sinners against God.
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Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD.
14 After Lot separated from him, God said to Abram, "Open your eyes, look around. Look north, south, east, and west.
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The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, "Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward,
15 Everything you see, the whole land spread out before you, I will give to you and your children forever.
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for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.
16 I'll make your descendants like dust - counting your descendants will be as impossible as counting the dust of the Earth.
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I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.
17 So - on your feet, get moving! Walk through the country, its length and breadth; I'm giving it all to you."
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Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you."
18 Abram moved his tent. He went and settled by the Oaks of Mamre in Hebron. There he built an altar to God.
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So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.