Genesis - Chapter 13 { LISTEN ONLY THIS CHAPTER - PLAY HERE }
1 From Egypt Abram returned to the Negeb with his wife and all he possessed, and Lot with him.
2 Abram was very rich in livestock, silver and gold.
3 By stages he went from the Negeb to Bethel, where he had first pitched his tent, between Bethel and Ai,
4 at the place where he had formerly erected the altar. There Abram invoked the name of Yahweh.
5 Lot, who was travelling with Abram, had flocks and cattle of his own, and tents too.
6 The land was not sufficient to accommodate them both at once, for they had too many possessions to be able to live together.
7 Dispute broke out between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and those of Lot. (The Canaanites and Perizzites were living in the country at the time.)
8 Accordingly Abram said to Lot, 'We do not want discord between us or between my herdsmen and yours, for we are kinsmen.
9 Is not the whole land open before you? Go in the opposite direction to me: if you take the left, I shall go right; if you take the right, I shall go left.'
10 Looking round, Lot saw all the Jordan plain, irrigated everywhere -- this was before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah-like the garden of Yahweh or the land of Egypt, as far as Zoar.
11 So Lot chose all the Jordan plain for himself and moved off eastwards. Thus they parted company:
12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan; Lot settled among the cities of the plain, pitching his tents on the outskirts of Sodom.
13 Now the people of Sodom were vicious and great sinners against Yahweh.
14 Yahweh said to Abram after Lot had parted company from him, 'Look all round from where you are, to north and south, to east and west,
15 for all the land within sight I shall give to you and your descendants for ever.
16 I shall make your descendants like the dust on the ground; when people succeed in counting the specks of dust on the ground, then they will be able to count your descendants too!
17 On your feet! Travel the length and breadth of the country, for I mean to give it to you.'
18 So Abram moved his tent and went to settle at the Oak of Mamre, at Hebron, and there he built an altar to Yahweh.
Genesis - Chapter 14 { LISTEN ONLY THIS CHAPTER - PLAY HERE }
1 When Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedor-Laomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of the Goiim,
2 made war on Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar),
3 all the latter joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (now the Salt Sea).
4 For twelve years they had been under the yoke of Chedor-Laomer, but in the thirteenth year they revolted.
5 In the fourteenth year Chedor-Laomer arrived and the kings who had allied themselves with him. They defeated the Rephaim at Ashteroth-Carnaim, the Zuzim at Ham, the Emim in the Plain of Kiriathaim,
6 the Horites in the mountainous district of Seir near El-Paran, which is on the edge of the desert.
7 Wheeling round, they came to the Spring of Judgement (that is, Kadesh); they conquered all the territory of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-Tamar.
8 Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and engaged them in the Valley of Siddim:
9 Chedor-Laomer king of Elam, Tidal king of the Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar: four kings against five.
10 Now there were many bitumen wells in the Valley of Siddim, and in their flight the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fell into them, while the rest fled into the hills.
11 The conquerors seized all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and made off.
12 They also took Lot (the nephew of Abram) and his possessions and made off; he had been living at Sodom.
13 A survivor came to tell Abram, and Aner the Hebrew, who was living at the Oak of the Amorite Mamre, the brother of Eshcol; these were allies of Abram.
14 When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he mustered his retainers born in his own household, numbering three hundred and eighteen, and gave chase as far as Dan.
15 He and his retainers deployed against them under cover of dark, defeated them and pursued them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.
16 He recaptured all the goods as well as his kinsman Lot and his possessions, together with the women and people.
17 When Abram returned from defeating Chedor-Laomer and the kings who had been on his side, the king of Sodom came to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the Valley of the King).
18 Melchizedek king of Salem brought bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High.
19 He pronounced this blessing: Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High for putting your enemies into your clutches.
20 And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, 'Give me the people and take the possessions for yourself.'
22 But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, 'I swear by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth:
23 not one thread, not one sandal strap, will I take of what is yours, for you to be able to say, "I made Abram rich."
24 For myself, nothing -- except what the troops have used up, and the share due to the men who came with me, Eshcol, Aner and Mamre; let them take their share.'
Genesis - Chapter 15 { LISTEN ONLY THIS CHAPTER - PLAY HERE }
1 Some time later, the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram! I am your shield and shall give you a very great reward.
2 'Lord Yahweh,' Abram replied, 'what use are your gifts, as I am going on my way childless? . . .
3 Since you have given me no offspring,' Abram continued, 'a member of my household will be my heir.'
4 Then Yahweh's word came to him in reply, 'Such a one will not be your heir; no, your heir will be the issue of your own body.'
5 Then taking him outside, he said, 'Look up at the sky and count the stars if you can. Just so will your descendants be,' he told him.
6 Abram put his faith in Yahweh and this was reckoned to him as uprightness.
7 He then said to him, 'I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldaeans to give you this country as your possession.'
8 'Lord Yahweh,' Abram replied, 'how can I know that I shall possess it?'
9 He said to him, 'Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon.'
10 He brought him all these, split the animals down the middle and placed each half opposite the other; but the birds he did not divide.
11 And whenever birds of prey swooped down on the carcases, Abram drove them off.
12 Now, as the sun was on the point of setting, a trance fell on Abram, and a deep dark dread descended on him.
13 Then Yahweh said to Abram, 'Know this for certain, that your descendants will be exiles in a land not their own, and be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.
14 But I shall bring judgement on the nation that enslaves them and after this they will leave, with many possessions.
15 For your part, you will join your ancestors in peace; you will be buried at a happy old age.
16 In the fourth generation they will come back here, for until then the iniquity of the Amorites will not have reached its full extent.'
17 When the sun had set and it was dark, there appeared a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passing between the animals' pieces.
18 That day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram in these terms: 'To your descendants I give this country, from the River of Egypt to the Great River, the River Euphrates,
19 the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.'
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