13:1 SO ABRAM went up out of Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South [country of Judah, the Negeb]. |
13:2 Now Abram was extremely rich in livestock and in silver and in gold. |
13:3 And he journeyed on from the South [country of Judah, the Negeb] as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, |
13:4 Where he had built an altar at first; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. |
13:5 But Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. |
13:6 Now the land was not able to nourish {and} support them so they could dwell together, for their possessions were too great for them to live together. |
13:7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land [making fodder more difficult to obtain]. |
13:8 So Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife, I beg of you, between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are relatives. |
13:9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself, I beg of you, from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you choose the right hand, then I will go to the left. |
13:10 And Lot looked and saw that everywhere the Jordan Valley was well watered. Before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, [it was all] like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar. |
13:11 Then Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley and [he] traveled east. So they separated. |
13:12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the [Jordan] Valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom {and} dwelt there. |
13:13 But the men of Sodom were wicked and exceedingly great sinners against the Lord. |
13:14 The Lord said to Abram after Lot had left him, Lift up now your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; |
13:15 For all the land which you see I will give to you and to your posterity forever. |
13:16 And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if a man could count the dust of the earth, then could your descendants also be counted. |
13:17 Arise, walk through the land, the length of it and the breadth of it, for I will give it to you. |
13:18 Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt among the oaks {or} terebinths of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and built there an altar to the Lord. |