A modern English translation drawn directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. Translated word-for-word where possible, by a committee with scholarly oversight.
Uses the same source texts as the ESV, NASB, and most academic Bibles, including the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Nestle-Aland critical edition.
Genesis 13
Genesis 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the book of Genesis and the chapter in which Abram and Lot separate. The 18-verse chapter follows Abram out of Egypt and back to the land of Canaan, narrates the strife between his herdsmen and Lot's, and ends with the LORD repeating the promise of the land to Abram.
The chapter opens with Abram leaving Egypt and going up into the Negev with his wife, his nephew Lot, and all his possessions. Abram has become extremely wealthy in livestock, silver, and gold. He travels north from the Negev back to the place between Bethel and Ai where he had built an altar, and there he calls on the name of the LORD.
Lot, who travels with Abram, also has flocks, herds, and tents. The land cannot support both households together. The herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen of Lot quarrel, while the Canaanites and the Perizzites are also living in the land.
Abram speaks to Lot: "Please let there be no contention between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen. After all, we are kinsmen. Is not the whole land before you? Now separate yourself from me. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left."
Lot looks out and sees that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, is well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. The narrator notes that this is before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot chooses the plain of the Jordan and sets out toward the east. Abram lives in the land of Canaan, while Lot settles in the cities of the plain and pitches his tent toward Sodom. The men of Sodom are wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.
After Lot departs, the LORD speaks to Abram: "Now lift up your eyes from the place where you are, and look to the north and south and east and west, for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted." Abram moves his tent to the Oaks of Mamre at Hebron and builds an altar to the LORD.
Verse 1. So Abram went up out of Egypt into the Negev—he and his wife and all his possessions—and Lot was with him.
Verse 2. And Abram had become extremely wealthy in livestock and silver and gold.
Verse 3. From the Negev he journeyed from place to place toward Bethel, until he came to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been pitched,
Verse 4. to the site where he had built the altar. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
Verse 5. Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.
Verse 6. But the land was unable to support both of them while they stayed together, for they had so many possessions that they were unable to coexist.
Verse 7. And there was discord between the herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen of Lot. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were also living in the land.
Verse 8. So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no contention between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen. After all, we are kinsmen.
Verse 9. Is not the whole land before you? Now separate yourself from me. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”
Verse 10. And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
Verse 11. So Lot chose the whole plain of the Jordan for himself and set out toward the east. And Abram and Lot parted company.
Verse 12. Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
Verse 13. But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.
Verse 14. After Lot had departed, the LORD said to Abram, “Now lift up your eyes from the place where you are, and look to the north and south and east and west,
Verse 15. for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.
Verse 16. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted.
Verse 17. Get up and walk around the land, through its length and breadth, for I will give it to you.”
Verse 18. So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the Oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.
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