Abram and Lot Separate

¹So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, ainto the Negeb.

²bNow Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³And 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, ⁴to cthe place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord. ⁵And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, ⁶so that dthe land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, ⁷eand there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. At that time fthe Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.

⁸Then Abram said to Lot, g“Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, hfor we are kinsmen.1 ⁹iIs 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.” ¹⁰And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the jJordan Valley was well watered everywhere like kthe garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of lZoar. (This was before the Lord mdestroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) ¹¹So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. ¹²Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. ¹³Now the men of Sodom nwere wicked, great sinners against the Lord.

¹⁴The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, onorthward and southward and eastward and westward, ¹⁵for all the land that you see I will give pto you and qto your offspring forever. ¹⁶rI 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. ¹⁷Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” ¹⁸So Abram moved his tent and came and ssettled by the toaks2 of Mamre, which uare at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.