I'll bless you, make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee:
and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
I will bless those that bless you, and curse those that curse you. [1]
4
So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him:
and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
So when Abraham was 75 years old, he left Haran. [2]
5
And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their
substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the
land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
6
And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain
of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
Abraham, Sarah, and Lot gathered all their possessions (and souls) and traveled from Haran to Canaan.
7
And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this
land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
8
And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and
pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there
he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
When they arrived in the land of Canaan, God appeared to Abraham [3], and said:
I will give all this land to your descendants.
Abraham built an altar for God at the place he appeared to him.
9
And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
10
And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to
sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
There was a famine in the land of Canaan, So Abraham and Sarah went to Egypt.
11
And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he
said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to
look upon:
12
Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that
they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save
thee alive.
Therefore the Egyptians will say, "This is his wife" and they'll kill me, but keep you alive.
13Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul
shall live because of thee.
So tell them you are my sister [6], so things will go well for me.
14
And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was
very fair.
15
The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken
into Pharaoh's house.
And sure enough, when they arrived in Egypt, Pharaoh couldn't resist the "very fair", 65-year-old Sarah,
and he takes her into his harem.
16
And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and
he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and
camels.
To pay Abraham for the use of his "sister", the Pharaoh gave him sheep, oxen, male and female asses, slaves, and
camels.
.
17
And the LORD plagued
Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.
God sent "great plagues" on the Pharaoh and his household because the Pharaoh believed
Abraham's lie.
18
And Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this that thou hast done unto
me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
Pharaoh called Abraham and said,
What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me Sarah was your wife?
19
Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to
wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
Why did you say, "She's my sister" so I would take her as my wife?
Now Go. Take your wife and leave.
20
And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and
his wife, and all that he had.
So Abraham and Sarah left, with all the stuff Pharaoh had given Abraham for the use of his "sister".
If Abraham is telling the truth here, then Abraham's lie was half-true, since Sarah was his half-sister.
But we only have Abraham to go on here. The Bible doesn't say who Sarah's parents were.
If Sarah is Abraham's half-sister, their marriage is condemned by the
Bible; yet God makes an exception for Abraham and Sarah. (See Gen 17:15-16
where God blesses their marriage and Gen 20:2-18 where Abraham repeats the same
"she's my sister" lie.)
In which God sends Avram on the first Birthright trip ever, famine strikes immediately, and some kings get into a fight. Recorded live at the Parkside Lounge on February 18, 2013. Guest: Esther Werdiger