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Genesis 12 |
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| 12:1
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from
thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: |
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| 12:2
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make
thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: |
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| 12:3
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. |
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| 12:4
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. |
 (11:26, 32)
How old was Abram when he left Haran?
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| 12:5
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. |
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| 12:6
And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain
of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. |
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| 12:7
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. |
"The LORD appeared unto Abram."
Can God be seen?
 Abraham in Egypt
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| 12:8
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.
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| 12:9
And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
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| 12:10
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. |
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| 12:11
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: |
 Sarah -- An
irresistible beauty at 70
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| 12:12
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.
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| 12:13
Say, I pray thee, thouart my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul
shall live because of thee. |
 (12:13) "Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister."
Abram makes his wife lie for him, by telling the Egyptians that she is his sister. But at least it was half-true, since
she was his half-sister. Such incestuous marriages are condemned elsewhere in the
Bible, but god makes an exception for Abram and Sarai. (See Genesis 17:15-16
where God blesses their marriage and Genesis 20:2-18 where Abram repeats the same "she's my sister" lie.)
 (12:13)
This verse is also used to justify the Theocratic War Strategy of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
In the LDS Book of Abraham the same silly story is told, but it is God, not Abraham, who concocts the lie.
 (12:14-15)
"The Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair."
Poor Pharaoh couldn't resist the "very fair" Sarai, and he takes her into his harem.
 (12:17) "The LORD plagued
Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife."
God sends a plague on the Pharaoh and his household because the Pharaoh believed
Abram's lie.
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| 12:14
And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
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| 12:15
The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken
into Pharaoh's house.
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| 12:16
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.
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| 12:17
And the LORD plagued
Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.
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| 12:18
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?
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| 12:19
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.
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| 12:20
And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and
his wife, and all that he had.
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