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Genesis

Genesis means “beginning” or “origin.” Its Hebrew name, Bereshit (בְּרֵאשִׁית), comes from the opening words, “In the beginning.” Genesis tells the story of creation, humanity’s fall, God’s covenant promises, and His work through Abraham and his family. It introduces the foundational truth that God is the Creator who faithfully pursues, guides, and keeps His promises to His people.

Genesis 13

Genesis 13Barry Hays
00:00 / 02:39

Abram and Lot Part Ways


1 So Abram went up out of Egypt into the Negev—he and his wife and all his possessions—and Lot was with him.


2 And Abram had become extremely wealthy in livestock and silver and gold.


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,


4 to the site where he had built the altar. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.


5 Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.


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.


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.


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.


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.”



Lot Proceeds toward Sodom


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.)


11 So Lot chose the whole plain of the Jordan for himself and set out toward the east. And Abram and Lot parted company.


12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent toward Sodom.


13 But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.



God Renews the Promise to Abram


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,


15 for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.a


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.


17 Get up and walk around the land, through its length and breadth, for I will give it to you.”


18 So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the Oaksb  of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.




Footnotes:
15 a Cited in Galatians 3:16
18 b Or Terebinths or Great Trees

Berean Standard Bible (BSB) printed 2016, 2020, 2022, 2025 by Bible Hub and Berean.Bible. Produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, unfoldingWord, Bible Aquifer, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain. Free downloads and unlimited usage available. See also the Berean Literal Bible and Berean Interlinear Bible.Berean Standard Bible (BSB) • Audio narration by Barry Hays • Dedicated to the public domain (CC0)

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