Genesis 15

Abram Promised a Son
¹After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying,
"Do not fear, Abram,
I am a shield to you;
Your reward shall be very great."
²Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"
³And Abram said, "Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir."
⁴Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir."
⁵And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them " And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."
⁶Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
⁷And He said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it."
⁸He said, "O Lord GOD, how may I know that I will possess it?"
⁹So He said to him, "Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon."
¹⁰Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.
¹¹The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
¹²Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.
¹³God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.
¹⁴"But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.
¹⁵"As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.
¹⁶"Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete."
¹⁷It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.
¹⁸On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying,
"To your descendants I have given this land,
From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
¹⁹the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite
²⁰and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim
²¹and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite."

Genesis 14

War of the Kings
¹And it came about in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim,
²that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
³All these came as allies to the valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
⁴Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but the thirteenth year they rebelled.
⁵In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim and the Zuzim in Ham and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,⁶and the Horites in their Mount Seir, as far as El-paran, which is by the wilderness.
⁷Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and conquered all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, who lived in Hazazon-tamar.
⁸And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out; and they arrayed for battle against them in the valley of Siddim, ⁹against Chedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim and Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar--four kings against five.
¹⁰Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them But those who survived fled to the hill country.
¹¹Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply, and departed.
¹²They also took Lot, Abram's nephew, and his possessions and departed, for he was living in Sodom.
¹³Then a fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew Now he was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, and these were allies with Abram.
¹⁴When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
¹⁵He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.
¹⁶He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative Lot with his possessions, and also the women, and the people.

God's Promise to Abram
¹⁷Then after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).
¹⁸And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.
¹⁹He blessed him and said,
"Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
²⁰And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand."
He gave him a tenth of all.
²¹The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give the people to me and take the goods for yourself."
²²Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have sworn to the LORD God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, ²³that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, 'I have made Abram rich.'
²⁴"I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share."

Genesis 13

Abram and Lot
¹So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him.
²Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold.
³He went on his journeys from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
⁴to the place of the altar which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
⁵Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.
⁶And the land could not sustain them while dwelling together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together.
⁷And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock Now the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land.
⁸So Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers.
⁹"Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left."
¹⁰Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere--this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah--like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar.
¹¹So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other.
¹²Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom.
¹³Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord.
¹⁴The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, "Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;
¹⁵for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.
¹⁶"I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered.
¹⁷"Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you."
¹⁸Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

Genesis 10-12

Descendants of Noah
¹Now these are the records of the generations of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and sons were born to them after the flood.
²The sons of Japheth were Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubal and Meshech and Tiras.
³The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz and Riphath and Togarmah.
⁴The sons of Javan were Elishah and Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim.
⁵From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.
⁶The sons of Ham were Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan.
⁷The sons of Cush were Seba and Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.
⁸Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth.
⁹He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord."
¹⁰The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
¹¹From that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah,
¹²and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.
¹³Mizraim became the father of Ludim and Anamim and Lehabim and Naphtuhim
¹⁴and Pathrusim and Casluhim (from which came the Philistines) and Caphtorim.
¹⁵Canaan became the father of Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth
¹⁶and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite
¹⁷and the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite
¹⁸and the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite; and afterward the families of the Canaanite were spread abroad.
¹⁹The territory of the Canaanite extended from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
²⁰These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, by their nations.
²¹Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth, children were born.
²²The sons of Shem were Elam and Asshur and Arpachshad and Lud and Aram.
²³The sons of Aram were Uz and Hul and Gether and Mash.
²⁴Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber.
²⁵Two sons were born to Eber; the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.
²⁶Joktan became the father of Almodad and Sheleph and Hazarmaveth and Jerah
²⁷and Hadoram and Uzal and Diklah
²⁸and Obal and Abimael and Sheba
²⁹and Ophir and Havilah and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan.
³⁰Now their settlement extended from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the hill country of the east.
³¹These are the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, according to their nations.
³²These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations; and out of these the nations were separated on the earth after the flood.

Universal Language, Babel, Confusion
^11:1Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words.
²It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
³They said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly." And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
⁴They said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."
⁵The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
⁶The Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.
⁷"Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another's speech."
⁸So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.
⁹Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

Descendants of Shem
¹⁰These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old, and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood; ¹¹and Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and he had other sons and daughters.
¹²Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and became the father of Shelah; ¹³and Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Shelah, and he had other sons and daughters.
¹⁴Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber; ¹⁵and Shelah lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Eber, and he had other sons and daughters.
¹⁶Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg; ¹⁷and Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and he had other sons and daughters.
¹⁸Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu; ¹⁹and Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after he became the father of Reu, and he had other sons and daughters.
²⁰Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug; ²¹and Reu lived two hundred and seven years after he became the father of Serug, and he had other sons and daughters.
²²Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor; ²³and Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and he had other sons and daughters.
²⁴Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah; ²⁵and Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and he had other sons and daughters.
²⁶Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
²⁷Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father of Lot.
²⁸Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
²⁹Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves The name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.
³⁰Sarai was barren; she had no child.
³¹Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there.
³²The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.

Abram Journeys to Egypt
^12:1Now the Lord said to Abram,
"Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father's house,
To the land which I will show you;
²And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
³And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."
⁴So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
⁵Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.
⁶Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land.
⁷The Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land " So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.
⁸Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.
⁹Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev.
¹⁰Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.
¹¹It came about when he came near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman; ¹²and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.
¹³"Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you."
¹⁴It came about when Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
¹⁵Pharaoh's officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
¹⁶Therefore he treated Abram well for her sake; and gave him sheep and oxen and donkeys and male and female servants and female donkeys and camels.
¹⁷But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.
¹⁸Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
¹⁹"Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her and go."
²⁰Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him. (NASB)

1 John 4:11

"Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." (NIV)

Colossians 3:13

"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." (NIV)

Malachi 2:10

"Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?" (NIV)