Genesis 12:1-9 ▼

1 Then the LORD {YHWH} said to Abram (exalted father), “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you .

2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you .

4 So Abram (exalted father) departed, as the LORD {YHWH} had directed him, and Lot (covering) went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran (mountaineer).

5 And Abram (exalted father) took his wife Sarai (princess), his nephew Lot (covering), and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran (mountaineer), and set out for the land of Canaan (lowland). When they came to the land of Canaan,

6 Abram (exalted father) traveled through the land as far as the site of the Oak (Terebinth) of Moreh (teacher) at Shechem (shoulder). And at that time the Canaanites (merchants) were in the land.

7 Then the LORD {YHWH} appeared to Abram (exalted father) and said, “I will give this land to your offspring . So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

8 From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel (house of God) and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai (heap of ruins) to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD {YHWH}, and he called on the name of the LORD.

9 And Abram (exalted father) journeyed on toward the Negev.