Abram and Lot Separate

13 So Abram, his wife, and Lot ·left [^Lcame up from] Egypt, taking everything they owned, and traveled ·to southern Canaan [^Linto the Negev; ^Ca somewhat desolate area]. ² Abram was very rich in cattle, silver, and gold.

³ He ·left [^Lwent by stages from] ·southern Canaan [^Lthe Negev] and went back to Bethel where ·he had camped before [^Lhis tent had been], between Bethel and Ai [12:8], ⁴ and where he had built an altar [^Lat first]. So he ·worshiped [^Lcalled on the name of] the Lord there.

⁵ During this time Lot was traveling with Abram, and Lot also had flocks, herds, and tents. ⁶ Abram and Lot had so many ·animals [^Lpossessions] that the land could not support both of them together, ⁷ so Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen began to argue. The Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at this time.

⁸ Abram said to Lot, “There should be no arguing between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, because we are ·brothers [relatives]. ⁹ We should separate. ·The whole land is [^LIs not the whole land…?] there in front of you. If you go to the left, I will go to the right. If you go to the right, I will go to the left.”

¹⁰ Lot looked all around and saw the whole Jordan ·Valley [or plain; region] and that there was much water there. It was like the Lord’s garden [^Cthe garden of Eden], like the land of Egypt in the direction of Zoar [^Cname meaning “small,” in the vicinity of Sodom and Gomorrah; 14:2, 17; 19:23–24]. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah [19:1–29].) ¹¹ So Lot chose to move east and live in the Jordan Valley [13:10]. In this way Abram and Lot separated. ¹² Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot lived among the cities in the Jordan Valley [13:10], ·very near to [^Lhe moved his tent near] Sodom. ¹³ Now the people of Sodom were very evil and were always sinning against the Lord.

¹⁴ After Lot ·left [^Lhad separated from him], the Lord said to Abram, “Look all around you—to the north and south and east and west. ¹⁵ All this land that you see I will give to you and your ·descendants [^Lseed] forever. ¹⁶ I will make your ·descendants [^Lseed] as many as the dust of the earth. If anyone could count the dust on the earth, he could count your ·people [^Lseed]. ¹⁷ Get up! Walk through ·all [^Lthe length and width of] this land because I am now giving it to you.”

¹⁸ So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great ·trees [^Loaks; or terebinths] of Mamre [^Can area near Hebron, named after an Amorite leader; 14:13, 24] at the city of Hebron [^Cnineteen miles south of Jerusalem]. There he built an altar to the Lord.