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Genesis · Catholic Public Domain Version

Genesis 12 Catholic Public Domain Version

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About CPDV
  • Catholic
  • OT: Latin Vulgate
  • NT: Latin Vulgate
  • Catholic (73 books)
  • Formal (word for word)
  • 2009
  • Public domain

Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings

Notes on this text (3)
CPDV Catholic Public Domain Version
WEB World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)
1 Then the Lord said to Abram: “Depart from your land, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, and come into the land that I will show you.
1 Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you.
2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and magnify your name, and you will be blessed.
2 I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treats you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
4 And so Abram departed just as the Lord had instructed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
4 So Abram went, as Yahweh had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
5 And he took his wife Sarai, and Lot, the son of his brother, and all the substance which they had come to possess, and the lives which they had acquired in Haran, and they departed in order to go to the land of Canaan. And when they arrived in it,
5 Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they went to go into the land of Canaan. They entered into the land of Canaan.
6 Abram passed through the land even to the place of Shechem, as far as the famous steep valley. Now at that time, the Canaanite was in the land.
6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time, Canaanites were in the land.
7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and he said to him, “To your offspring, I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
7 Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” He built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him.
8 And passing on from there to a mountain, which was opposite the east of Bethel, he pitched his tent there, having Bethel to the west, and Hai on the east. He also built an altar there to the Lord, and he called upon his name.
8 He left from there to go to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to Yahweh and called on Yahweh’s name.
9 And Abram traveled, going out and continuing further on, toward the south.
9 Abram traveled, still going on toward the South.
10 But a famine occurred in the land. And Abram descended to Egypt, to sojourn there. For famine prevailed over the land.
10 There was a famine in the land. Abram went down into Egypt to live as a foreigner there, for the famine was severe in the land.
11 And when he was close to entering Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai: “I know you to be a beautiful woman.
11 When he had come near to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at.
12 And when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘She is his wife.’ And they will put me to death, and retain you.
12 It will happen that when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me, but they will save you alive.
13 Therefore, I beg you to say that you are my sister, so that it may be well with me because of you, and so that my soul may live by your favor.”
13 Please say that you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that my soul may live because of you.”
14 And so, when Abram had arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was exceedingly beautiful.
14 When Abram had come into Egypt, some Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
15 And the princes reported it to Pharaoh, and they praised her to him. And the woman was inducted into the house of Pharaoh.
15 The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
16 In truth, they treated Abram well because of her. And he had sheep and oxen and male donkeys, and men servants, and women servants, and female donkeys, and camels.
16 He dealt well with Abram for her sake. He had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the Lord scourged Pharaoh and his house with great wounds because of Sarai, the wife of Abram.
17 Yahweh afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and he said to him: “What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me she was your wife?
18 Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife?
19 For what reason did you claim her to be your sister, so that I would take her to me as a wife? Now therefore, behold your mate, receive her and go.”
19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore, see your wife, take her, and go your way.”
20 And Pharaoh instructed his men about Abram. And they led him away with his wife and all that he had.
20 Pharaoh commanded men concerning him, and they escorted him away with his wife and all that he had.

People & places in this chapter

From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.

People

  • Abraham

    Father of nations

    Called by God, he left home in faith to become the father of a chosen people.

    Cited in the guide: Genesis 12–25

    See in the family tree

  • Lot

    Abraham's nephew

    Abraham's nephew who chose the plain of Jordan and settled near Sodom.

    Cited in the guide: Genesis 11–14; 19

    See in the family tree

Places

  • Bethel

    Today: West Bank (central hills)

    Bethel ('house of God') is usually identified with Beitin, north of Jerusalem (location approximate). Jacob's ladder vision and Jeroboam's calf shrine are set here.

    Cited in the guide: Genesis 28:19; Genesis 12:8; 1 Kings 12:29

    Bible map game · View on OpenStreetMap

  • Haran

    Today: Southern Turkey (Upper Mesopotamia)

    A caravan city in Upper Mesopotamia and the family's waypoint between Ur and Canaan. Abraham departed from here for Canaan; Jacob later sojourned with Laban nearby.

    Cited in the guide: Genesis 11:31; Genesis 12:4; Genesis 28:10

    Bible map game · View on OpenStreetMap

  • Shechem

    Today: West Bank (near Nablus)

    Shechem lay between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. Abram built an altar here, Joshua gathered Israel for covenant renewal, and Jacob's well stands nearby.

    Cited in the guide: Genesis 12:6; Joshua 24:1; John 4:5

    Bible map game · View on OpenStreetMap

Cross references (19)

Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.

  1. 1 Hebrews 11:8; Nehemiah 9:7; Acts 7:2–6; Isaiah 51:2; Joshua 24:2–3
  2. 2 2 Samuel 7:9; Galatians 3:14; Genesis 18:18; Genesis 17:4–6; Genesis 28:3–4
  3. 3 Galatians 3:8; Genesis 22:18; Genesis 27:29; Acts 3:25–26; Numbers 24:9
  4. 4 Hebrews 11:8; Genesis 11:31; Genesis 11:27
  5. 5 Genesis 14:14; Genesis 11:31; Acts 7:4; Hebrews 11:8–9; Genesis 10:19
  6. 6 Hebrews 11:9; Deuteronomy 11:30; Genesis 13:7; Genesis 35:4; Genesis 15:18–21
  7. 7 Genesis 17:8; Genesis 17:1; Genesis 13:15; Genesis 18:1; Galatians 3:16
  8. 8 Nehemiah 11:31; Genesis 4:26; Genesis 21:33; Genesis 13:4; 1 Corinthians 1:2
  9. 9 Genesis 13:3; Genesis 13:1; Genesis 24:62; Hebrews 11:13–14; Psalm 105:13
  10. 10 Genesis 43:1; Genesis 26:1–3; 2 Samuel 21:1; Genesis 47:13; Jeremiah 14:1
  11. 11 Genesis 26:7; Proverbs 21:30; Genesis 12:14; Genesis 29:17; Song of Songs 1:14
  12. 12 Genesis 20:11; Genesis 26:7; Matthew 10:28; 1 John 1:8–10; Proverbs 29:25
  13. 13 Genesis 26:7; Genesis 20:12–13; Genesis 20:2; Genesis 20:5; Ezekiel 18:4
  14. 14 Genesis 6:2; Matthew 5:28; Genesis 3:6; Genesis 39:7
  15. 15 Genesis 20:2; Genesis 41:1; 1 Kings 3:1; Hosea 7:4–5; Genesis 40:2
  16. 16 Genesis 20:14; Genesis 13:2; Genesis 24:35; Job 42:12; Genesis 32:5
  17. 17 1 Chronicles 16:21; Genesis 20:18; Psalm 105:14–15; 1 Chronicles 21:22; Hebrews 13:4
  18. 18 Genesis 20:9–10; Genesis 26:9–11; 1 Samuel 14:43; Proverbs 21:1; Genesis 44:15
  19. 20 Proverbs 21:1; Psalm 105:14–15; 1 Samuel 29:6–11; Exodus 18:27

Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences

Articles and answers on this site that cite Genesis 12.

What the Fathers said

Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).

How these were chosen

“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).

  1. Quotes verse 12:1–3 Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians (Chapters VII–XIII)

    And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." And again, on his departing from Lot, God said to him.

    Read in context · Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885)

  2. Quotes verse 12:1 Augustine of Hippo, The City of God (Book XVI, Chapters 12–15)

    When, after the record of the death of Terah, the father of Abraham, we next read, "And the Lord said to Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house," etc., it is not to be supposed, because this follows in the order of the narrative, that it also followed in the chronological …

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)

  3. Quotes verse 12:4 Augustine of Hippo, The City of God (Book XVI, Chapters 12–15)

    Now Abraham was seventy-five years old when he departed out of Haran." How can this be true if he departed from Haran after his father's death?

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)

  4. Quotes verse 12:1 Augustine of Hippo, The City of God (Book XVI, Chapters 12–15)

    … of Terah in Haran were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran," the Scripture, going back to what had been passed over in order to complete what had been begun about Terah, says, "And the Lord said to Abram, Get thee out of thy country," etc.

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)