Chapter 16
angel of the Lord ceased from him and his household; and Pharaoh knew that he was smitten on account of Sarai, and the king was greatly astonished at this.
29. And in the morning the king called for Abram and said to him, what is this thou hast done to me? Why didst thou say, she is my sister, owing to which I took her unto me for a wife, and this heavy plague has therefore come upon me and my household.
30. Now therefore here is thy wife, take her and go from our land lest we all die on her account. And Pharaoh took more cattle, men servants and maid servants, and silver and gold, to give to Abram, and he returned unto him Sarai his wife.
31. And the king took a maiden whom he begat by his concubines, and he gave her to Sarai for a hand maid.
32. And the king said to his daughter, it is better for thee my daughter to be a handmaid in this man's house than to be a mistress in my house, after we have beheld the evil that befel us on account of this woman.
33. And Abram arose, and he and all belonging to him went away from Egypt; and Pharaoh ordered some of his men to accompany him and all that went with him.
34. And Abram returned to the land of Canaan, to the place where he had made the altar, where he at first had pitched his tent.
35. And Lot the son of Haran, Abram's brother, had a heavy stock of cattle, flocks and herds and tents, for the Lord was bountiful to them on account of Abram.
36. And when Abram was dwelling in the land, the herdsmen of Lot quarrelled with the herdsmen of Abram, for their property was too great for them to remain together in the land, and the land could not bear them on account of their cattle.
37. And when Abram's herdsmen went to feed their flock, they would not go into the fields of the people of the land, but the cattle of Lot's herdsmen did otherwise, for they were suffered to feed in the fields of the people of the land.
38. And the people of the land saw this occurrence daily, and they came to Abram and quarrelled with him on account of Lot's herdsmen.
39. And Abram said to Lot, what is this thou art doing to me, to make me despicable to the inhabitants of the land, that thou orderest thy herdsmen to feed thy cattle in the fields of other people? Dost thou not know that I am a stranger in this land amongst the children of Canaan, and why wilt thou do this unto me?
40. And Abram quarrelled daily with Lot on account of this, but Lot would not listen to Abram, and he continued to do the same and the inhabitants of the land came and told Abram.
41. And Abram said unto Lot, how long wilt thou be to me for a stumbling block with the inhabitants of the land? Now I beseech thee let there be no more quarrelling between us, for we are kinsmen.
42. But I pray thee separate from me, go and choose a place where thou mayst dwell with thy cattle and all belonging to thee, but keep thyself at a distance from me, thou and thy household.
43. And be not afraid in going from me, for if anyone do an injury to thee, let me know and I will avenge thy cause from him, only remove from me.
44. And when Abram had spoken all these words to Lot, then Lot arose and lifted up his eyes toward the plain of Jordan.
45. And he saw that the whole of this place was well watered, and good for man as well as affording pasture for the cattle.
46. And Lot went from Abram to that place, and he there pitched his tent and he dwelt in Sodom, and they were separated from each other.
47. And Abram dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and he pitched his tent there, and Abram remained in that place many years.
1. AT that time king Chedorlaomer of Elam sent a message to all the neighboring kings, to king Nimrod of Shinar who was then under his power, and to king Tidal of Goyim and to king Arioch of Elasar, with whom he made a covenant, saying, come up to me and assist me, that we may smite all the towns of Sodom and its inhabitants, for they have rebelled against me these thirteen years.
2. And these four kings went up with all their camps, about eight hundred thousand men, and they went as they were, and smote every man they found in their road.
3. And the five kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, Bera king of Sodom, Bersha king of Gomorrah, and Bela king of Zoar, went out to meet them, and they all joined together in the valley of Siddim.
4. And these nine kings made war in the valley of Siddim; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were smitten before the kings of Elam.
5. And the valley of Siddim was full of limepits and the kings of Elam pursued the kings of Sodom, and the kings of 47 . Sodom with their camps fled and fell into the limepits, and all that remained went to the mountain for safety, and the five kings of Elam came after them and pursued them to the gates of Sodom, and they took all that there was in Sodom. 6a. And they plundered all the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and they also took Lot, Abram's brother's son, and his property, and they seized all the goods of the cities of Sodom, and they went away. 6b. And Unic, Abram's servant, who was in the battle, saw this, and told Abram all that the kings had done to the cities of Sodom, and that Lot was taken captive by them.
7. And Abram heard this, and he rose up with about three hundred and eighteen men that were with him, and that night he pursued these kings and smote them, and they all fell before Abram and his men, and there was none remaining but the four kings who fled, and they went each his own road.
8. And Abram recovered all the property of Sodom, and he also recovered Lot and his property, his wives and little ones and all belonging to him, so that Lot lacked nothing.
9. And when he returned from smiting these kings, he and his men passed the valley of Siddim where the kings had made war together.
10. And Beraking of Sodom, and the rest of his men that were with him, went out from the limepits into which they had fallen, to meet Abram and his men.
11. And king Adonizedek of Jerusalem, the same was Shem, went out with his men to meet Abram and his people, with bread and wine, and they remained together in the valley of Melech.
12. And Adonizedek blessed Abram, and Abram gave him a tenth from all that he had brought from the spoil of his enemies, for Adonizedek was a priest before God.
13. And all the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah who were there, with their servants, approached Abram and begged of him to return them their servants whom he had made captive, and to take unto himself all the property.
14. And Abram answered the kings of Sodom, saying, as the Lord liveth who created heaven and earth, and who redeemed my soul from all affliction, and who delivered me this day from my enemies, and gave them into my hand, I will not take anything belonging to you, that you may not boast tomorrow, saying, Abram became rich from our property that he saved.
15. For the Lord my God in whom I trust, said unto me, thou shalt lack nothing, for I will bless thee in all the works of thy hands.
16. And now therefore behold, here is all belonging to you, take it and go; as the Lord liveth I will not take from you from a living soul down to a shoe tie or thread, excepting the expense of the food of those who went out with me to battle, as also the portions of the men who went with me, Anar, Ashcol and Mamre, they and their men, as well as those also who had remained to watch the baggage, they shall take their portion of the spoil.
17. And the kings of Sodom gave Abram according to all that he had said, and they pressed him to take of whatever he chose, but he would not.
18. And he sent away the kings of Sodom and the remainder of their men, and he gave them orders about Lot, and they went to their respective places.
19. And Lot, his brother's son, he also sent away with his property, and he went with them [with the kings ], and Lot returned to his home, to Sodom, and Abram and his people returned to their home to the plains of Mamre which is in Hebron.
20. At that time the Lord again appeared to Abram in Hebron, and he said to him: Do not fear, thy reward is very great before me, for I will not leave thee, until I shall have multiplied thee, and blessed thee and made thy seed like the stars in heaven, which cannot be measured nor numbered.
21. And I will give unto thy seed all these lands that thou seest with thine eyes, to them will I give them for an inheritance forever, only be strong and do not fear, walk before me and be perfect.
22. And in the seventy eighth year of the life of Abram, in that year Reu died, the son of Peleg, and all the days of Reu were two hundred and thirty nine years, and he died.
23. And Sarai the daughter of Haran, Abram's wife, was still barren in those days, she did not bear to Abram either son or daughter.
24. And when she saw that she bare no children she took her handmaid Hagar, whom Pharaoh had given her, and she gave her to Abram her husband for a wife.
25. For Hagar learned all the ways of Sarai as Sarai taught her, she was not in any way deficient in following her good ways.
26. And Sarai said to Abram, behold here is my handmaid Hagar, go to her that she may bring forth upon my knees, that I may also obtain children through her.
27. And at the end of ten years of Abram's dwelling in the land of Canaan, which is the eighty fifth year of Abram's life, Sarai gave Hagar unto him.
28. And Abram hearkened to the voice of his wife Sarai, and he took his