Abram and Lot Separate

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. 3And he 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 upon the name of Yahweh.

5Now Lot, who was going with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6And the land could not [†]sustain them [†]while living together, for their possessions were so abundant that they were not able to live 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 living 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. 9Is 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.” 10Then Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the [†]valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of Yahweh, 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 lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived in the cities of the [†]valley and moved his tents as far as Sodom. 13Now the men of Sodom were evil and sinners, exceedingly so, against Yahweh.

14And Yahweh 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 seed forever. 16And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your seed can also be numbered. 17Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.” 18Then Abram moved his tent and came and lived by the [†]oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to Yahweh.