(1) יהוה said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
(2) I will make of you a great nation,
And I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
And you shall be a blessing.
(3) I will bless those who bless you
And curse the one who curses you;
And all the families of the earth
Shall bless themselves by you.”

(4) Abram went forth as יהוה had commanded him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.(5) Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the wealth that they had amassed, and the persons that they had acquired in Haran; and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in the land of Canaan,(6) Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, at the terebinth of Moreh. The Canaanites were then in the land.(7) יהוה appeared to Abram and said, “I will assign this land to your offspring.” And he built an altar there to יהוה who had appeared to him.(8) From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and he built there an altar to יהוה and invoked יהוה by name.(9) Then Abram journeyed by stages toward the Negeb.

(10) There was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.(11) As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are.(12) If the Egyptians see you, and think, ‘She is his wife,’ they will kill me and let you live.(13) Please say that you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may remain alive thanks to you.”

(14) When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw how very beautiful the woman was.(15) Pharaoh’s courtiers saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s palace.(16) And because of her, it went well with Abram; he acquired sheep, oxen, asses, male and female slaves, she-asses, and camels.(17) But יהוה afflicted Pharaoh and his household with mighty plagues on account of Sarai, the wife of Abram.(18) Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me! Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?(19) Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife; take her and begone!”(20) And Pharaoh put agents in charge of him, and they sent him off with his wife and all that he possessed.

(1) From Egypt, Abram went up into the Negeb, with his wife and all that he possessed, together with Lot.(2) Now Abram was very rich in cattle, silver, and gold.(3) And he proceeded by stages from the Negeb as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been formerly, between Bethel and Ai,(4) the site of the altar that he had built there at first; and there Abram invoked יהוה by name.

(5) Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents,(6) so that the land could not support them staying together; for their possessions were so great that they could not remain together.(7) And there was quarreling between the herders of Abram’s cattle and those of Lot’s cattle.—The Canaanites and Perizzites were then dwelling in the land.—(8) Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, between my herders and yours, for we are kin.(9) Is not the whole land before you? Let us separate: if you go north, I will go south; and if you go south, I will go north.”(10) Lot looked about him and saw how well watered was the whole plain of the Jordan, all of it—this was before יהוה had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—all the way to Zoar, like the garden of יהוה, like the land of Egypt.(11) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they parted from each other;

(12) Abram remained in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the Plain, pitching his tents near Sodom.(13) Now the inhabitants of Sodom were very wicked sinners against יהוה.(14) And יהוה said to Abram, after Lot had parted from him, “Raise your eyes and look out from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west,(15) for I give all the land that you see to you and your offspring forever.(16) I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, then your offspring too can be counted.(17) Up, walk about the land, through its length and its breadth, for I give it to you.”(18) And Abram moved his tent, and came to dwell at the terebinths of Mamre, which are in Hebron; and he built an altar there to יהוה.

(27)Why do you say, O Jacob,Why declare, O Israel,“My way is hid from GOD, My cause is ignored by my God”?(28)Do you not know?Have you not heard? The ETERNAL is God from of old, Creator of the earth from end to end,Who never grows faint or weary,Whose wisdom cannot be fathomed—(29)Who gives strength to the weary,Fresh vigor to the spent.(30)Youths may grow faint and weary,And young men stumble and fall;(31)But they who trust in GOD shall renew their strength As eagles grow new plumes:They shall run and not grow weary,They shall march and not grow faint.(1)Stand silent before Me, coastlands,And let nations renew their strength.Let them approach to state their case;Let us come forward together for argument.(2)Who has roused a victor from the East, Summoned him to God’s service?Has delivered up nations to him,And trodden sovereigns down?Has rendered their swords like dust, Their bows like wind-blown straw? (3)He pursues them, he goes on unscathed;No shackle is placed on his feet. (4)Who has wrought and achieved this?The One who announced the generations from the start—I, GOD, who was first And will be with the last as well.(5)The coastlands look on in fear,The ends of earth tremble.The craftsmen draw near and come; (6)Each one helps the other,Saying to his fellow, “Take courage!”(7)The woodworker encourages the smith;He who flattens with the hammer[Encourages] him who pounds the anvil.He says of the riveting, “It is good!”And he fixes it with nails,That it may not topple.(8)But you, Israel, My servant,Jacob, whom I have chosen,Seed of Abraham My friend—(9)You whom I drew from the ends of the earthAnd called from its far corners,To whom I said: You are My servant;I chose you, I have not rejected you—(10)Fear not, for I am with you,Be not frightened, for I am your God;I strengthen you and I help you,I uphold you with My victorious right hand.(11)Shamed and chagrined shall beAll who contend with you;They who strive with youShall become as naught and shall perish.(12)You may seek, but shall not findThose who struggle with you;Less than nothing shall beThe men who battle against you.(13)For I the ETERNAL One am your God, Who grasped your right hand,Who say to you: Have no fear;I will be your help.(14)Fear not, O worm Jacob,O men of Israel: I will help you —declares GOD— I your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. (15)I will make of you a threshing board,A new thresher, with many spikes;You shall thresh mountains to dust,And make hills like chaff.(16)You shall winnow themAnd the wind shall carry them off;The whirlwind shall scatter them.But you shall rejoice in GOD, And glory in the Holy One of Israel.

(24) So Gideon built there an altar to GOD and called it Adonai-shalom. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. (25) That night GOD said to him: “Take the young bull belonging to your father and another bull seven years old; pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the sacred post that is beside it. (26) Then build an altar to the ETERNAL your God, on the level ground on top of this stronghold. Take the other bull and offer it as a burnt offering, using the wood of the sacred post that you have cut down.” (27) So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as GOD had told him; but as he was afraid to do it by day, on account of his father’s household and the townspeople, he did it by night. (28) Early the next morning, the townspeople found that the altar of Baal had been torn down and the sacred post beside it had been cut down, and that the second bull had been offered on the newly built altar. (29) They said to one another, “Who did this thing?” Upon inquiry and investigation, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did this thing!” (30) The townspeople said to Joash, “Bring out your son, for he must die: he has torn down the altar of Baal and cut down the sacred post beside it!” (31) But Joash said to all who had risen against him, “Do you have to contend for Baal? Do you have to vindicate him? Whoever fights his battles shall be dead by morning! If he is a god, let him fight his own battles, since it is his altar that has been torn down!” (32) That day they named him Jerubbaal, meaning “Let Baal contend with him, since he tore down his altar.”