Be Loyal to the Lord Your God – Genesis 14:1-15:21
14 At the time when Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim were in power, (2) they waged war against Bera the king of Sodom, Birsha the king of Gomorrah, Shinab the king of Admah, Shemeber the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (which is also called Zoar). (3) These latter five kings joined forces in the valley of Siddim (which is the Salt Sea).
(4) For twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. (5) Then in the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came with the kings who were allied with him. They defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, (6) and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, gaining victories as far as Elparan, which is near the wilderness. (7) Then they returned and came to En-mishpat (which is Kadesh), and conquered all the territory of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who live in Hazazon-tamar.
(8) Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (which is Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines against those kings in the valley of Siddim; (9) namely, against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against the five. (10) Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, that is where some of the men fell. Those who remained alive fled to the mountains.
(11) Chedorlaomer and his allies took all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as all their food, then they went their way. (12) They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who had settled in Sodom, and his possessions, and they departed. (13) Now one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew. At the time Abram was living near the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, (Mamre was a brother of Eshcol and Aner; and these three were in alliance with Abram.) (14) Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he mustered his trained men who were born in his household—three hundred and eighteen in all—and pursued after them as far as Dan. (15) During the night he divided his forces between himself and his servants. Then he routed the enemy and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. (16) Abram retrieved all the possessions; he also brought back his brother Lot, together with his possessions. Abram also brought back the women and the rest of the people who had been taken captive.
(17) The king of Sodom went out to meet Abram at the valley of Shaveh (which is the King’s Valley) after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him. (18) And Melchizedek king of Salem brought bread and wine; now he was priest of God Most High. (19) And Melchizedek blessed him saying, Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; (20) and blessed be God Most High, the One who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And Abram gave him a tenth of all the spoils.
(21) And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the people, but keep the spoils for yourself. (22) But Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have raised my hand in oath to Jehovah, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, (23) that I will not take so much as a thread or a thong of a sandal or anything else that belongs to you, so that you may not say, I have made Abram rich. (24) The one exception being that which the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their share.
15 After these things the word of Jehovah came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am your shield, and your reward shall be exceedingly great. (2) And Abram said, O Lord Jehovah, what will you give me, seeing that I am childless, and the one who shall inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus? (3) And Abram said, To me you have given no offspring; so a servant born in my household is my heir. (4) Then the word of Jehovah came to him, saying, This man shall not be your heir; rather, he who shall come forth out of your own bowels shall be your heir. (5) And Jehovah brought him out to the open field and said, Look toward heaven and number the stars, if you are able to number them. Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be. (6) And he believed Jehovah; and Jehovah credited it to him as righteousness.
(7) And he said to him, I am Jehovah who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, in order to give you this land to inherit. (8) And he said, O Lord Jehovah, how shall I know that I shall inherit it? (9) And he said to him, Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat and a three-year-old ram, also a turtle-dove and a young pigeon. (10) Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two, and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. (11) Then the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
(12) And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and a horror of great darkness fell upon him. (13) And he said to Abram, Know for sure that your descendants shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and they shall serve the inhabitants of that land; and that nation shall afflict your descendants for four hundred years. (14) But also know that I will judge that nation whom they shall serve; and afterward shall they come out with great possessions. (15) But you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. (16) And in the fourth generation your descendants shall come back here again; because the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.
(17) When the sun went down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between the pieces of the divided animal carcasses. (18) On that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your descendants have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the Euphrates: (19) the land of the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite, (20) and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim, (21) and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.
Now proceed to the next section of this study, entitled, Exploring the Passage.
