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Genesis 12

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Part of Abraham📖 Genesis introduction

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1Now 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. ✦ 2I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. ✦ 3I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” ✦ 4So Abram went, as Yahweh had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ✦ 5Abram 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. ✦ 6Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. The Canaanites were in the land, then. ✦ 7Yahweh 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. ✦ 8He 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. ✦ 9Abram traveled, still going on toward the South. ✦ 10There 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. ✦ 11When 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. ✦ 12It will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me, but they will save you alive. ✦ 13Please 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.” ✦ 14When Abram had come into Egypt, Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ✦ 15The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. ✦ 16He dealt well with Abram for her sake. He had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. ✦ 17Yahweh afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ✦ 18Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? ✦ 19Why 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.” 20Pharaoh commanded men concerning him, and they escorted him away with his wife and all that he had. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

In this chapter

Person / place Abraham

Where this chapter connects

Gen 26 ·10Gen 13 ·9Gen 20 ·8Heb 11 ·6Ps 105 ·6Gal 3 ·6Gen 28 ·5Gen 11 ·5

Christ at the center

From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.

How Genesis 12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

  • ★ Start hereDocumentaryExpedition BibleJoel Kramer · Free · evangelical

    On-location biblical archaeology from a credentialed archaeologist (M.A., excavated in Israel) — the best free place to start on "did it really happen?"

  • ★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical

    A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

  • ★ Start hereVideoOverview: Genesis 1–11BibleProject · 9 min · Free

    The single best free starting point for Genesis 1–11 — clear, visual, and faithful to the literary design.

  • VideoSpoken GospelSpoken Gospel · Free · evangelical

    Short, gospel-centered videos and spoken-word poems showing how each passage points to Jesus — especially strong on the Old Testament.

  • ReferenceBook of Genesis — Visual GuideBibleProject · Free

    A free structured guide to the whole book — outline, themes, and links to each video.

  • DocumentaryIs Genesis History?Del Tackett · Free · evangelical

    A young-earth-creationist case for a literal Genesis, free on YouTube. (YEC is one view held by faithful Christians; others read Genesis differently — see the genre guide on how to read it.)

Pastoral

  • SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical

    Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Seminary

  • ★ Start hereCommentaryGenesis (Word Biblical Commentary)Gordon J. Wenham · Paid · evangelical

    For decades the gold-standard commentary on Genesis — technical but rich. (See the ranked list for alternatives like Hamilton, NICOT.)

  • BookThe Pentateuch as NarrativeJohn H. Sailhamer · ~560 pp · Library · evangelical

    A literary-theological reading that makes Genesis's design visible.

Commentaries & study tools

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