God calls Abram to leave his country for a land he will show him, promising to make him a great nation and a blessing to all families of the earth. Abram goes to Canaan, then to Egypt, where he passes off Sarai as his sister.
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram , Get thee out of thy country , and from thy kindred , and from thy father's house , unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation , and I will bless thee, and make thy name great ; and thou shalt be a blessing :
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed .
4 So Abram departed , as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran .
5 And Abram took Sarai his wife , and Lot his brother's son , and all their substance that they had gathered , and the souls that they had gotten in Haran ; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan ; and into the land of Canaan they came .
6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem , unto the plain of Moreh . And the Canaanite was then in the land .
7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram , and said , Unto thy seed will I give this land : and there builded he an altar unto the LORD , who appeared unto him.
8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel , and pitched his tent , having Bethel on the west , and Hai on the east : and there he builded an altar unto the LORD , and called upon the name of the LORD .
9 And Abram journeyed , going on still toward the south .
10 And there was a famine in the land : and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land .
11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt , that he said unto Sarai his wife , Behold now , I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon :
12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say , This is his wife : and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive .
13 Say , I pray thee , thou art my sister : that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee .
14 And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt , the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair .
15 The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh : and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house .
16 And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep , and oxen , and he asses , and menservants , and maidservants , and she asses , and camels .
17 And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife .
18 And Pharaoh called Abram , and said , What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife ?
19 Why saidst thou , She is my sister ? so I might have taken her to me to wife : now therefore behold thy wife , take her, and go thy way .
20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away , and his wife , and all that he had.