ABRAM GOES DOWN TO EGYPT
Key verse: 13:4
NIV
Abram in Egypt(A)
10 Now there was a famine in the land,(B) and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.(C) 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai,(D) “I know what a beautiful woman(E) you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister,(F) so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman.(G) 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.(H)
17 But the Lord inflicted(I) serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household(J) because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?”(K) he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?(L) 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’(M) so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.
Abram and Lot Separate
13 So Abram went up from Egypt(N) to the Negev,(O) with his wife and everything he had, and Lot(P) went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy(Q) in livestock(R) and in silver and gold.
3 From the Negev(S) he went from place to place until he came to Bethel,(T) to the place between Bethel and Ai(U) where his tent had been earlier 4 and where he had first built an altar.(V) There Abram called on the name of the Lord.(W)
Cross references
- Genesis 12:10 : 12:10-20Ref — Ge 20:1-18; 26:1-11
- Genesis 12:10 : Ge 41:27, 57; 42:5; 43:1; 47:4, 13; Ru 1:1; 2Sa 21:1; 2Ki 8:1; Ps 105:19
- Genesis 12:10 : Ge 41:30, 54, 56; 47:20; Ps 105:16
- Genesis 12:11 : S Ge 11:29
- Genesis 12:11 : ver 14; Ge 24:16; 26:7; 29:17; 39:6
- Genesis 12:13 : Ge 20:2; 26:7
- Genesis 12:14 : S ver 11
- Genesis 12:16 : S ver 5; Ge 24:35; 26:14; 30:43; 32:5; 34:23; 47:17; Job 1:3; 31:25
- Genesis 12:17 : 2Ki 15:5; Job 30:11; Isa 53:4, 10
- Genesis 12:17 : 1Ch 16:21; Ps 105:14
- Genesis 12:18 : Ge 20:9; 26:10; 29:25; 31:26; 44:15
- Genesis 12:18 : Isa 43:27; 51:2; Eze 16:3
- Genesis 12:19 : Ge 20:5; 26:9
- Genesis 13:1 : Ge 45:25
- Genesis 13:1 : S Ge 12:9
- Genesis 13:1 : S Ge 11:27
- Genesis 13:2 : S Ge 12:5; 26:13; Pr 10:22
- Genesis 13:2 : Ge 32:15; Job 1:3; 42:12
- Genesis 13:3 : S Ge 12:9
- Genesis 13:3 : S Ge 12:8
- Genesis 13:3 : Jos 7:2
- Genesis 13:4 : S Ge 12:7
- Genesis 13:4 : S Ge 4:26
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway
ESV
Abram and Sarai in Egypt
10 Now (A)there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they (B)will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” 14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. 16 And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the Lord (C)afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. 18 So Pharaoh called 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 for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” 20 And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.
Abram and Lot Separate
13 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, (D)into the Negeb.
2 (E)Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to (F)the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway
1. 'Say you are my sister' (1
-16)
Abram went to Canaan in obedience to God's word; he went to Egypt because of a material problem created by the famine. He did not pray or build altars in Egypt. He made a selfish plan for his own survival (11-13). His plan worked; he was treated well for Sarai's sake, and his life was spared (16). But he lost his wife, and the possibility of having children by her, and he lost the land God had promised him.
2. Abram comes out of Egypt (17-13:4)
Abram was trapped by his own folly. He did not know that God was in Egypt, but God was there. The Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh's household. Pharaoh realized that he was in trouble because of Sarai, so he expelled Abram's family from Egypt-with all the wealth they had acquired there. Abram returned to the altar he had built before, and again called on the name of the Lord. This was an act of repentance; it was a new beginning. God helped and blessed him in spite of his weaknesses.
Prayer: Lord, help me to depend on you and not on my human calculations.
One Word: A man of God must live by faith
