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Genesis 12
1Now the LORD 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 treats you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
4So Abram went, as the LORD 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. At that time, Canaanites were in the land.
7The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” He built an there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
8He left from there to go to the on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. There he built an to the LORD and called on the LORD’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 that when the Egyptians see you, 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, some 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.
17The LORD 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.
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Questions this passage answers
What is sin?
Scripture defines sin as lawlessness, as falling short of God's glory, and as failing to do the good we know we should do. It is not only a list of bad actions but a condition of the heart that produces them, and it is first against God rather than only against people. Scripture also says all have sinned, that its wage is death, and that God is faithful to forgive those who confess.
What does the Bible say about work?
Scripture presents work as something given before sin entered the world, made harder by the curse, and redeemed in Christ so that ordinary labour is done for the Lord rather than for people. It commands diligence, honest dealing, rest, and provision for one's household, and it refuses to make a person's worth depend on their job.
How do I forgive someone who hurt me?
Biblical forgiveness is the decision to release a debt you have every right to collect, made because God released yours. It is not pretending the wrong was small, and it does not always mean reconciliation or renewed trust. It usually begins as an act of obedience and becomes a feeling later, often much later.
How do I trust God when life is difficult?
Biblical trust is not a feeling you generate. It is leaning your weight on what God has revealed about himself, especially when your circumstances suggest otherwise. Scripture builds trust the same way every time: by remembering what God has already done, telling him the truth about what you feel now, and obeying the next small thing while the outcome is still hidden.