[1] Abram left Egypt with his wife and everything he had and went to the Negev. Lot was with him. [2] Abram was very rich because he had livestock, silver, and gold. [3] He traveled from place to place. He went from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the area between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been originally, [4] where he had first made an altar. There Abram worshiped the LORD. [5] Lot, who had been traveling with Abram, also had his own sheep, cattle, and tents. [6] There wasn't enough pastureland for both of them. They had so many possessions that they were unable to remain together. [7] Quarrels broke out between Abram's herders and Lot's herders. (Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in that area.) [8] Abram said to Lot, "Please, let's not have any more quarrels between us or between our herders. After all, we're relatives. [9] Isn't all this land yours also? Let's separate. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right, and if you go to the right, I'll go to the left." [10] Then Lot looked in the direction of Zoar as far as he could see. He saw that the whole Jordan Plain was well-watered like the LORD's garden or like Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) [11] Lot chose the whole Jordan Plain for himself. He moved toward the east. They each went their own way. [12] Abram lived in Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain, moving his tents as far as Sodom. [13] (The people who lived in Sodom were very wicked. They committed terrible sins against the LORD.) [14] After Lot left, the LORD said to Abram, "Look north, south, east, and west of where you are. [15] I will give all the land you see to you and to your descendants for an indefinite period of time. [16] I will also give you as many descendants as the dust of the earth. If anyone could count the dust of the earth, then he could also count your descendants. [17] Go! Walk back and forth across the entire land because I will give it to you." [18] So Abram moved his tents and went to live by the oak trees belonging to Mamre at Hebron. There he built an altar for the LORD.
