And I will make of thee a great nation, and will blesse thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing.
Hebrew / JewishChristianity
The Bible (Old and New Testaments)
Genesis
I will also blesse them that blesse thee, and curse them that curse thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
So Abram departed, euen as ye Lord spake vnto him, and Lot went with him. (And Abram was seuentie and fiue yeere olde, when he departed out of Haran)
Then Abram tooke Sarai his wife, and Lot his brothers sonne, and all their substance that they possessed, and the soules that they had gotten in Haran, and they departed, to goe to the land of Canaan: and to the land of Canaan they came.
So Abram passed through the land vnto the place of Shechem, and vnto the plaine of Moreh (and the Canaanite was then in ye land)
And the Lord appeared vnto Abram, and said, Vnto thy seede will I giue this land. And there builded he an altar vnto the Lord, which appeared vnto him.
Afterward remouing thence vnto a moutaine Eastward from Beth-el, he pitched his tent hauing Beth-el on the Westside, and Haai on the East: and there he built an altar vnto the Lord, and called on the Name of the Lord.
Againe Abram went forth going and iourneying toward the South.
Then there came a famine in the land: therefore Abram went downe into Egypt to soiourne there: for there was a great famine in the lande.
And when he drewe neere to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, Beholde nowe, I know that thou art a faire woman to looke vpon:
Therefore it will come to passe, that when the Egyptians see thee, they will say, She is his wife: so will they kill me, but they will keepe thee aliue.
Say, I pray thee, that thou art my sister, that I may fare well for thy sake, and that my life may be preserued by thee.
Nowe when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians behelde the woman: for she was very faire.
And the Princes of Pharaoh sawe her, and commended her vnto Pharaoh: so the woman was taken into Pharaohs house:
Who intreated Abram well for her sake, and he had sheepe, and beeues, and hee asses, and men seruants and maide seruants, and shee asses, and camelles.
But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues, because of Sarai Abrams wife.
Then Pharaoh called Abram, and saide, Why hast thou done this vnto me? Wherefore diddest thou not tell me, that she was thy wife?
Why saidest thou, She is my sister, that I should take her to be my wife? Nowe therefore beholde thy wife, take her and goe thy way.
And Pharaoh gaue men commandement concerning him: and they conueyed him forth, and his wife, and all that he had.
Then Abram went vp from Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him toward the South.
And Abram was very rich in cattell, in siluer and in golde.
And he went on his iourney from ye South toward Beth-el, to the place where his tent had bene at ye beginning, betweene Beth-el and Haai,
Vnto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the Name of the Lord.
And Lot also, who went with Abram, had sheepe, and cattell and tentes,
So that the land coulde not beare them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they coulde not dwell together.
Also there was debate betweene ye heardmen of Abrams cattell, and the heardmen of Lots cattell. (and the Canaanites and the Perizzites dwelled at that time in the land.)
Then saide Abram vnto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, betweene thee and me, neither betweene mine heardmen and thine heardmen: for we be brethren.
Is not the whole land before thee? depart I pray thee from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will goe to the right: or if thou goe to the right hand, then I will take the left.
So when Lot lifted vp his eyes, he saw that all the plaine of Iorden was watered euery where: (for before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorah, it was as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou goest vnto Zoar)
Then Lot chose vnto him all the plaine of Iorden, and tooke his iourney from the East: and they departed the one from the other.
Abram dwelled in the lande of Canaan, and Lot abode in the cities of the plaine, and pitched his tent euen to Sodom.
Now the men of Sodom were wicked and exceeding sinners against the Lord.
Then the Lord saide vnto Abram, (after that Lot was departed from him) Lift vp thine eyes nowe, and looke from the place where thou art, Northward, and Southward, and Eastwarde, and Westward:
For all the land, which thou seest, will I giue vnto thee and to thy seede for euer,
And I will make thy seede, as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seede be numbred.
Arise, walke through the land, in ye length thereof, and breadth thereof: for I will giue it vnto thee.
Then Abram remoued his tent, and came and dwelled in the plaine of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and builded there an altar vnto ye Lord.
And in the dayes of Amraphel King of Shinar, Arioch King of Ellasar, Chedor-laomer King of Elam, and Tidal king of the nations:
These men made warre with Bera King of Sodom, and with Birsha King of Gomorah, Shinab King of Admah, and Shemeber King of Zeboiim, and the King of Bela, which is Zoar.
All these ioyned together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt Sea.
Twelue yeere were they subiect to Chedor-laomer, but in the thirteenth yeere they rebelled.
And in the fourteenth yeere came Chedor-laomer, and the Kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaueh Kiriathaim,
And the Horites in their mount Seir, vnto the plaine of Paran, which is by the wildernesse.
And they returned and came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the countrey of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites that dwelled in Hazezon-tamar.
Then went out the King of Sodom, and the King of Gomorah, and the King of Admah, and the King of Zeboiim, and the King of Bela, which is Zoar: and they ioyned battell with them in the vale of Siddim:
To wit, with Chedor-laomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar: foure Kings against fiue.
Now the vale of Siddim was full of slime pits, and the Kings of Sodom and Gomorah fled and fell there: and ye residue fled to the mountaine.
Then they tooke all the substance of Sodom and Gomorah, and al their vitailes and went their way.
They tooke Lot also Abrams brothers sonne and his substance (for he dwelt at Sodom) and departed.
Then came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Ebrew, which dwelt in the plaine of Mamre ye Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner, which were confederat with Abram.
When Abram heard that his brother was taken, he brought forth of them that were borne and brought vp in his house, three hundreth and eighteene, and pursued them vnto Dan.
Then he, and his seruants deuided them selues against them by night, and smote them and pursued them vnto Hobah, which is on the left side of Damascus,
And he recouered all the substance, and also brought againe his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also and the people.
After that he returned from the slaughter of Chedor-laomer, and of the Kings that were with him, came the King of Sodom foorth to meete him in the valley of Shaueh, which is the Kings dale.
And Melchi-zedek King of Shalem brought foorth bread and wine: and he was a Priest of the most high God.
Therefore he blessed him, saying, Blessed art thou, Abram, of God most high possessour of heauen and earth,
And blessed be the most high God, which hath deliuered thine enemies into thine hand. And Abram gaue him tythe of all.
Then the King of Sodom saide to Abram, Giue me the persons, and take the goodes to thy selfe.
And Abram said to the King of Sodom, I haue lift vp mine hand vnto the Lord the most hie God possessor of heauen and earth,
That I will not take of all that is thine, so much as a threde or shoolatchet, lest thou shouldest say, I haue made Abram riche,
Saue onely that, which the yong men haue eaten, and the partes of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre: let them take their partes.
After these things, the worde of the Lord came vnto Abram in a vision, saying, Feare not, Abram, I am thy buckler, and thine exceeding great reward.
And Abram said, O Lord God, what wilt thou giue me, seeing I goe childlesse, and the steward of mine house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
Againe Abram saide, Beholde, to me thou hast giuen no seede: wherefore loe, a seruant of mine house shalbe mine heire.
Then beholde, the worde of the Lord came vnto him, saying, This man shall not be thine heire, but one that shall come out of thine owne bowels, he shalbe thine heire.
Moreouer he brought him forth and said, Looke vp nowe vnto heauen, and tell ye starres, if thou be able to number them: and he said vnto him, So shall thy seede be.
And Abram beleeued the Lord, and he counted that to him for righteousnesse.
Againe he saide vnto him, I am the Lord, that brought thee out of Vr of the Caldees, to giue thee this land to inherite it.
And he said, O Lord God, whereby shall I knowe that I shall inherite it?
Then he said vnto him, Take me an heifer of three yeeres olde, and a shee goate of three yeeres olde, and a ramme of three yeeres olde, a turtle doue also and a pigeon.
So he tooke all these vnto him, and deuided them into the middes, and laid euery piece one against an other: but the birdes deuided he not.
Then foules fell on the carkases, and Abram droue them away.
And when the sunne went downe, there fell an heauie sleepe vpon Abram: and loe, a very fearefull darkenes fell vpon him.
Then he saide to Abram, Knowe for a suretie, that thy seede shalbe a stranger in a land, that is not theirs, foure hundreth yeeres, and shall serue them: and they shall intreate them euill.
Notwithstanding the nation, whom they shall serue, will I iudge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
But thou shalt goe vnto thy fathers in peace, and shalt be buried in a good age.
And in the fourth generation they shall come hither againe: for the wickednes of the Amorites is not yet full.
Also when the sunne went downe, there was a darkenes: and behold, a smoking fornace, and a firebrand, which went betweene those pieces.
In that same day the Lord made a couenant with Abram, saying, Vnto thy seede haue I giuen this lande, from the riuer of Egypt vnto the great riuer, the riuer Euphrates.
The Kenites, and the Kenizites, and the Kadmonites,
And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
The Amorites also, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Iebusites.
Nowe Sarai Abrams wife bare him no children, and she had a maide an Egyptian, Hagar by name.
And Sarai said vnto Abram, Beholde now, the Lord hath restrained me from childe bearing. I pray thee goe in vnto my maide: it may be that I shall receiue a childe by her. And Abram obeyed the voyce of Sarai.
Then Sarai Abrams wife tooke Hagar her maide the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelled ten yeere in the land of Canaan, and gaue her to her husband Abram for his wife.
And he went in vnto Hagar, and she conceiued. and when she sawe that she had conceiued, her dame was despised in her eyes.
Then Sarai saide to Abram, Thou doest me wrong. I haue giuen my maide into thy bosome, and she seeth that she hath conceiued, and I am despised in her eyes: the Lord iudge betweene me and thee.
Then Abram saide to Sarai, Beholde, thy maide is in thine hand: doe with her as it pleaseth thee. Then Sarai dealt roughly with her: wherefore she fled from her.
But the Angel of the Lord founde her beside a fountaine of water in the wildernesse by the fountaine in the way to Shur,
And he saide, Hagar Sarais maide, whence commest thou? and whither wilt thou goe? And she said, I flie from my dame Sarai.
Then the Angel of the Lord saide to her, Returne to thy dame, and humble thy selfe vnder her hands.
Againe the Angel of the Lord saide vnto her, I will so greatly increase thy seede, that it shall not be numbred for multitude.
Also the Angel of the Lord said vnto her, See, thou art with childe, and shalt beare a sonne, and shalt call his name Ishmael: for the Lord hath heard thy tribulation.
And he shalbe a wilde man: his hande shall be against euery man, and euery mans hand against him. and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
Then she called the name of the Lord, that spake vnto her, Thou God lookest on me: for she said, Haue I not also here looked after him that seeth me?
Wherefore the well was called, Beerlahai-roi. lo, it is betweene Kadesh and Bered.
And Hagar bare Abram a sonne, and Abram called his sonnes name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
And Abram was foure score and sixe yeere olde, when Hagar bare him Ishmael.
When Abram was ninetie yeere olde and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said vnto him, I am God all sufficient. walke before me, and be thou vpright,
And I will make my couenant betweene me and thee, and I will multiplie thee exceedingly.