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Then Abram left {the country of} Egypt {and traveled} {back} to the Negev {Desert}. {He took} with him his wife and everything that they owned, and also {his nephew} Lot. 2 {By that time} Abram had become very rich so that he owned {many} livestock and {much} silver and gold. 3 From the Negev {Desert} he {and his family} traveled from place to place {northward} {until they came} to {the town of} Bethel, to the place where he had lived in tents before, between {the towns of} Bethel and Ai. 4 That is the {same} place where he had previously built an altar. There {again} he {sacrificed animals on the altar and} worshiped Yahweh by name.5 Now Lot, who was traveling with {his uncle} Abram, also had {many} sheep and cattle and {many} tents. 6 In fact, they {both} owned so many livestock that they could not live in the same area. There was not enough land to provide enough food and water for all their animals. 7 As a result, the men who took care of Abram's livestock and the men who took care of Lot's livestock started to argue with each other. Besides that, the Canaanites and the Perizzites were {also} living in that land at that time.
8 Finally {one day} Abram said to Lot, "Please, since we are close relatives, let's do something so that you and I, and your herdsmen and my herdsmen, do not need to argue. 9 Look, the entire land is available to you {to choose from}. Please {choose where you want to live and} let's live in separate places. If you choose {the land to} the left {of here}, then I will take {the land to} the right, or if you choose {the land to} the right {of here}, then I will take {the land to} the left.”
10 Lot looked {all} around and he noticed that the entire Jordan {River} Valley, all the way to {the town of} Zoar, had plenty of water. {It was lush and green} like the garden that Yahweh had planted or like the country of Egypt. {That is what it was like} before Yahweh destroyed {the cities of} Sodom and Gomorrah {which were also in that valley}. 11 So Lot chose for himself the entire Jordan {River} Valley. Then he {left Abram and} moved to the east {to live there}. That is how Abram and Lot went separate ways from each other. 12 Abram stayed {where he was} in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived {in another part of the land} among the cities in the {Jordan River} valley and {eventually} moved his tents to {the city of} Sodom. 13 But the people {who lived} in {the city of} Sodom were {extremely} wicked and were {always} sinning terribly against Yahweh.
14 After Lot had left Abram, Yahweh said to Abram, "Look around from the place where you live: Look north, south, east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your descendants {to own} forever. 16 In fact, I will give you so many descendants that they will be as {numerous as} the {specks of} dust on the earth. No one will be able to count how many descendants you have, just as no one can count how many {specks of} dust there are. 17 Now go walk through the land {in all directions}, including its length and its width, {and look it over,} because I am giving it {all} to you.” 18 Then Abram {obeyed Yahweh and} moved his tents to the oak trees that were {on the land that was} owned by {a man named} Mamre, and he lived there near {the city of} Hebron. There he built an altar {out of stones} {and burned sacrifices on it} to {thank and} worship Yahweh.