Bible-Story
Abram and Lot separate
Abram left Egypt and he travelled north to the
Negev. He took his wife and everything that belonged to him Lot, his brother,
also went with him. Abram had many valuable things. He had many cows, and much
silver and gold. Then Abram left the Negev and he went to different places.
Then he arrived at Bethel. He returned to the place where he had put up his
tent before. That place was between Bethel and Ai. It was where Abram had first
built an altar to worship the Lord.
Lot
was travelling with Abram. Lot also had many cows, sheep and tents. But the
ground could not grow enough food for all of them to eat. They could not all
live together in the same place, because they had so many animals and people
with them. Abram's shepherds and Lot's shepherds began to quarrel with each
other.
Abram
said to Lot, ‘We must not quarrel with each other. Your shepherds and my
shepherds must not quarrel with each other. Remember that we belong to the same
family. Look everywhere! There is enough land for all of us. We must separate
from one another. If you go to the left, I will go to the right. If you go to
the right, I will go to the left.’
Lot
looked up and he saw the flat land of Jordan, as far as Zoar. He saw that it
had lots of water, like the garden of the Lord. It was good land, like the land
of Egypt. So Lot chose for himself the valley of the Jordan river. He travelled
towards the east.
Abram
stayed in the land of Canaan and he lived there. But Lot lived near the cities
that were in the Jordan valley. He put up his tents near the city called Sodom.
The people of Sodom were very bad. They did not obey the Lord at all.
After
Lot had gone away, the Lord said to Abram, ‘Stand where
you are and look all round! Look to the north, the south, the east and the
west. I will give you all the land that you can see. I will give it to you and
your descendants. It will belong to them forever. I will make your descendants
become very many. Like the dust of the ground, people will not be able to count
them all. Go and travel round all this land. Look at it, because I am giving it
to you!’
So,
Abram moved his tents. He went to live near the special oak trees of Mamre.
That place is at Hebron. Abram built an altar to worship the Lord there.
