Abram Rescues Lot

¹Four kings, Amraphel of Babylonia, Arioch of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer of Elam, and Tidal of Goiim,

²went to war against five other kings: Bera of Sodom, Birsha of Gomorrah, Shinab of Admah, Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (or Zoar).

³These five kings had formed an alliance and joined forces in Siddim Valley, which is now the Dead Sea.

⁴They had been under the control of Chedorlaomer for twelve years, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled against him.

⁵In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and his allies came with their armies and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in the plain of Kiriathaim,

⁶and the Horites in the mountains of Edom, pursuing them as far as Elparan on the edge of the desert.

⁷Then they turned around and came back to Kadesh (then known as Enmishpat). They conquered all the land of the Amalekites and defeated the Amorites who lived in Hazazon Tamar.

⁸Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela drew up their armies for battle in Siddim Valley and fought

⁹against the kings of Elam, Goiim, Babylonia, and Ellasar, five kings against four.

¹⁰The valley was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah tried to run away from the battle, they fell into the pits; but the other three kings escaped to the mountains.

¹¹The four kings took everything in Sodom and Gomorrah, including the food, and went away.

¹²Lot, Abram's nephew, was living in Sodom, so they took him and all his possessions.

¹³But a man escaped and reported all this to Abram, the Hebrew, who was living near the sacred trees belonging to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his brothers Eshcol and Aner were Abram's allies.

¹⁴When Abram heard that his nephew had been captured, he called together all the fighting men in his camp, 318 in all, and pursued the four kings all the way to Dan.

¹⁵There he divided his men into groups, attacked the enemy by night, and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus,

¹⁶and got back all the loot that had been taken. He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other prisoners.

Melchizedek Blesses Abram

¹⁷When Abram came back from his victory over Chedorlaomer and the other kings, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in Shaveh Valley (also called King's Valley).

¹⁸And Melchizedek, who was king of Salem and also a priest of the Most High God, brought bread and wine to Abram,

¹⁹blessed him, and said, “May the Most High God, who made heaven and earth, bless Abram!

²⁰May the Most High God, who gave you victory over your enemies, be praised!” And Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the loot he had recovered.

²¹The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Keep the loot, but give me back all my people.”

²²Abram answered, “I solemnly swear before the Lord, the Most High God, Maker of heaven and earth,

²³that I will not keep anything of yours, not even a thread or a sandal strap. Then you can never say, ‘I am the one who made Abram rich.’

²⁴I will take nothing for myself. I will accept only what my men have used. But let my allies, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, take their share.”

God's Covenant with Abram

¹After this, Abram had a vision and heard the Lord say to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I will shield you from danger and give you a great reward.”

²But Abram answered, “Sovereign Lord, what good will your reward do me, since I have no children? My only heir is Eliezer of Damascus.

³You have given me no children, and one of my slaves will inherit my property.”

⁴Then he heard the Lord speaking to him again: “This slave Eliezer will not inherit your property; your own son will be your heir.”

⁵The Lord took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and try to count the stars; you will have as many descendants as that.”

⁶Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.

⁷Then the Lord said to him, “I am the Lord, who led you out of Ur in Babylonia, to give you this land as your own.”

⁸But Abram asked, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that it will be mine?”

⁹He answered, “Bring me a cow, a goat, and a ram, each of them three years old, and a dove and a pigeon.”

¹⁰Abram brought the animals to God, cut them in half, and placed the halves opposite each other in two rows; but he did not cut up the birds.

¹¹Vultures came down on the bodies, but Abram drove them off.

¹²When the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and fear and terror came over him.

¹³The Lord said to him, “Your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land; they will be slaves there and will be treated cruelly for four hundred years.

¹⁴But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and when they leave that foreign land, they will take great wealth with them.

¹⁵You yourself will live to a ripe old age, die in peace, and be buried.

¹⁶It will be four generations before your descendants come back here, because I will not drive out the Amorites until they become so wicked that they must be punished.”

¹⁷When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch suddenly appeared and passed between the pieces of the animals.

¹⁸Then and there the Lord made a covenant with Abram. He said, “I promise to give your descendants all this land from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River,

¹⁹including the lands of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

²⁰the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

²¹the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Job's Complaint to God

¹Finally Job broke the silence and cursed the day on which he had been born.

Job

^2-3O God, put a curse on the day I was born; put a curse on the night when I was conceived!

⁴Turn that day into darkness, God. Never again remember that day; never again let light shine on it.

⁵Make it a day of gloom and thick darkness; cover it with clouds, and blot out the sun.

⁶Blot that night out of the year, and never let it be counted again;

⁷make it a barren, joyless night.

⁸Tell the sorcerers to curse that day, those who know how to control Leviathan.

⁹Keep the morning star from shining; give that night no hope of dawn.

¹⁰Curse that night for letting me be born, for exposing me to trouble and grief.

¹¹I wish I had died in my mother's womb or died the moment I was born.

¹²Why did my mother hold me on her knees? Why did she feed me at her breast?

¹³If I had died then, I would be at rest now,

¹⁴sleeping like the kings and rulers who rebuilt ancient palaces.

¹⁵Then I would be sleeping like princes who filled their houses with gold and silver,

¹⁶or sleeping like a stillborn child.

¹⁷In the grave wicked people stop their evil, and tired workers find rest at last.

¹⁸Even prisoners enjoy peace, free from shouts and harsh commands.

¹⁹Everyone is there, the famous and the unknown, and slaves at last are free.

²⁰Why let people go on living in misery? Why give light to those in grief

²¹They wait for death, but it never comes; they prefer a grave to any treasure.

²²They are not happy till they are dead and buried;

²³God keeps their future hidden and hems them in on every side.

²⁴Instead of eating, I mourn, and I can never stop groaning.

²⁵Everything I fear and dread comes true.

²⁶I have no peace, no rest, and my troubles never end.

The First Dialogue

^1-2Job, will you be annoyed if I speak? I can't keep quiet any longer.

³You have taught many people and given strength to feeble hands.

⁴When someone stumbled, weak and tired, your words encouraged him to stand.

⁵Now it's your turn to be in trouble, and you are too stunned to face it.

⁶You worshiped God, and your life was blameless; and so you should have confidence and hope.

⁷Think back now. Name a single case where someone righteous met with disaster.

⁸I have seen people plow fields of evil and plant wickedness like seed; now they harvest wickedness and evil.

⁹Like a storm, God destroys them in his anger.

¹⁰The wicked roar and growl like lions, but God silences them and breaks their teeth.

¹¹Like lions with nothing to kill and eat, they die, and all their children are scattered.

¹²Once a message came quietly, so quietly I could hardly hear it.

¹³Like a nightmare it disturbed my sleep.

¹⁴I trembled and shuddered; my whole body shook with fear.

¹⁵A light breeze touched my face, and my skin crawled with fright.

¹⁶I could see something standing there; I stared, but couldn't tell what it was. Then I heard a voice out of the silence:

¹⁷“Can anyone be righteous in the sight of God or be pure before his Creator?

¹⁸God does not trust his heavenly servants; he finds fault even with his angels.

¹⁹Do you think he will trust a creature of clay, a thing of dust that can be crushed like a moth?

²⁰We may be alive in the morning, but die unnoticed before evening comes.

²¹All that we have is taken away; we die, still lacking wisdom.”

⁸My child, pay attention to what your father and mother tell you.

⁹Their teaching will improve your character as a handsome turban or a necklace improves your appearance.

¹⁰My child, when sinners tempt you, don't give in.

¹¹Suppose they say, “Come on; let's find someone to kill! Let's attack some innocent people for the fun of it!

¹²They may be alive and well when we find them, but they'll be dead when we're through with them!

¹³We'll find all kinds of riches and fill our houses with loot!

¹⁴Come and join us, and we'll all share what we steal.”

¹⁵My child, don't go with people like that. Stay away from them.

¹⁶They can't wait to do something bad. They're always ready to kill.

¹⁷It does no good to spread a net when the bird you want to catch is watching,

¹⁸but people like that are setting a trap for themselves, a trap in which they will die.

¹⁹Robbery always claims the life of the robber—this is what happens to anyone who lives by violence.