This coming Shabbat Parshah (Weekly Portion) {10/20/2018}
"LEKH L’KHA" (GET YOURSELF OUT)
Torah (Straight Way): Genesis
12:1-17:27
YHWH said to Abram:
Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
So Abram
went, as YHWH had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old
when he left Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the
possessions they had accumulated, and the people he had acquired in Haran, and
they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of
Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem, at the
oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then YHWH appeared
to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So
he built an altar there to YHWH who had appeared to him. From there
he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with
Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to Yahweh there, and
he called on the name of Yahweh.Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev.
There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt
to live there for a while because the famine in the land was severe. When
he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know what a
beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This
is his wife.’ They will kill me but let you live. Please say you’re my
sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on
your account.” When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman
was very beautiful. Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to
Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s household. He treated Abram
well because of her, and Abram acquired flocks and herds, male and female
donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels.
But YHWH struck Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues
because of Abram’s wife Sarai. So Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What
have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you
say, ‘She’s my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife.
Take her and go!” Then Pharaoh gave his men orders about him, and they
sent him away with his wife and all he had.
Then Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev—he, his wife, and all
he had, and Lot with him. Abram was very rich in livestock, silver,
and gold. He went by stages from the Negev to Bethel, to the place between
Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been, to the site where he had
built the altar. And Abram called on the name of Yahweh there.
Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and
tents. But the land was unable to support them as long as they stayed
together, for they had so many possessions that they could not stay
together, and there was quarreling between the herdsmen of Abram’s
livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites
and the Perizzites were living in the land.
Then Abram said to Lot, “Please, let’s not have quarreling between
you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, since we are
relatives. Isn’t the whole land before you? Separate from me: 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 out and saw that the entire Jordan Valley as far
as Zoar was well watered everywhere like YHWH’s garden and the
land of Egypt. This was before YHWH destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. So
Lot chose the entire Jordan Valley for himself. Then Lot journeyed eastward,
and they separated from each other. Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but
Lot lived in the cities of the valley and set up his tent near Sodom. Now
the men of Sodom were evil, sinning greatly against YHWH.
After Lot had separated from him, YHWH said to Abram, “Look
from the place where you are. Look north and south, east and west, for I
will give you and your offspring forever all the land that you see. I will
make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could
count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted. Get up
and walk around the land, through its length and width, for I will give it to
you.”
So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the oaks of Mamre at
Hebron, where he built an altar to YHWH.
In those days Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of
Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of
Goiim waged war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah,
Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, as well as the king of
Bela (that is, Zoar). All of these came as allies to the Valley of Siddim
(that is, the Dead Sea). They were subject to Chedorlaomer for 12 years,
but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. In the fourteenth year
Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in
Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in
Shaveh-kiriathaim, and the Horites in the mountains of Seir, as far
as El-paran by the wilderness. Then they came back to invade
En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they defeated all the territory of the
Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar.
Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah,
the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and lined up
for battle in the Valley of Siddim against Chedorlaomer king of Elam,
Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four
kings against five. Now the Valley of Siddim contained many asphalt pits,
and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them,but the rest
fled to the mountains. The four kings took all the goods of Sodom and
Gomorrah and all their food and went on. They also took Abram’s nephew Lot
and his possessions, for he was living in Sodom,and they went on.
One of the survivors came and told Abram the Hebrew, who lived
near the oaks belonging to Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and the
brother of Aner. They were bound by a treaty with Abram. When Abram
heard that his relative had been taken prisoner, he assembled his 318
trained men, born in his household, and they went in pursuit as far as
Dan. And he and his servants deployed against them by night, attacked
them, and pursued them as far as Hobah to the north of Damascus. He
brought back all the goods and also his relative Lot and his goods, as well as
the women and the other people.
After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who
were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh
(that is, the King’s Valley). Then Melchizedek, king of Salem,brought out
bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High. He blessed him and said:
Abram is blessed by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and I give praise to God Most High who has handed over your enemies to you.
And Abram
gave him a tenth of everything.
Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, but
take the possessions for yourself.”
But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand in an
oath to Yahweh, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will
not take a thread or sandal strap or anything that belongs to you, so you can
never say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ I will take nothing except what the
servants have eaten. But as for the share of the men who came with me—Aner,
Eshcol, and Mamre—they can take their share.”
After these events, the word of YHWH came to Abram in a
vision:
Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great.
But Abram
said, “Lord God, what can You give me, since I am childless and the heir
of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Abram continued, “Look, You have
given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”
Now the word of YHWH came to him: “This one will not be your
heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your
heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars,
if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “Your offspring will be
that numerous.”
Abram believed YHWH, and He credited it to him as righteousness.
He also said to him, “I am Yahweh who brought you from Ur of the
Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
But he said, “Lord God, how can I know that I will
possess it?”
He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old
female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
So he brought all these to Him, split them down the middle, and
laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut up the
birds. Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them
away. As the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and
suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.
Then YHWH said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your
offspring will be foreigners in a land that does not belong to them; they
will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years. However, I will judge the
nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many
possessions. But you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a
ripe old age. In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity
of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a
flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals. On that day
YHWH made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your
offspring, from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River: the
land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites,
Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
Abram’s wife Sarai had not borne any children for him, but she
owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. Sarai said to Abram, “Since YHWH has
prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can
build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So Abram’s wife
Sarai took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a
wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan 10
years. He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she
realized that she was pregnant, she treated her mistress with
contempt. Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my
suffering! I put my slave in your arms, and ever since she saw that
she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May YHWH judge between
me and you.”
Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your hands; do
whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran
away from her.
The Angel of YHWH found her by a spring of water in the
wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai,
where have you come from and where are you going?”
She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”
Then the Angel of YHWH said to her, “You must go back to your
mistress and submit to her mistreatment.” The Angel of YHWH also said
to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many
to count.”
Then the Angel of YHWH said to her:
You have conceived and will have a son. You will name him Ishmael, for YHWH has heard your cry of affliction. This man will be like a wild donkey. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; he will live at odds with all his brothers.
So she
called YHWH who spoke to her: The God Who Sees, for she said, “In
this place, have I actually seen the One who sees me?” That is why
she named the spring, “A Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.” It is
located between Kadesh and Bered.
So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram gave the name
Ishmael to the son Hagar had. Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore
Ishmael to him.
When Abram was 99 years old, YHWH appeared to him, saying, “I
am God Almighty. Live in My presence and be blameless. I will
establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.”
Then Abram fell facedown and God spoke with him: “As for Me,
My covenant is with you: you will become the father of many nations. Your
name will no longer be Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I
will make you the father of many nations. I will make you extremely
fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you. I will keep My
covenant between Me and you, and your future offspring throughout their
generations, as an everlasting covenant to be your God and the God of your
offspring after you. And to you and your future offspring I will give
the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal
possession, and I will be their God.”
God also said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring
after you throughout their generations are to keep My covenant. This is My
covenant, which you are to keep, between Me and you and your offspring after
you: Every one of your males must be circumcised. You must circumcise the
flesh of your foreskin to serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and
you. Throughout your generations, every male among you at eight days old
is to be circumcised. This includes a slave born in your house and one
purchased with money from any foreigner. The one who is not your
offspring, a slave born in your house, as well as one purchased with
money, must be circumcised. My covenant will be marked in your flesh as an
everlasting covenant. If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his
foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her
Sarai, for Sarah will be her name. I will bless her; indeed, I will
give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will produce nations;
kings of peoples will come from her.”
Abraham fell face down. Then he laughed and said to himself,
“Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old
woman, give birth?” So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were
acceptable to You!”
But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you
will name him Isaac. I will confirm My covenant with him as an everlasting
covenant for his future offspring. As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I
will certainly bless him; I will make him fruitful and will multiply him
greatly. He will father 12 tribal leaders, and I will make him into a
great nation. But I will confirm My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will
bear to you at this time next year.” When He finished talking with him,
God withdrew from Abraham.
Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all the slaves born in his
house or purchased with his money—every male among the members of Abraham’s
household—and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that very day, just
as God had said to him. Abraham was 99 years old when the flesh of his
foreskin was circumcised, and his son Ishmael was 13 years old when the
flesh of his foreskin was circumcised. On that same day Abraham and his
son Ishmael were circumcised. And all the men of his household—both slaves
born in his house and those purchased with money from a foreigner—were
circumcised with him.
#Parsha
#LekhL’kha
#Parsha
#LekhL’kha
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