So Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot his nephew with him, into ^athe Negev (the South country of Judah) .

2 Now Abram was ^aextremely rich in livestock and in silver and in gold. 3 He journeyed on from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, ^abetween Bethel and Ai, 4 where he had first built an ^aaltar; and there Abram called on the name of the LORD in prayer. Gal 3:6-9 5 But ^aLot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 Now ^athe land was not able to support them that is, sustain all their grazing and water needs while they lived near one another, ^bfor their possessions were too great for them to stay together. 7 ^aAnd there was strife and quarreling between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle. Now ^bthe Canaanite and the Perizzite were living in the land at that same time making grazing of the livestock difficult.

8 ^aSo Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife and disagreement between you and me, nor between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, because we are relatives. 9 Is not the entire land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or if you choose the right, then I will go to the left.” 10 So Lot looked and saw that the valley of the ^aJordan was well watered everywhere—this was before the LORD ^bdestroyed Sodom and Gomorrah; it was all like ^cthe garden of the LORD, ^dlike the land of Egypt, as you go to ^eZoar at the south end of the Dead Sea. 11 Then Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and he traveled east. So they separated from each other. 12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled in ^athe cities of the valley and camped as far as Sodom and lived there. 13 But ^athe men of Sodom were extremely wicked and ^bsinful against the LORD unashamed in their open sin before Him.

14 The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had left him, “^aNow lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are standing, ^bnorthward and southward and eastward and westward; 15 ^afor all the land which you see ^bI will give to you and to your descendants forever. Acts 7:5 16 I will make your descendants as numerous ^aas the dust of the earth, so that if a man could count the grains of dust of the earth, then your descendants could also be counted. Gen 28:14 17 Arise, ^awalk (make a thorough reconnaissance) around in the land, through its length and its width, for ^bI will give it to you.” 18 Then Abram broke camp and moved his tent, and came and settled by the grove of the great ^aterebinths (oak trees) of Mamre the Amorite, which are in Hebron, and there he built ^ban altar to honor the LORD.