Melchizedek, King of Salem, gives bread and wine to Abraham.

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Bible Readings

The Call of Abram

Abram, a herdsman from Ur in what is now Iraq, is chosen by God to be the father of mighty people.

Introduction

When we are first introduced to the forefather of Israel, we know him by the name of Abram. These early chapters establish the right of his descendants to claim the land of Canaan (where the Kingdom of Israel would later rise) and the city of Jerusalem, all guaranteed by solemn covenant with God. These events are set in the late 1900s BC.

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1

The Call of Abram

Genesis 12:1-8

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.

8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.

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