Bible / Genesis

Genesis 13

World English Bible, Catholic edition, in plain modern English. About the translations

1 Abram went up out of Egypt – he, his wife, all that he had, and Lot with him – into the South.

2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

3 He went on his journeys from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,

4 to the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. There Abram called on the LORD’s name.

5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, herds, and tents.

6 The land was not able to bear them, that they might live together; for their possessions were so great that they couldn’t live together.

7 There was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites lived in the land at that time.

8 Abram said to Lot, “Please, let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen; for we are relatives.

9 Isn’t the whole land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If you go to the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to the right hand, then I will go to the left.”

10 Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar.

11 So Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan for himself. Lot traveled east, and they separated themselves from one another.

12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, and Lot lived in the cities of the plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom.

13 Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against the LORD.

14 The LORD said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him, “Now, lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward,

15 for I will give all the land which you see to you and to your offspring forever.

16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can count the dust of the earth, then your offspring may also be counted.

17 Arise, walk through the land in its length and in its width; for I will give it to you.”

18 Abram moved his tent, and came and lived by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.

This chapter in the Catechism and the early Church

Where the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites these verses (from its footnotes on vatican.va), and where the earliest Church Fathers quote them (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, public domain). Short quotes only; follow the links for the full text. The Catechism uses modern verse numbers, so these are listed by chapter.

  1. Genesis 13:8 in modern BiblesCCC 500
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 500 “Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus. The Church has always understood…”
  2. Genesis 13:13 in modern Bibles
    Read the Fathers
    • “For all the earth which thou seest, I will give to thee and to thy seed, even for ever.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXXII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  3. Genesis 13:14 in modern Bibles
    Read the Fathers
    • “And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, [so that] if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.”

      Quoted in First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Clement of Rome (c. AD 96), Chapter X. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

    • “For all the earth which thou seest, I will give to thee and to thy seed, even for ever.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXXII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  4. Genesis 13:15 in modern Bibles
    Read the Fathers
    • “And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, [so that] if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.”

      Quoted in First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Clement of Rome (c. AD 96), Chapter X. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  5. Genesis 13:16 in modern Bibles
    Read the Fathers
    • “And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, [so that] if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.”

      Quoted in First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Clement of Rome (c. AD 96), Chapter X. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  6. Genesis 13:17 in modern Bibles
    Read the Fathers
    • “For all the earth which thou seest, I will give to thee and to thy seed, even for ever." And again He says, "Arise, and go through the length and breadth of the land, since I will give it unto thee;”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXXII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1