Parsha Lech Lecha

Genesis (Bereshit) 12.1 -13 (Parsha Lech Lecha, Aliyah 1)

Gen 12:1  Now the LORD said unto Abram: ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee.
Gen 12:2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing.
Gen 12:3  And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’
Gen 12:4  So Abram went, 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.
Gen 12:5  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.
Gen 12:6  And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the terebinth of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
Gen 12:7  And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said: ‘Unto thy seed will I give this land’; and he builded there an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
Gen 12:8  And he removed from thence unto the mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Ai on the east; and he builded there an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
Gen 12:9  And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.
Abram and Sarai in Egypt
Gen 12:10  And there was a famine in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was sore in the land.
Gen 12:11  And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife: ‘Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon.
Gen 12:12  And it will come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they will say: This is his wife; and they will kill me, but thee they will keep alive.
Gen 12:13  Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister; that it may be well with me for thy sake, and that my soul may live because of thee.’

Genesis (Bereshit) 12.14 -20 (Parsha Lech Lecha, Aliyah 2)

Gen 12:14  And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
Gen 12:15  And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
Gen 12:16  And he dealt well with Abram for her sake; and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and she-asses, and camels.
Gen 12:17  And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.
Gen 12:18  And Pharaoh called Abram, and said: ‘What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
Gen 12:19  Why saidst thou: She is my sister? so that I took her to be my wife; now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.’
Gen 12:20  And Pharaoh gave men charge concerning him; and they brought him on the way, and his wife, and all that he had.

Genesis (Bereshit) 13.1 -4 (Parsha Lech Lecha, Aliyah 2)

Gen 13:1  And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South.
Gen 13:2  And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
Gen 13:3  And he went on his journeys from the South even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Ai;
Gen 13:4  unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first; and Abram called there on the name of the LORD.

Genesis (Bereshit) 13.5 -18 (Parsha Lech Lecha, Aliyah 3)

Gen 13:5  And Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
Gen 13:6  And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together; for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
Gen 13:7  And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land.
Gen 13:8  And Abram said unto Lot: ‘Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we are brethren.
Gen 13:9  Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me; if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou take the right hand, then I will go to the left.’
Gen 13:10  And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou goest unto Zoar.
Gen 13:11  So Lot chose him all the plain of the Jordan; and Lot journeyed east; and they separated themselves the one from the other.
Gen 13:12  Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the Plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom.
Gen 13:13  Now the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against the LORD exceedingly.
Gen 13:14  And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him: ‘Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward;
Gen 13:15  for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
Gen 13:16  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.
Gen 13:17  Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for unto thee will I give it.’
Gen 13:18  And Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt by the terebinths of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.

Genesis (Bereshit) 14.1 -20 (Parsha Lech Lecha, Aliyah 4)

Gen 14:1  And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim,
Gen 14:2  that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela – the same is Zoar.
Gen 14:3  All these came as allies unto the vale of Siddim – the same is the Salt Sea.
Gen 14:4  Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
Gen 14:5  And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth- karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,
Gen 14:6  and the Horites in their mount Seir, unto El-paran, which is by the wilderness.
Gen 14:7  And they turned back, and came to En-mishpat – the same is Kadesh – and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazazon-tamar.
Gen 14:8  And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela – the same is Zoar; and they set the battle in array against them in the vale of Siddim;
Gen 14:9  against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five.
Gen 14:10  Now the vale of Siddim was full of slime pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and they that remained fled to the mountain.
Gen 14:11  And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.
Gen 14:12  And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
Gen 14:13  And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew – now he dwelt by the terebinths of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were confederate with Abram.
Gen 14:14  And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan.
Gen 14:15  And he divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.
Gen 14:16  And he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

Gen 14:17  And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, at the vale of Shaveh – the same is the King’s Vale.
Gen 14:18  And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and he was priest of God the Most High.
Gen 14:19  And he blessed him, and said: ‘Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth;
Gen 14:20  and blessed be God the Most High, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.’ And he gave him a tenth of all.

Genesis (Bereshit) 14.21 -24 (Parsha Lech Lecha, Aliyah 5)

Gen 14:21  And the king of Sodom said unto Abram: ‘Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.’
Gen 14:22  And Abram said to the king of Sodom: ‘I have lifted up my hand unto the LORD, God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth,
Gen 14:23  that I will not take a thread nor a shoe-latchet nor aught that is thine, lest thou shouldest say: I have made Abram rich;
Gen 14:24  save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, let them take their portion.’

Genesis (Bereshit) 15.1 -6 (Parsha Lech Lecha, Aliyah 5)

Gen 15:1  After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying: ‘Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, thy reward shall be exceeding great.’
Gen 15:2  And Abram said: ‘O Lord GOD, what wilt Thou give me, seeing I go hence childless, and he that shall be possessor of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’
Gen 15:3  And Abram said: ‘Behold, to me Thou hast given no seed, and, lo, one born in my house is to be mine heir.’
Gen 15:4  And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying: ‘This man shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.’
Gen 15:5  And He brought him forth abroad, and said: ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if thou be able to count them’; and He said unto him: ‘So shall thy seed be.’
Gen 15:6  And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness.

Genesis (Bereshit) 15.7 -21 (Parsha Lech Lecha, Aliyah 6)

Gen 15:7  And He said unto him: ‘I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.’
Gen 15:8  And he said: ‘O Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?’
Gen 15:9  And He said unto him: ‘Take Me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.’
Gen 15:10  And he took him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each half over against the other; but the birds divided he not.
Gen 15:11  And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
Gen 15:12  And it came to pass, that, when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a dread, even a great darkness, fell upon him.
Gen 15:13  And He said unto Abram: ‘Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
Gen 15:14  and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
Gen 15:15  But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
Gen 15:16  And in the fourth generation they shall come back hither; for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.’
Gen 15:17  And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and there was thick darkness, behold a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces.
Gen 15:18  In that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates;
Gen 15:19  the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite,
Gen 15:20  and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,
Gen 15:21  and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.’

Genesis (Bereshit) 16.1 -16 (Parsha Lech Lecha, Aliyah 6)

Gen 16:1  Now Sarai Abram’s wife bore him no children; and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
Gen 16:2  And Sarai said unto Abram: ‘Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing; go in, I pray thee, unto my handmaid; it may be that I shall be builded up through her.’ And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
Gen 16:3  And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife.
Gen 16:4  And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
Gen 16:5  And Sarai said unto Abram: ‘My wrong be upon thee: I gave my handmaid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.’
Gen 16:6  But Abram said unto Sarai: ‘Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her that which is good in thine eyes.’ And Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face.
Gen 16:7  And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
Gen 16:8  And he said: ‘Hagar, Sarai’s handmaid, whence camest thou? and whither goest thou?’ And she said: ‘I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.’
Gen 16:9  And the angel of the LORD said unto her: ‘Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.’
Gen 16:10  And the angel of the LORD said unto her: ‘I will greatly multiply thy seed, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
Gen 16:11  And the angel of the LORD said unto her: ‘Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son; and thou shalt call his name Ishmael, because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
Gen 16:12  And he shall be a wild ass of a man: his hand shall be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the face of all his brethren.’
Gen 16:13  And she called the name of the LORD that spoke unto her, Thou art a God of seeing; for she said: ‘Have I even here seen Him that seeth Me?’
Gen 16:14  Wherefore the well was called ‘Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
Gen 16:15  And Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.
Gen 16:16  And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

Genesis (Bereshit) 17.1 -6 (Parsha Lech Lecha, Aliyah 6)

Gen 17:1  And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him: ‘I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be thou wholehearted.
Gen 17:2  And I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.’
Gen 17:3  And Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him, saying:
Gen 17:4  ‘As for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations.
Gen 17:5  Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee.
Gen 17:6  And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

Genesis (Bereshit) 17.7 – 27 (Parsha Lech Lecha, Aliyah 7)

Gen 17:7  And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee.
Gen 17:8  And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.’
Gen 17:9  And God said unto Abraham: ‘And as for thee, thou shalt keep My covenant, thou, and thy seed after thee throughout their generations.
Gen 17:10  This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised.
Gen 17:11  And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of a covenant betwixt Me and you.
Gen 17:12  And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any foreigner, that is not of thy seed.
Gen 17:13  He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
Gen 17:14  And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken My covenant.’

Gen 17:15  And God said unto Abraham: ‘As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
Gen 17:16  And I will bless her, and moreover I will give thee a son of her; yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be of her.’
Gen 17:17  Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart: ‘Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?’
Gen 17:18  And Abraham said unto God: ‘Oh that Ishmael might live before Thee!’
Gen 17:19  And God said: “Nay, but Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him.
Gen 17:20  And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee; behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
Gen 17:21  But My covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.’
Gen 17:22  And He left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
Gen 17:23  And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.
Gen 17:24  And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Gen 17:25  And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Gen 17:26  In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.
Gen 17:27  And all the men of his house, those born in the house, and those bought with money of a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Isaiah 40.27 – 31 (Parsha Lech Lecha Halftorah)

Isa 40:27  Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel: ‘My way is hid from the LORD, and my right is passed over from my God’?
Isa 40:28  Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? His discernment is past searching out.
Isa 40:29  He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might He increaseth strength.
Isa 40:30  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall;
Isa 40:31  But they that wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 41.1 – 16 (Parsha Lech Lecha Halftorah)

Isa 41:1  Keep silence before Me, O islands, and let the peoples renew their strength; let them draw near, then let them speak; let us come near together to judgment.
Isa 41:2  Who hath raised up one from the east, at whose steps victory attendeth? He giveth nations before him, and maketh him rule over kings; his sword maketh them as the dust, his bow as the driven stubble.
Isa 41:3  He pursueth them, and passeth on safely; the way with his feet he treadeth not.
Isa 41:4  Who hath wrought and done it? He that called the generations from the beginning. I, the LORD, who am the first, and with the last am the same.
Isa 41:5  The isles saw, and feared; the ends of the earth trembled; they drew near, and came.
Isa 41:6  They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother: ‘Be of good courage.’
Isa 41:7  So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smiteth the anvil, saying of the soldering: ‘It is good’; and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
Isa 41:8  But thou, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham My friend;
Isa 41:9  Thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the uttermost parts thereof, and said unto thee: ‘Thou art My servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away’;
Isa 41:10  Fear thou not, for I am with thee, be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I strengthen thee, yea, I help thee; yea, I uphold thee with My victorious right hand.
Isa 41:11  Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded; they that strove with thee shall be as nothing, and shall perish.
Isa 41:12  Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee; they that warred against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.
Isa 41:13  For I the LORD thy God hold thy right hand, who say unto thee: ‘Fear not, I help thee.’
Isa 41:14  Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I help thee, saith the LORD, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 41:15  Behold, I make thee a new threshing-sledge having sharp teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
Isa 41:16  Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.

Romans 4.1 – 25 (Parsha Lech Lecha Renewed Covenant)

Rom 4:1  What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?
Rom 4:2  For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
Rom 4:3  For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Rom 4:4  Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.
Rom 4:5  And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
Rom 4:6  just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
Rom 4:7  “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;
Rom 4:8  blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
Rom 4:9  Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness.
Rom 4:10  How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised.
Rom 4:11  He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well,
Rom 4:12  and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

The Promise Realized Through Faith

Rom 4:13  For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
Rom 4:14  For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.
Rom 4:15  For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
Rom 4:16  That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
Rom 4:17  as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
Rom 4:18  In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
Rom 4:19  He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.
Rom 4:20  No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
Rom 4:21  fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Rom 4:22  That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”
Rom 4:23  But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone,
Rom 4:24  but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,
Rom 4:25  who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.