Old Testament · Law

Genesis chapter 14

Back when Amraphel was king of , Arioch was king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer was king of , and Tidal was king of ,these kings went to war against Bera king of , Birsha king of , Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (which is Zoar).All of these kings joined forces in the , which is now the Dead Sea.For twelve years they had Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year, they .In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him came and defeated the in Ashteroth-karnaim, the in Ham, the in Shaveh-kiriathaim,and the in their hill country of , all the way to El-paran on the edge of the wilderness.Then they turned back and came to (which is Kadesh), and they conquered the entire territory of the , as well as the 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) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddimagainst Kedorlaomer 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 was full of , and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of their men fell into them, while the rest escaped to the hill country.The four kings seized all the and food supplies of Sodom and Gomorrah, and they left.They also captured — Abram’s nephew — along with everything he owned, since he was living in Sodom.Someone who had escaped came and told Abram , who was camped near the large trees of Mamre the Amorite. Mamre was an ally of Eshcol and Aner, and all of them were with Abram.When Abram heard that his nephew had been captured, he mobilized the 318 born in his household and chased the kings all the way to .He during the night, attacked them, and routed them, chasing them all the way to Hobah, north of .He recovered all the goods, and he also brought back his nephew Lot and everything he owned, along with the women and the rest of the people.After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (which is the ).Then king of brought out bread and wine. He was a of ,and he Abram, saying, “May God Most High, , Abram,”and God Most High, who .” Then Abram gave him of everything.The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the , and keep the for yourself.”But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have to , God Most High, creator of heaven and earth, and made a solemn vow:I won’t take so much as a or a or anything that belongs to you. That way you can never say, ‘I made Abram rich.’I’ll take nothing — except . But as for my Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre — let them take .”