sheep, and camels,
and asses, and went into the land of Canaan. When they rested at night
Abram and Lot set some sticks in the ground, and covered them with
skins for a tent, and near by they made an altar, where Abram offered a
sacrifice, for that was the only way they could worship God when the
earth was young.

Abram went down into Egypt when there was a lack of food in Canaan, but
he came back to Bethel, where he made the altar before, and worshipped
God there.

He was very rich, for his cattle and sheep had grown into great herds
and flocks, though he had sold many in Egypt for silver, and gold, and
food. Abram and Lot moved often, for their flocks and herds soon ate
up the grass. Then they rolled up the tents, and loaded the camels and
asses, and went where the grass was thick and fresh.

They could easily live in tents, for the country was warm. But Abram's
herdsmen and Lot's herdsmen sometimes quarreled. And so Abram spoke
kindly to Lot, and told him to take his servants, and flocks, and
herds, and go where the pastures were good, and he would go the other
way. So they parted, and Lot went to the low plains of the Jordan, but
Abram went to the high plains of Mamre, in Hebron, and there he built
another altar to the Lord, who had given him all that country--to him
and to his children forever.

There were warlike people in Canaan, and once when they had carried off
Lot from Sodom, Abram took his servants and herdsmen and went out to
fight. He had more than three hundred men, and they took Lot away from
the enemy, and brought him back to Sodom. It was here that Abram met a
wonderful man, who was both a king and a priest. His name was
Melchisedek, and he brought Abram bread and wine, and blessed him there.

After this, God spoke to Abram one evening, and promised that he should
have a son, and then while Abram stood outside his tent, with the great
sky thick with stars above him, God promised him that his children's
children should grow to be as countless as the stars. That was hard to
believe, but Abram believed God always and everywhere.

Still no child came to Abram and Sarai, and Abram was almost a hundred
years old, but God spoke to him again, and told him that he should be
the father of many nations.

He told Abram that a little boy would be born to them, and his name
would be Isaac, and God changed Abram's name to Abraham, which means
"Father of many people," and Sarai's to Sarah, which mea