Genesis 12

Genesis 12 read aloud, in a fresh direct translation from the Hebrew — plain modern English, nothing added. Translator's notes: • Genesis 12:3 — וְנִבְרְכוּ (venivrechu): chose "will be blessed". Alternatives: "will bless themselves by you", "will find blessing through you". Why: the verb form can carry a passive or a reflexive sense; the rendering takes the blessing as received through Abram, which is how the promise runs in the sentences around it. • Genesis 12:5 — הַנֶּפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר־עָשׂוּ (hanefesh asher-asu): chose "the persons they had made in Haran". Alternatives: "the people they had acquired in Haran", "the souls they had won in Haran". Why: asah ordinarily means make or do, not buy; the rendering keeps the text's own verb and leaves what kind of making it was — household gathered, servants gained — for the reader.