Abram Rescues Lot and Meets Melchizedek

Four kings, led by Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, defeat five kings of the plain in the vale of Siddim. Sodom and Gomorrah are plundered, and Lot, who lives in Sodom, is carried off captive with his possessions. A fugitive warns “Abram the Hebrew,” at the oaks of Mamre. At once, Abram arms three hundred and eighteen servants born in his own house and pursues the victors as far as Dan. He attacks by night, defeats them, and brings back Lot, the women, the people, and all the goods. On his return, a mysterious figure appears: Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the most high God. He brings out bread and wine and blesses Abram, who gives him a tenth of everything. The king of Sodom, for his part, offers Abram the goods; Abram refuses, “from a thread even to a shoelatchet,” so that the king cannot say, “I have made Abram rich.”