Lech-Lecha לֶךְ־לְךָ

Bereshit 12:1—17:27 · 126 verses · 3 of 54

Commandments in this portion: positive — 1counted by Sefer HaChinuch

Which commandments

2The commandment to circumciseמצות מילהpos.

Numbering, order and division follow Sefer HaChinuch; the number links to the text.

«Go for yourself»—Avram leaves Charan for Canaan at seventy-five, goes down to Egypt and returns. He parts from Lot, rescues him from four kings, and receives the covenant between the pieces with its promise of a land and its warning of four hundred years of exile. Yishmael is born; the covenant of circumcision is given.

Read next on 24 October 2026, 13 November 2027. By the Israeli reading cycle.

People of the portion

Abrahamthe first patriarch, who made the one God known to the world1948–2123 AM · 175 years Sarahthe first matriarch, wife of Avraham, mother of Yitzchak1958–2085 AM · 127 years LotAvraham's nephew, saved from Sodom IshmaelAvraham's elder son by Hagar, ancestor of the Arab tribes2034–2171 AM · 137 years HagarSarah's maidservant, mother of Yishmael Isaacthe second patriarch, the only one who never left the Land of Israel2048–2228 AM · 180 years DanBilhah's elder son; the tribe of the judge and of Samson TerahAvraham's father, a dealer in idols at Ur Kasdim1878–2083 AM · 205 years

Sefer Yetzirah Exile and redemption Ur of the Chaldees Charan Shechem Beit El Sodom Genesis Beer Sheva Brit Milah

Events of this portion

Echoes in the Prophets and history

These events themselves live in other books and other centuries; each is tied to this portion by the verse shown beside it: the early ones the portion recalls, in the later ones its word resounds:

4932 AMThe Epistle to Yemen: Maimonides answers Yemen

The world at that time

The nearest event of world history known to us comes later, 64 years on:

2111The Hyksos in the Nile Delta

How it is read

First	Bereshit 12:1—12:13	13 verses
Second	Bereshit 12:14—13:4	11 verses
Third	Bereshit 13:5—13:18	14 verses
Fourth	Bereshit 14:1—14:20	20 verses
Fifth	Bereshit 14:21—15:6	10 verses
Sixth	Bereshit 15:7—17:6	37 verses
Seventh	Bereshit 17:7—17:27	21 verses
Maftir	Bereshit 17:24—17:27	4 verses
Haftarah	Isaiah 40:27—41:16 on Sefaria	21 verses

The text

The English edition does not yet carry the text of the portion. The Hebrew with translation is on Sefaria; the Russian page of this portion carries the full text verse by verse — открыть по-русски →.