Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. When he was close to entering Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, "Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. Therefore, it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, 'This is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you." So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house. He treated Abram well for her sake, giving him sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels. But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, 'She is my sister'? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way." So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had. Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South.

Abraham enters Egypt immediately after reaching Canaan. This sojourn proves spiritually unprofitable. He and Lot depart with marked embarrassment after Pharaoh delivers a severe rebuke for the half-truth that misrepresented Sarah's relationship to Abram. They return to the path in Canaan. The episode forms part of the sequence of chronic difficulties that surface one by one during Abraham's life of faith. Each difficulty recedes gradually rather than vanishing at once, allowing Abraham to move forward while the underlying patterns that produced the trouble are slowly unraveled. This measured withdrawal from Egypt exemplifies the same patient process visible from the earlier periods in Mesopotamia onward, in which God leads His servant backward through former habits so that new patterns of thought and conduct may be established.

Abraham entered Egypt because of a severe famine in the land of Canaan, taking his household there for relief. Upon approaching the region he instructed Sarai to identify herself as his sister rather than his wife, fearing that the Egyptians would kill him to possess her. The Egyptians noticed her beauty, commended her to Pharaoh, and brought her into his house while bestowing livestock and servants upon Abraham for her sake. God responded by afflicting Pharaoh's household with great plagues, prompting Pharaoh to confront Abraham, return Sarai, and command his men to escort the entire company out of the country. The account contains no reference to an altar, worship, or prayer during the stay in Egypt, indicating a temporary interruption in Abraham's conscious fellowship with God. Symbolically the move represented a shift from the land of promise into a condition of straitening and confinement, following closely upon his departure from Babylon. Abraham later acknowledged the Lord's provision by naming the place of his supreme trial "The-Lord-Will-Provide," demonstrating that he had learned through this episode and subsequent experiences that God supplies every need when the relationship with Him remains central. The expulsion from Egypt reinforced the pattern that righteousness and the ways of the world cannot coexist without eventual separation, returning Abraham to Bethel where he again called upon the name of the Lord.