Terah descended from Shem. He dwelt in Mesopotamia and had three sons,
Abraham, Nahor and Haran. Terah served strange gods. And the Lord said
unto Abraham: Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and
from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee. I will
make of thee a great nation, and in thee shall all the families of the
earth be blessed. So Abraham took Sarah, his wife, and his brother’s son
Lot, and all that he had, and went to the land of Canaan. And the Lord
appeared unto Abraham and said: Unto thy seed will I give this land; and
there he builded an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.
Abraham was very rich in cattle, in silver and in gold; and Lot also,
who went with Abraham, had flocks and herds. And there was a strife
between the herdsmen of Abraham and the herdsmen of Lot about the
pastures. And Abraham said unto Lot: Let there be no strife, I pray
thee, between thee and me, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen; for
we are brethren. Is not the land before thee? If thou wilt take the left
hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou take the right hand, then
I will go to the left. Lot saw that the plain of Jordan was well
watered, that it was like the land of Egypt, even as the garden of
Jehovah. So Lot chose the plain for himself, and pitched his tents
toward Sodom. But the inhabitants of Sodom were wicked, and sinners
against the Lord exceedingly. (Gen. 12-13.)