In the Valley of the Salt Sea, for twelve years, the people in the region had been under the rule of the king of Elam, but on the thirteenth some rebelled. 

In the fourteenth year, the king of Elam teamed up with other three kings of cities to fight five rebellious cities including Sodom and Gomorrah. While fleeing, some fell into bitumen pits, and other hid in the hills. The conquerers took the possessions and provisions from the cities as well as many captives including Lot. 

One of the escapees came to Abram and told him what happened. Abram took 318 men to chase them down. They approached at night and were able to recapture Lot, their possessions and people taken. Abram brought them back to Sodom. The kings of Sodom and Salem came out to greet him. 

The king of Salem was named Melchizedek and was a priest of God. He brought out bread and wine, and blessed them. Abram gave ten percent of everything to him, a tithe. 

The king of Sodom asked Abram to give him the people he saved, but keep all the possessions as payment. Abram told him to take it all because he didn’t want people to say he profited from them. 

Abram was wise to avoid taking spoils of war and become beholden to foreign powers. Perhaps he had learned his lesson from Egypt. Additionally, he honored a priest of God, even though he was from another ethnic group.