Genesis
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The
First Book of Moses
Called
Genesis
Creation
[Genesis 1] In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,
[2] the earth was still unformed and chaotic,
with darkness on the surface of the abyss,
and the spirit of God hovering over the waters.
[3] God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.
[4] God saw that the light was good.
He separated the light from the darkness,
[5] calling the light “day” and the darkness “night”.
There was an evening and a morning, making the first day.
[6] Then God said, ‘Let there be a dome between the waters,
and let it separate the waters from the waters.’
[7] So God made the dome to separate the waters below
from the waters which were above it.
It was so.
[8] God called the dome the “sky”.
There was an evening and a morning, making the second day.
[9] Then God said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered together,
and let the dry ground appear.’
It was so.
[10] God called the dry ground “land”
and he called the gathered waters “seas”.
God saw that it was good.
[11] God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation:
Plants on the earth which yield their own kind of seed,
and trees that bear fruits in which are their own seed.’
It was so.
[12] The earth sprouted vegetation:
seed-bearing plants,
and trees with seed-bearing fruit.
God saw that it was good.
[13] There was an evening and a morning, making the third day.
[14] Then God said, ‘Let there be lights in the dome of the sky
to separate the night from the day.
Let them be signs to mark the seasons, the days, and the years.
[15] Let them be lights in the dome of the sky to light the earth.’
It was so.
[16] So God made the two great lights:
The greater to rule the day and the lesser to rule the night.
God made the stars also. [17] He placed all these lights in the dome of the sky
to shed light upon the earth,
[18] to rule over the day and over the night,
and to separate light from darkness.
God saw that it was good.
[19] There was an evening and a morning, making the fourth day.
[20] Then God said, ‘Let the waters teem with living creatures,
and let birds fly over the earth in the open dome of the sky.’
[21] God created the great sea monsters,
all kinds of living, moving creatures with which the waters teem,
and all kinds of winged birds.
God saw that it was good.
[22] He blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful,
increase, fill the oceans,
and let the birds increase on the land.’
[23] There was an evening and a morning, making the fifth day.
[24] Then God said, ‘Let the earth produce all kinds of living creatures:
cattle and reptiles and wild beasts.’
It was so.
[25] So God made all the different kinds of wild beasts,
and the cattle, and everything that crawls upon the ground.
God saw that it was good.
[26] Then God said, ‘Let us make humans who are images of us, who are like us.
Let them rule over the fish of the sea,
the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth,
and all the reptiles that crawl upon the ground.’
[27] So God created humans in his image,
he created them in the image of God.
He created them male and female.
[28] Then God blessed them, and said to them:
‘Be fruitful, grow in number,
fill the earth and govern it;
rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky,
and over every living thing that crawls on the ground,’
[29] God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant
throughout all the earth,
and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit.
They will be food for you,
[30] and to every wild beast and to every bird of the sky,
and to everything that crawls on the earth –
everything with the breath of life in it,
I give every green plant for food.’
It was so.
[31] When God saw all that he had made,
he perceived that it was very good.
There was an evening and a morning, making the sixth day.
[Genesis 2] So the heavens and the earth were finished, and everything in them.
[2] When on the seventh day God finished the work which he had done,
he rested that day from all his work.
[3] God blessed the seventh day and set it apart,
for in it he rested from all the creative work which he had done.
The garden
[4] This is the story of the heavens and earth when they were created.
At the time when the Lord God made earth and heaven, [5] there were not yet any plants on the earth, and no vegetation had sprung up; for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the soil. [6] A mist used to rise from the earth and water all the surface of the ground.
[7] Then the Lord God moulded a human being out of dust taken from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living being. [8] The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, far in the East; and placed the human he had formed there. [9] From the soil the Lord God made grow all kinds of trees that are pleasant to look at and good for food, with the tree of life also in the middle of the garden and the tree that gives the knowledge of good and evil.
[10] A river flowed out of Eden and watered the garden, and from there branched into four. [11] The name of the first is Pishon, which flows round the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. [12] The gold of that land is pure, and aromatic resins and onyx stone are found there. [13] The name of the second river is Gihon, which flows round the whole land of Cush, [14] and the name of the third river is the Tigris, which heads toward the east of Asshur. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
[15] Then the Lord God took the human and placed him in the garden of Eden to till it and to care for it. [16] The Lord God also gave the human this command: ‘You may freely eat from every tree of the garden, [17] except from the tree that gives the knowledge of good and evil; from this you must not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’
[18] Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the human to be alone; I will make a helper suited to him.’ [19] So out of the ground the Lord God formed all the wild beasts and birds, and made them come to the human to see what he would call them. Whatever he called each living creature, that was its name. [20] So the human, Adam gave names to all cattle and all the wild birds and beasts. But there was no companion suitable for him.
[21] Then the Lord God caused the human to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. [22] With the rib which he had taken from the human, the Lord built up a woman and brought her to the human. [23] Then the human said, ‘This now is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. She will be called Woman, for from man she was taken.’ [24] For this reason a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and the two become one flesh.
[25] The man and his wife were both naked, yet felt no shame.
[Genesis 3] Now the snake was craftier than any other wild beast that the Lord God had made. It said to the woman, ‘Has God really said, “You must not eat from any tree of the garden”?’ [2] The woman answered, ‘We are allowed to eat the fruit of all the trees of the garden; [3] it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God has said, “You must not eat from it, nor should you touch it, for if you do, you will die.”’ [4] Then the snake said to the woman, ‘You will not die! [5] God knows that on the day you eat some of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing what is good and what is evil.’
[6] When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, attractive to look at and desirable for acquiring wisdom, she took some of its fruit and ate. Then she gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
[7] Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they that they were naked, so they sewed fig-leaves together to cover themselves. [8] But when they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the evening breeze, the man and his wife hid from him among the garden trees.
[9] When the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ [10] he replied, ‘I heard you in the garden and I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.’ [11] The Lord God said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree from which I ordered you not to eat?’ [12] The man answered, ‘The woman you placed beside me, she gave me fruit from the tree and I ate.’ [13] The Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’ The woman replied, ‘The snake deceived me, and I ate.’
[14] Then the Lord God said to the snake:
‘Because you have done this,
you will be more accursed than all cattle
and all the wild beasts.
You will crawl on your belly
and eat dust
all your life.
[15] I will establish hostility between you and the woman,
between your offspring and hers,
who will wound your head,
and you will wound their heel.’
[16] To the woman he said,
‘I will greatly increase your anguished toil in pregnancy;
with pain will you bear children.
You will yearn for your husband,
but he will rule over you.’
[17] To Adam he said,
‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife,
and ate from the tree
about which I ordered you:
“You must never eat from it”
the ground will be cursed because of you;
as long as you live, you will earn a living only by anguished toil.
[18] The ground will always bring forth thorns and thistles,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
[19] By the sweat of your brow you will eat bread,
until you return to the ground,
for from it you were taken;
for dust you are,
and to dust you will return!’
[20] The man, Adam, named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living people. [21] The Lord God made clothes from animal skins for Adam and his wife and dressed them.
[22] Then the Lord God said: ‘The man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not reach out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.’ [23] So the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he had been taken. [24] He drove out Adam and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubim, and the blazing whirling sword, to bar the way to the tree of life.
Cain and Abel
[Genesis 4] Adam lay with his wife Eve and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain, and she said, ‘I have created a man with the help of the Lord !’ [2] She also gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel was a shepherd, while Cain was a farmer.
[3] In the course of time Cain brought some of the ground’s produce as an offering to the Lord . [4] Abel too brought some of the choicest animals of his flock and sacrificed their fat pieces. The Lord looked with approval on Abel and his offering [5] but he could not receive Cain and his offering with approval.
Cain burned with anger and his face fell. [6] So the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry and why do you scowl? [7] If you do what is right and good, can’t you hold your head up high? But if you do wrong, sin crouches at the door and longs to have you, but you must master it.’
[8] Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let us go into the field.’ [*] While they were there, Cain attacked his brother and killed him.
[9] Then the Lord asked Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ He answered, ‘I do not know! Am I my brother’s keeper?’
[10] ‘What have you done?’ the Lord replied, ‘Listen! Your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground. [11] Even now you are cursed by the very ground that has opened to receive your brother’s blood shed by your hand. [12] From now on when you till the ground, it will no longer yield its best to you. You will be a vagabond and a wandering refugee upon the earth.’
[13] Then Cain said to the Lord , ‘My punishment is too much for me to bear. [14] Look! Today you banish me from the ground. I must hide in your presence. I will be a wandering refugee upon the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me!’
[15] But the Lord said to him, ‘If anyone kills you, the crime will be avenged sevenfold.’ So the Lord placed a distinctive mark on Cain, to keep anyone who found him from killing him. [16] Cain departed from the Lord ’s presence and lived east of Eden in the land of Wandering.
Genealogy
[17] Cain lay with his wife. She became pregnant, giving birth to Enoch. Cain built a city, and named it after his son Enoch. [18] To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech.
Lamech’s vengeance
[19] Lamech took two wives; the name of one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. [20] Adah gave birth to Jabal, who became the ancestor of the people who live in tents and have cattle. [21] His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the ancestor of the people who play the harp and flute. [22] As for Zillah, she gave birth to Tubal-cain, who forged all sort of tools from copper and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
[23] Lamech said to his wives:
‘Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
wives of Lamech, listen to my speech;
because I have slain a man for wounding me,
and a young man for bruising me.
[24] If Cain is to be avenged sevenfold,
then Lamech will be seventy and sevenfold.’
Genealogy
[25] Adam lay with his wife again and she bore a son. She named him Seth: ‘because God gave me another son for Abel, who was killed by Cain.’ [26] Seth too had a son. He named him Enosh. That was when people began worshipping in the name of Lord .
[Genesis 5] This is the list of the descendants of Adam. On the day that God created human beings, he made them in his own image. [2] He created them male and female created, and blessed them, and called their name Adam.
[3] Adam lived for a hundred and thirty years, and had a son in his own likeness, after his image; and named him Seth. [4] Adam lived for eight hundred years after he had Seth; and he had sons and daughters. [5] In total, Adam lived for nine hundred and thirty years; and then he died.
[6] Seth lived for a hundred and five years, and fathered Enosh. [7] Seth lived a further eight hundred and seven years after he had Enosh, and had sons and daughters. [8] In total, Seth lived for nine hundred and twelve years; and then he died.
[9] Enosh lived for ninety years, and fathered Kenan. [10] Enosh lived a further eight hundred and fifteen years after he had Kenan, and had sons and daughters. [11] In total, Enosh lived for nine hundred and five years; and then he died.
[12] Kenan lived for seventy years, and fathered Mahalalel. [13] Kenan lived for eight hundred and forty years after he had Mahalalel, and had sons and daughters. [14] In total, Kenan lived for nine hundred and ten years; and then he died.
[15] Mahalalel lived for sixty and five years, and fathered Jared. [16] Mahalalel lived for eight hundred and thirty years after he had Jared, and had sons and daughters. [17] In total, Mahalalel lived for eight hundred ninety and five years; and then he died.
[18] Jared lived for a hundred sixty and two years, and fathered Enoch. [19] Jared lived for eight hundred years after he had Enoch, and had sons and daughters. [20] In total, Jared lived for nine hundred sixty and two years; and then he died.
[21] Enoch lived for sixty and five years, and fathered Methuselah. [22] Enoch walked with God for three hundred years after he had Methuselah, and had sons and daughters. [23] In total, Enoch lived for three hundred sixty and five years. [24] Enoch walked with God, and then he was gone; because God took him.
[25] Methuselah lived for a hundred eighty and seven years, and fathered Lamech. [26] Methuselah lived for seven hundred eighty and two years after he had Lamech, and had sons and daughters. [27] In total, Methuselah lived for nine hundred sixty and nine years; and then he died.
[28] Lamech lived for a hundred eighty and two years, and had a son. [29] He named him Noah, saying: ‘He will bring us relief from our work and the toil of our hands which comes from the ground the Lord cursed.’ [30] Lamech lived for five hundred ninety and five years after he had Noah, and had sons and daughters. [31] In total, Lamech lived for seven hundred seventy and seven years; and then he died.
[32] When Noah was five hundred years old, he fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
The divine beings and the beautiful daughters
[Genesis 6] When people began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, [2] some of the heavenly beings saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful; and they took them as wives, whoever they chose. [3] But the Lord said: ‘My spirit will not abide in people forever, because they are flesh; therefore they will live for only a hundred and twenty years.’ [4] The Nephilim were on the earth in those days (and later too) when the heavenly beings lay with the human daughters who had their children. These were the mighty heroes of old, men of renown.
The flood
[5] When the Lord saw that people’s wickedness was increasing in the world, and that the trend of their thoughts was at all times toward evil, [6] he was greatly grieved and regretted that he had made people on the earth. [7] Therefore the Lord said, ‘I will destroy all living beings from off the ground – people, animals, creeping things, and birds – because I regret that I have made them.’ [8] But Noah had won the Lord ’s favour.
[9] This is the story of Noah. Among the people of his time, Noah was righteous and wholehearted; Noah walked with God. [10] Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. [11] God saw that the earth was corrupt and full of violence. [12] God looked at the earth and saw that it was corrupt; all living things on the earth had become corrupt in their ways.
[13] So God said to Noah, ‘I have determined to put an end to all living beings, for the earth is filled with their acts of injustice; I am going to destroy them from the earth. [14] Make yourself an ark of cypress wood. Construct rooms in the ark, and coat it within and without with pitch. [15] This is how you must build it: the length of the ark must be five hundred feet, its breadth eighty feet, and its height fifty feet. [16] Make a roof for it and place the door on the side. Construct it with lower, second, and third storeys. [17] For I am about to bring floods of water upon the earth to destroy from under heaven every living thing in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth will die.
[18] ‘But I will make a covenant with you. Go into the ark with your sons, your wife and their wives, [19] and take with you into the ark two of every kind living thing, a male and a female, [20] birds, animals and creeping things, so that they might be kept alive. [21] Take and store food for them and you.’
[22] Noah did all this. He did everything that God told him to.
[Genesis 7] Then the Lord said to Noah, ‘Enter with all your household into the ark; for I see that in this age you are living before me an upright life. [2] Take seven of all the beasts that are fit for food and sacrifice, the male and the female; but of the beasts that are not fit for food and sacrifice take only two, the male and the female; [3] and of the wild birds that are fit for food and sacrifice take seven, to keep the species alive on the earth. [4] After seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will destroy from the surface of the ground every living thing that I have made.’
[5] Then Noah did all that the Lord commanded him. [6] He was six hundred years old, and when the waters of the flood came upon the earth [7] he, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, entered the ark because of the waters of the flood [8] together with the beasts that were fit for food and sacrifice and the beasts that were not fit, and the birds, and everything that creeps upon the ground. [9] Two by two, male and female, they entered the ark as God had commanded Noah.
[10] After seven days, the flood waters came. [11] In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that very day, all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the windows of heaven were opened – and [12] it rained for forty days and forty nights. [13] That was the day that Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark, and [14] every type of animal, and cattle, and creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and bird [15] went with Noah into the ark, two by two of every kind of living thing. [16] They went in, male and female, as God had commanded Noah; and the Lord shut Noah in the ark.
[17] The flood continued for forty days, and the waters increased and raised up the ark, and it was lifted high above the earth. [18] It floated on the surface as the waters rose higher over the land. [19] Higher the waters rose over the land – until the highest mountains were covered [20] by more than twenty feet.
[21] All creatures on the land, bird and cattle and animals, every creature that swarms on the ground, every person, [22] everything on dry land in whose nostrils was the faintest breath of life, died. [23] The Lord destroyed everything that existed upon the face of the ground, both man and cattle, and creeping things, and the birds of the heavens, and Noah only was left and they who were with him in the ark.
[24] The waters did not start to go down for a hundred and fifty days.
[Genesis 8] Then God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the animals that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to blow over the earth, and the flood subsided, [2] the fountains of the deed were stopped and the windows of heaven closed, and the rain from heaven ceased, [3] and the waters withdrew more and more from the land for a hundred and fifty days. [4] On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. [5] The waters continued to go down until, on the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains could be seen.
[6] After forty days Noah opened the window of the ark, [7] and sent out a raven; and it kept going to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. [8] He also sent out a dove to see if the waters had subsided from the surface of the ground; [9] but the dove found no rest for her foot, and so returned to him to the ark, for the waters covered the surface of the whole earth. So he reached out his hand and took her and brought her back into the ark.
[10] Then he waited seven days longer and again sent out the dove from the ark. [11] The dove came in to him at dusk and in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive-leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. [12] He waited seven days more and sent out the dove; but it did not return to him again.
[13] So it was that in the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the waters had dried up. Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. [14] It was the twenty-seventh day of the second month.
[15] God said to Noah, [16] ‘Leave the ark with your wife and sons and their wives. [17] Bring out every living creature, every bird, cattle, and creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they can spread over the earth, and be fruitful and multiply.’ [18] So Noah left the ark with his sons and his wife and his son’s wives, [19] and every living creature, every creeping thing, every bird came out one kind after another. [20] Noah built an altar to the Lord and took one of every beast and bird that was fit for sacrifice and offered burnt-offerings on the altar. [21] When the Lord smelled the pleasing odour, he said to himself, ‘I will never again curse the ground because of people because the inclination of their heart is evil from their youth, nor will I again destroy every living thing, as I have done. [22] While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, will not cease.’
[Genesis 9] Then God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, ‘Bear children and multiply and repopulate the earth. [2] Every wild beast and bird and everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea will fear and dread you; into your hand they are given. [3] Every moving thing that lives will be food for you; as I gave the green herbs, I give them all to you. [4] Only you must not eat flesh while the life is in it, that is, the blood.
[5] ‘Moreover, your own lifeblood will I require for a person’s life; from every beast will I require it, and from everyone who takes another’s life. [6] Whoever sheds a person’s blood, by people will their blood be shed; for God made people in his own image. [7] But you are to bear children and repopulate the whole earth and subdue it.’
[8] God also said to Noah and to his sons with him, [9] ‘Now I make this covenant with you and with your descendants [10] and with every living creature that is with you, with the birds, the cattle, and every wild animal that is with you of all that have gone out of the ark, even with every beast of the earth. [11] This is my covenant: No living thing will ever again be cut off by the waters of the flood, and there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.’
[12] God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make for all time between me and you and every living creature that is with you: [13] I have placed my bow in the cloud and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the inhabitants of the earth. [14] Whenever I bring a cloud over the earth and the bow is seen in the cloud, [15] I will remember the agreement which is between me and you and every living creature; and the waters will never again become a flood to destroy all living things. [16] Whenever the bow is seen in the cloud, I will see it and remember the everlasting agreement between God and every living creature on earth,’ [17] God said to Noah, ‘it is the sign of the covenant which I have made with everything that lives on earth.’
Genealogy
[18] The sons of Noah, who left the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth; and Ham was the father of Canaan. [19] The descendants of these three sons of Noah spread over the whole earth.
Noah and the first vineyard
[20] Now Noah, the farmer, was the first to plant a vineyard. [21] When he drank the wine he became drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent. [22] Then Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers about it. [23] But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and went backward to cover the nakedness of their father, their faces being turned away so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. [24] When Noah sobered up and learned what his youngest son had done to him, [25] he said,
Cursed be Canaan;
may he be a slave of slaves to his brothers.
[26] Also he said:
Blessed of the Lord be Shem;
and let Canaan be a slave to him.
[27] God enlarge Japheth
and let him live in the tents of Shem.
Let Canaan be a slave to him as well.
Genealogy
[28] Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. [29] All the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.
[Genesis 10] Now these are the descendants of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and to them were sons born after the flood. [2] The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. [3] The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. [4] The sons of Javan: Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. [5] From the descendants of these were the peoples of the coasts and islands divided in their lands, each with its own language, after their families, in their nations. [6] The sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan. [7] The sons of Cush: Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah: Sheba, and Dedan. [8] Cush fathered Nimrod; he began to be known as a mighty one in the earth. [9] He was a mighty hunter before the Lord ; which is why people say: ‘Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord .’ [10] The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. [11] Asshur left that land and built Nineveh, and Rehoboth-ir, and Calah, [12] and Resen between Nineveh and Calah – which is the great city. [13] Mizraim fathered Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, [14] and Pathrusim, and Casluhim – from whom went forth the Philistines – and Caphtorim. [15] Canaan fathered Zidon his firstborn, and Heth; [16] and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite; [17] and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite; [18] and the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite; and afterward were the families of the Canaanite spread abroad. [19] The border of the Canaanite was from Zidon, as you go toward Gerar, to Gaza; as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, to Lasha. [20] These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, in their nations. [21] To Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, to him also were children born. [22] The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram. [23] The sons of Aram: Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. [24] Arpachshad fathered Shelah; and Shelah fathered Eber. [25] To Eber were born two sons; the name of the one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. [26] Joktan fathered Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah; [27] and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah; [28] and Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba; [29] and Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. [30] Their settlements were from Mesha, as you go toward Sephar, to the mountain of the east. [31] These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations. [32] These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations; and of these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.
Babel
[Genesis 11] All the inhabitants of the earth had one language and vocabulary; [2] and as they travelled westward, they found a broad valley in the land of Shinar, and made their home there.
[3] Then they said one to another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and thoroughly bake them.’ So they had bricks for stone and asphalt for mortar. [4] They said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will touch the heavens. We will make a landmark, so that we are not scattered over all the earth.’
[5] But when the Lord came down to see the city and tower that people had built, [6] he said, ‘See, they are one people and all have one language. This is only the beginning of their activity, and now nothing that they propose to do will seem too difficult for them. [7] Come, let us go down there and confuse their language, so that they do not understand each other’s speech.’
[8] So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth; and they ceased building the city. [9] That is why they named it Babel, for there the Lord confused the language of all the inhabitants of earth and scattered them over the whole world.
Genealogy
[10] These are the descendants of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old, and fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. [11] Shem lived for five hundred years after he fathered Arpachshad, and fathered sons and daughters.
[12] Arpachshad lived for five and thirty years, and fathered Shelah. [13] Arpachshad lived for four hundred and three years after he fathered Shelah, and fathered sons and daughters.
[14] Shelah lived for thirty years, and fathered Eber. [15] Shelah lived for four hundred and three years after he fathered Eber, and fathered sons and daughters.
[16] Eber lived for four and thirty years, and fathered Peleg. [17] Eber lived for four hundred and thirty years after he fathered Peleg, and fathered sons and daughters.
[18] Peleg lived for thirty years, and fathered Reu. [19] Peleg lived for two hundred and nine years after he fathered Reu, and fathered sons and daughters.
[20] Reu lived for two and thirty years, and fathered Serug. [21] Reu lived for two hundred and seven years after he fathered Serug, and fathered sons and daughters. [22] Serug lived for thirty years, and fathered Nahor.
[23] Serug lived for two hundred years after he fathered Nahor, and fathered sons and daughters.
[24] Nahor lived for nine and twenty years, and fathered Terah. [25] Nahor lived for a hundred and nineteen years after he fathered Terah, and fathered sons and daughters.
[26] Terah lived for seventy years, and fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
[27] Now these are the descendants of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. [28] Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees. [29] Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. [30] Sarai was barren; she had no child. [31] Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went from Ur of the Chaldees, to go to the land of Canaan; and they went to Haran, and dwelt there. [32] In total, Terah lived for two hundred and five years; and died in Haran.
Abram’s Journey
[Genesis 12] The Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your relatives and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. [2] I will make of you a great nation; and I will surely bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing. [3] I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you, and all the families of the earth will ask for themselves a blessing like your own.’
[4] So Abram set out, as the Lord had commanded him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. [5] He took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son and all the slaves that they had acquired in Haran, and started for the land of Canaan.
[6] Abram passed through the land to a place called Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites lived there. [7] The Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ There Abram built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him. [8] From there he moved on to the hill at the east of Bethel and pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east, and there too he built an altar to the Lord and prayed to him.
[9] Abram moved on, going from place to place toward the Nagreb. [10] There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live there; because the famine was severe in the land. [11] As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, ‘You are a beautiful woman; [12] so that when the Egyptians see you, they will say, “She is his wife”; and they will kill me, but let you live. [13] Say you are my sister, so that everything may go well for me because of you and my life will be spared.’ [14] When Abram arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Serai was very beautiful. [15] The officials of Pharaoh, when they saw her, praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into Pharaoh’s household. [16] He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, and oxen and donkeys, and male and female slaves, and female donkeys, and camels. [17] But the Lord sent great plagues to Pharaoh and his household because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. [18] Pharaoh called Abram and said, ‘What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? [19] Why did you say, “She is my sister,” so that I took her to be my wife? Here she is, take her and go.’ [20] Pharaoh gave his men orders to send him on his way with his wife and all his possessions.
[Genesis 13] So Abram and his wife and all his possessions left Egypt and went to the Negreb and Lot went with him. [2] Abram was now very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. [3] He journeyed on from the Negreb in stages towards Bethel, to the place where he had earlier pitched his tent between Bethel and Ai [4] and had set up the alter to worship the Lord .
[5] Lot, who went with Abram, also had so many flocks and herds and tents [6] that the land was not fertile enough to support them both. They had too many animals to live in the same place. [7] At that time, the Canaanites and Perizzites were living in the land. So when there was a quarrel between Lot’s herdsmen and Abram’s herdsmen, [8] Abram said to Lot, ‘There should be no quarrels between me and you, or between my herdsmen and yours, because we are relatives. [9] Is not the whole land before you? Let’s separate. If you go to the left, then I will go to the right; or if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.’
[10] Then Lot looked about and saw that all the plain of the Jordan, as far as Zoar, was well watered everywhere, like a garden of the Lord . (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) [11] So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan and went on to the east; and they separated from one another. [12] Abram lived in the land of Canaan and Lot lived in the cities of the plain and moved his tent as far as Sodom. [13] (But the men of Sodom were very wicked and sinned against the Lord .)
[14] The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had gone away from him, ‘Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are northward, southward, eastward and westward, [15] for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your descendants forever. [16] I will make your descendants as many as the dust of the earth, so that if someone could count the dust of the earth, then your descendants could also be counted. [17] Rise, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.’
[18] Then Abram moved his tent and lived in the oak grove of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar to the Lord .
Victory over the Four Eastern Kings
[Genesis 14] I n the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, [2] they went to war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). [3] All these joined forces together in the valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea).
[4] For twelve years they had been subject to Chedorlaonier, but in the thirteenth year they had rebelled. [5] So in the fourteenth year Chedorlaonier, and the kings that were with him, came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-Kiriathaim, [6] and the Horites in their hill country of Seir, to El-Paran, which is on the edge of the wilderness. [7] Then they returned and came to En-Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and laid waste all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, who lived in Hazazon-Tamar.
[8] So the king of Sodom went out together with the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar); and they set themselves in battle array against them in the valley of Siddim; [9] against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five. [10] Now the valley of Siddim is full of bitumen pits; so when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into them, but those who remained fled to the mountain. [11] Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions and went their way. [12] They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who was living in Sodom, and his goods and departed.
[13] But one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now he was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner, and these were supporters of Abram. [14] When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan. [15] Then, dividing his band in order to attack the kings by night, he with his servants attacked them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is north of Damascus. [16] So he brought back all the goods, and also his kinsman Lot, with his goods, as well as the women and the people.
[17] Then the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Vale). [18] Melchizedek king of Salem also brought out bread and wine; and he was priest of God Most High. [19] He blessed him saying:
Blessed be Abram before God Most High,
possessor of heaven and earth.
[20] Blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your foes into your power.
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
[21] The king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘Give me my people, and take the goods for yourself.’ [22] But Abram said to the king of Sodom, ‘I have lifted up my hand to the Lord , God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, [23] that I would not take a thread nor a sandal-thong nor anything that is yours, so that you could not say, “I have made Abram rich.” [24] By no means! Only that which the servants have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre – let them take their portion.’
Abram’s vision
[Genesis 15] After these things God spoke to Abram in a vision saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield. Your reward will be exceedingly great.’ [2] But Abram said, ‘Lord God , what can you give me? I am childless, and the person who will be possessor of my house is Eliezer of Damascus, [3] to me you have given no offspring, and, so a slave born in my house is my heir.’ [4] The word of the Lord came to him, ‘This man will not be your heir, but a child of your own will be your heir.’
[5] Then God brought him outside and said, ‘Look now toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them! So will your descendants be.’ [6] Abram believed in the Lord ; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness, [7] and said to him, ‘I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give to you this land to inherit it.’
[8] Abram said, ‘Lord God , how will I know that I will inherit it?’
[9] The Lord said to him, ‘Bring me a heifer of three years old, and a female goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.’ [10] Abram brought him all these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half over against the other; but the birds he did not divide. [11] The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
[12] When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a horror of great darkness fell on him. [13] The Lord said to Abram, ‘Know certainly that your descendants will be foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will be slaves there; and they will be held there for four hundred years. [14] But I will judge that nation, whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many goods. [15] But you will go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried in a good old age. [16] In the fourth generation they return here again; for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.’
[17] When the sun had set and it was dark, there appeared a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between the pieces of the animals.
[18] At that time the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.’ [19] (This includes the lands of the Kenite, the Kenizzite, the Kadmonite, [20] the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Rephaim, [21] the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Girgashite, and Jebusite).
Hagar and Ishmael
[Genesis 16] Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian slave-girl whose name was Hagar. [2] Sarai said to Abram, ‘the Lord has denied me children; Take my slave-girl; maybe I will obtain children by her.’ Then Abram listened to her [3] so she took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave-girl, after Abram had lived for ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife [4] and Abram lay with Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.
[5] Sarai complained to Abram, ‘May the wrong I suffer be on you! I myself gave my slave-girl to you; and now that she sees that she has conceived, I am despised by her; may the Lord judge between me and you.’ [6] But Abram said to Sarai, ‘Your maid-servant is in your power, do to her whatever seems right to you.’ Then Sarai ill-treated her so that she fled from her presence.
[7] The messenger of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring in the way to Shur. [8] He said, ‘Hagar, Sarai’s slave-girl, where have you come from? And where are you going?’ She said, ‘I am fleeing from the presence of mistress Sarai.’ [9] Then the messenger of the Lord said to her, ‘Return to your mistress and submit yourself to her authority.’ [10] Moreover the messenger of the Lord said to her, ‘I will make your descendants so many that they can not be numbered because they are so numerous.’ [11] The messenger of the Lord also said to her, ‘You are pregnant, and will have a son; you must call him Ishmael God hears, because the Lord has heard of your ill-treatment.’
[12] He will be like a wild donkey,
his hand against every man,
and every man’s hand against him;
and he will live at odds with all his relatives.
[13] Then she called the name of the Lord , who had spoken to her, El-roi (You are a God who sees me); for she said, ‘Have I seen God and am I still alive after I have looked upon him?’ [14] Therefore the well is called Beer-lahai-roi, (it is between Kadesh and Bered) [15] Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. [16] Abram was eighty-six years old, when Hagar bore Ishmael.
Abram becomes Abraham
[Genesis 17] When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord revealed himself to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty, walk before me and be blameless [2] and I will make my covenant between me and you and will make your descendants exceedingly numerous.’ [3] Then Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him, saying [4] ‘I make this solemn promise to you: you will be the father of a multitude of nations. [5] Neither will your name any longer be Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. [6] I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and will make nations of you, and kings will spring from you. [7] I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after your throughout their generations, an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your descendants after you. [8] I will give to you, and to your descendants after your, the land where you are now foreigners, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.’
Circumcision
[9] God also said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you must keep the requirements of my covenant, you, and your descendants after you throughout their generations. [10] This is my covenant, which you must keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you must be circumcised. [11] Whenever you are circumcised, the flesh of your foreskin will be a sign of a covenant between me and you. [12] Every male when he is eight days old, must be circumcised throughout your generations, whether he is born in the house, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. [13] The slave who is born in your house and the one who is bought with your money must be circumcised. The sign of my covenant will be in your flesh – an everlasting agreement. [14] As for the uncircumcised male, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that one will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.’
Sarai becomes Sarah
[15] Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, do not call her name Sarai, but Sarah. [16] I will bless her, and will give you a son from her: I will bless her, and she will become the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.’
[17] Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself. ‘Will a child be born to one who is an hundred years old? Will Sarah who is ninety years old bear children?’ [18] Abraham said to God, ‘If only Ishmael might live with your blessing!’
[19] But God said, ‘No. But Sarah your wife is about to bear your a son; call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. [20] However I have heard you regarding Ishmael: I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful and his descendants exceedingly many. Twelve princes he will father, and I will make him a great nation. [21] But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this appointed time next year.’ [22] When he had finished talking with him, God left Abraham.
Abraham and Isaac’s circumcision
[23] Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin that very same day, as God had said to him. [24] Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. [25] Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. [26] On this very same day was Abraham circumcised, with Ishmael his son. [27] All the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from foreigners, were circumcised with him.
The guests at the oaks of Mamre
[Genesis 18] The Lord also appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he was sitting at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day; [2] and, as he looked up, three men stood there before him. As soon as he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed to the ground [3] and said, ‘Sirs, if you are willing to do me a favour, do not, I beg of you, pass by your servant. [4] Since you have come to your servant, let a little water be brought, so that you may wash your feet, and lie down under the tree. [5] And let me bring some food, so that you may refresh yourselves; afterward you may go on your way.’ They replied, ‘Do as you have said.’
[6] So Abraham hastened to Sarah’s tent and said, ‘Make ready quickly four measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.’ [7] Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a calf that was tender and good, and gave it to the servant, and he prepared it quickly. [8] Then Abraham took curd and milk, with the calf that he had prepared, and served them; and he waited on them under the tree, while they ate.
[9] Then they said to him, ‘Where is your wife?’ He said, ‘There, within the tent.’ [10] One of them said, ‘I will surely return to you about nine months from now, and then, Sarah your wife will have a son.’ But Sarah was listening behind the door of the tent. [11] Now Sarah and Abraham were advanced in years; [12] so she laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I and my husband are so old will I have pleasure?’ [13] But the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh, saying, “Will I, indeed, even when I am old give birth to a child?” [14] Is anything too wonderful for the Lord ? At the appointed time about nine months from now, I will return to you and Sarah will have a son.’ [15] Sarah was frightened and denied that she had laughed, but he said ‘Yes, you laughed.’
[16] Then the men started from there and looked off in the direction of Sodom; and Abraham went along with them to start them on their way. [17] the Lord said, ‘Should I conceal from Abraham that which I am about to do, [18] since Abraham will become a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the earth will want a blessing like his for themselves? [19] For I have chosen him in order that he may teach his sons and his household after him, and that they may keep the way of the Lord , by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring on Abraham that which he has promised concerning him.’
Sodom and Gomorrah
[20] The Lord said, ‘The complaint has come that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah have committed great and terrible sins. [21] I will go down and see whether they have done exactly as the complaint comes to me; and if they have not, I will know.’
[22] As the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, Abraham remained standing before the Lord [*] [23] Abraham drew near to the Lord and said, ‘Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? [24] Suppose there are within the city fifty people who are righteous. Will you sweep it away and not forgive the place for sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? [25] Far be it from you to do this: to slay the righteous with the wicked! And that the righteous should be treated as the wicked, far be it from you! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?’ [26] The Lord said, ‘If I find in the city of Sodom fifty who are righteous, I will spare the whole place for their sake.’ [27] Abraham answered, ‘I have dared to speak to the Lord , even though I am but dust and ashes. [28] Suppose there be five lacking of the fifty righteous. Will you sweep away all the city for lack of five?’ The Lord said, ‘I will not sweep it away, if I find forty-five there.’
[29] Then Abraham spoke to him again, and said, ‘Suppose forty are found there?’ He replied, ‘For the sake of forty I will not do it.’ [30] Then Abraham said, ‘Oh, let not the Lord be angry, but let me speak. Suppose thirty are found there?’ He answered, ‘I will not do it, if I find thirty there.’ [31] Then Abraham said, ‘You see that I have dared to speak to the Lord . Suppose twenty are found there?’ He replied, ‘For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.’ [32] Then Abraham said, ‘Oh, let not the Lord be angry, but let me speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there?’ And he said, ‘For the sake of the ten I will not destroy it.’ [33] Then the Lord went his way, and Abraham returned home.
[Genesis 19] Two messengers came to Sodom in the evening, as Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose up to meet them, and he bowed with his face to the earth [2] and said, ‘Sirs, turn aside, I beg of you, into your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet; then you can rise up early and go on your way.’ They said, ‘No, we will spend the night in the street.’ [3] But he urged them so strongly that they went with him and entered his house. He made a feast for them and baked bread made without yeast, and they ate.
[4] But before they had lain down, the people of Sodom, both young and old, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. [5] They called out to Lot, ‘Where are the men who came in to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can rape them.’
[6] Then Lot went out to them at the entrance of his house, but he shut the door after him. [7] He said, ‘I beg of you, my friends, do not do what is wrong. [8] See, I have two unmarried daughters; let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you desire; only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shadow of my roof.’ [9] But they replied, ‘Stand back!’ And they added, ‘This one came in as a foreigner to live here, but now he would set himself up as a judge! We will treat you worse than them.’ They pressed hard against Lot and advanced to break the door. [10] But the men reached out and drew Lot to them into the house and shut the door. [11] Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, with blindness, so that they grew tired of searching for the door.
[12] Then the men said to Lot, ‘Have you anyone else here? Bring your sons-in-law, your sons, and daughters, and whoever you have in the city out of this place, [13] for we are about to destroy it, because great complaint concerning the people has come to the Lord and he has sent us to destroy it.’ [14] So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, ‘Up, go out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city.’ But his sons-in-law thought he was only joking.
[15] When the dawn appeared, the messengers urged Lot, saying, ‘Get up, take your wife and your two daughters so that you may not be swept away in the punishment of the city.’ [16] When he hesitated, the men grabbed him by the hand and led him and his wife and his two daughters outside the city, for the Lord was merciful to him.
[17] When they had brought them outside, they said, ‘Run for your life; do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the heights, that you may not be swept away!’ [18] But Lot said to them, ‘Oh, sirs, not so! [19] See, your servant has found favour with you, and you have shown great mercy to me in saving my life. But I cannot flee to the heights. Some evil will overtake me and I will die. [20] See now, this village is near enough to run to, and it is small. Oh, let me escape there, and my life will be saved.’ [21] He answered, ‘I have also granted you this favour, in that I will not destroy the village of which you have spoken. [22] Make haste, escape to it, for I can do nothing until you arrive there.’ Therefore the village was called Zoar.
[23] The sun had risen when Lot came to Zoar. [24] Then the Lord caused brimstone and fire from heaven to rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah, [25] and he destroyed those cities and all the plain, with all the people who lived in it and all that grew on the ground. [26] But Lot’s wife, who was following him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
[27] Early in the morning Abraham rose and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord ; [28] and as he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the plain, he saw the smoke of the land going up as the smoke of a smelting-furnace. [29] God had remembered Abraham when he destroyed the cities of the plain and rescued Lot from the destruction.
Lot and his daughters
[30] Then Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and lived in a cave on the heights, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. [31] The older daughter said to the younger, ‘Our father is old, and there is no one on the earth to come in to us after the manner of all the world. [32] Come let us make our father drink wine and we will lie with him, so that we can preserve our family through our father.’ [33] So they made their father drink wine that night; and the older daughter went in and lay with her father. He, however, did not know when she lay down, nor when she arose. [34] Then in the morning the older daughter said to the younger, ‘Last night I lay with my father. Let us make him drink wine again tonight; and you go in and lie with him, so that we can preserve our family through our father.’ [35] So they made their father drink wine that night as well. The younger arose and lay with him. He, however, did not know when she lay down nor when she arose. [36] In this way both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. [37] Then Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and lived in a cave on the heights, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. His oldest daughter bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the present Moabites. [38] The younger also bore a son and named him Ben-ammi. That one is the father of the present Ammonites.
Abraham in Gerar
[Genesis 20] Abraham journeyed from there toward the land of the Negreb, settling between Kadesh and Shur, and staying for a while in Gerar, [2] where he said that his wife Sarah was his sister. So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him. [3] But God came to Abimelech in a dream in the night and said to him, ‘You will die, because of the woman you have taken, for she is married. [4] But Abimelech had not come near her; so he said, Lord, will you slay an innocent people? [5] Did Abraham not himself say to me, “She is my sister?” And even she herself said, “He is my brother.” I acted innocently and in good faith.’ [6] Then God said to him in the dream, ‘I know that you acted innocently and in good faith, and I also prevented you from sinning against me, since I did not allow you to touch her. [7] Now you must restore the man’s wife – for he is a prophet and he can intercede for you, and you will live. But if you do not restore her at once, you will die, together with all your people.’ [8] Abimelech rose early in the morning, and summoned all his court, and when he had told all these things in their hearing, they were greatly afraid.
[9] Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked him, ‘What have you done to us? What harm have I done to you to make you bring this great sin on me and my kingdom? You have done to me something that ought not to be done.’ [10] Abimelech said to Abraham, ‘What was your purpose in doing this thing?’ [11] Abraham answered, ‘Because I thought, “Surely reverence for God is not in this place and they will slay me for my wife’s sake.” [12] Moreover, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father, though not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. [13] So when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, “This is how you can show your loyalty to me: at every place to which we come, say that you are my brother.”’
[14] Abimelech then took sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and restored Sarah his wife to him. [15] Also Abimelech said, ‘My land lies before you; live wherever you please.’ [16] To Sarah he said, ‘I have given your “brother” a thousand pieces of silver as compensation in the sight of everyone here, and you are vindicated in the eyes of all.’ [17] Then Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his slave-girls, so that they could have children ( [18] for the Lord had made every woman in Abimelech’s household barren, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife).
Isaac
[Genesis 21] The Lord remembered what he had told Sarah, and he did as he had promised. [2] So Sarah had Abraham’s son in his old age at the fixed time of which God had told him. [3] Abraham named him Isaac [4] and when he was eight days old he circumcised him as God had told him to. [5] Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born. [6] Sarah said, ‘God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.’ [7] She added, ‘Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have born him a son in his old age.’
[8] When the child grew up, Abraham made a great feast on the day that he was weaned. [9] But Sarah saw the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. [10] She said to Abraham, ‘Drive out this slave-girl and her son, for the son of this slave-girl will never be heir with my son Isaac’ [11] This request was very displeasing to Abraham because the boy was his son. [12] But the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Do not be displeased because of the boy and because of your slave-girl. Listen to all that Sarah says to you, for only through the line of Isaac will your name be perpetuated. [13] But I will also make the son of the slave-girl into a nation, because he is your son.’
[14] Then Abraham got up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, and he put the boy upon her shoulder and sent her away. So she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. [15] When the water in the skin was gone, she left the child under one of the desert shrubs [16] and went a short distance away and sat down and said, ‘Let me not see the death of the child.’ So she sat there and wept.
[17] Then the Lord heard the cry of the boy, and the messenger of the Lord called to Hagar from heaven and said, ‘What troubles you, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for the Lord has heard the boy’s cry. [18] Rise, lift him up, and hold him fast by the hand, for I will make him a great nation.’ [19] The Lord opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. Then she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
[20] The Lord was with the boy, and he grew up, [21] and lived in the wilderness of Paran, and became a bowman. His mother secured a wife for him from Egypt.
The pact with Abimelech
[22] It happened at that time that Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, ‘God is with you in all you do. [23] Now therefore take an oath to me here by God that you will not be false to me, nor to my son nor to my descendants; but that you will treat me and the land you have stayed in according to the kindness which I have shown you.’ [24] Abraham said, ‘I swear it.’
[25] Now as often as Abraham complained to Abimelech because of the well of water which Abimelech’s servants had seized, [26] Abimelech said, ‘I do not know who has done this thing, neither have you told me nor have I heard of it until today.’ [27] So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and made an agreement with each other. [28] But when Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves, [29] Abimelech said to Abraham, ‘What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?’ [30] Abraham answered, ‘Accept these seven ewe lambs from my hand so that you may be my witness that I dug this well.’ [31] The place was called Beer-sheba, because it was there they swore their oath. [32] So they made a covenant at Beer-sheba, and Abimelech arose with Phicol the captain of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. [33] Abraham, however, planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the Lord , the Everlasting God. [34] Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.
The test of Abraham
[Genesis 22] Later the Lord tested Abraham, saying to him, ‘Abraham’; and he answered, ‘Here I am.’ [2] The Lord said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt-offering on one of the mountains which I will show you.’
[3] So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, and his son Isaac. When he had split the wood for the burnt-offering, he set out for the place of which God had told him. [4] On the third day, when Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance, [5] he said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey, while I and the boy go over there. When we have worshipped, we will come back to you.’
[6] Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt-offering and laid it on Isaac, his son. He took the fire and the knife, and they both went on together. [7] Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, ‘My father!’ and Abraham answered, ‘Yes, my son.’ Isaac said, ‘Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?’ [8] Abraham answered, ‘My son, God will himself provide a lamb for a burnt-offering.’ So the two went on together.
[9] When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood on it and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood. [10] Then Abraham reached out his hand, and took the knife to kill his son. [11] But the messenger of the Lord called to him from heaven, saying, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ and he answered, ‘Here am I.’ [12] He said, ‘Do not put your hand upon the boy, nor do anything to him, for now I know that you love God, for you have not refused to give your son, your only son, to me.’
[13] Then Abraham looked up, and he saw behind him [*] a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. [14] So Abraham took the ram and offered him up as a burnt-offering instead of his son. [15] He named the place ‘The Lord will provide’ – and even today people say, ‘The Lord will provide on his mountain.’
[16] The messenger of the Lord again called to Abraham and said, ‘The Lord declares, “Because you have done this thing and have not kept back your son, your only son, [17] I will surely bless you. I will make your children as many as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore, so that they will conquer their enemies. [18] All the nations of the earth will ask for themselves a blessing like theirs, because you have obeyed my command.”’
[19] So Abraham returned to his servants, and they arose and went together to Beer-sheba.
Genealogy
Abraham was living in Beer-sheba. [20] After these things, Abraham was told, ‘Milcah has also borne children to your brother Nahor, [21] Uz his first born, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, [22] Chesed, Hazo and Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.’ [23] (And Bethuel fathered Rebekah). These eight Mileah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. [24] And his concubine whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maaeah.
Sarah’s death and the cave of Machpelah
[Genesis 23] Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. [2] When she died in Kiriath-arba (that is Hebron), in the land of Canaan, Abraham went to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.
[3] When Abraham rose up from the presence of his dead, he said to the Hittites, [4] ‘I am a stranger and a foreigner living among you; give me possession of a burying-place with you, so that I may bury my dead out of my sight.’ [5] The Hittites answered Abraham, [6] ‘Hear us, my lord; you are a mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the best of our burial places. None of us will withhold from you his burial place, so that you may bury your dead.’
[7] Abraham rose up and bowed before the people of the land, the Hittites, [8] and said to them, ‘If it is your intention that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and speak for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, [9] to give me the cave of Machpelah, which he has, which is at the end of his field. Let him give to me for the full price in your presence, so that I can own it as a burying-place.’ [10] Now Ephron was sitting with the other Hittites, and, in the presence of all the Hittites, all who went in and out at the gate of his city he answered Abraham, [11] ‘No, my lord, hear me. I give the field to you and the cave that is in it I give to you; in the presence of the children of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.’
[12] Then Abraham bowed before the people of the land, [13] and spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, ‘Please, hear me – I will give the price of the field; accept it from me so that I may bury my dead there.’
[14] Ephron answered Abraham by saying to him, [15] ‘My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between me and you? Bury your dead.’ [16] Then Abraham accepted Ephron’s terms and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, on the standard weights used by merchants.
[17] So the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah which was to the east of Mamre, the field, and the cave which was in it, with all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the border of it round about, [18] were transferred to Abraham’s possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all that went in at the gate of his city.
[19] After this Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah to the east of Mamre (that is Hebron), in the land of Canaan. [20] In this way the field and the cave that is in it were transferred by the Hittites to Abraham that he might possess a burying-place.
Rebekah
[Genesis 24] When Abraham was very old and the Lord had blessed him in every way, [2] Abraham said to the eldest of his household servants, who had charge of all his affairs, ‘Put your hand under my thigh, [3] while I make you promise by the Lord , the God of heaven and earth, that you will not let my son marry one of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, [4] but that you will go to my own country and to my relatives and there get a wife for my son Isaac.’ [5] The servant said to him, ‘Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?’ [6] Abraham said to him, ‘See to it that you do not take my son back there. [7] The Lord , the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from my native land and who solemnly promised me, “To your children I will give this land,” will send his messenger before you and there you will get a wife for my son. [8] But if the woman is not willing to come with you, then you will be free from this promise to me; only never take my son back there.’ [9] So the servant put his hand under Abraham’s thigh and made the promise.