1:1In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 1:2The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. 1:3God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 1:4God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. 1:5God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day. 1:6God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 1:7God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. 1:8God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day. 1:9God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 1:10God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good. 1:11God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth”; and it was so. 1:12The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. 1:13There was evening and there was morning, a third day. 1:14God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years; 1:15and let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 1:16God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. 1:17God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth, 1:18and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. 1:19There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. 1:20God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” 1:21God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good. 1:22God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 1:23There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. 1:24God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. 1:25God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good. 1:26God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 1:27God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. 1:28God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 1:29God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food. 1:30To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so. 1:31God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
2:1The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished. 2:2On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. 2:3God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done. 2:4This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens. 2:5No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground, 2:6but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. 2:7Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 2:8Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 2:9Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 2:10A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became the source of four rivers. 2:11The name of the first is Pishon: it flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 2:12and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also there. 2:13The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush. 2:14The name of the third river is Hiddekel. This is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 2:15Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. 2:16Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 2:17but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.” 2:18Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 2:19Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature became its name. 2:20The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper comparable to him. 2:21Yahweh God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 2:22Yahweh God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 2:23The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.” 2:24Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh. 2:25The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
3:1Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’” 3:2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, 3:3but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You shall not touch it, lest you die.’” 3:4The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t really die, 3:5for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 3:6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too. 3:7Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves. 3:8They heard Yahweh God’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. 3:9Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 3:10The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 3:11God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 3:12The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 3:13Yahweh God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 3:14Yahweh God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. You shall go on your belly and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. 3:15I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” 3:16To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. In pain you will bear children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” 3:17To Adam he said, “Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and ate from the tree, about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ the ground is cursed for your sake. You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life. 3:18It will yield thorns and thistles to you; and you will eat the herb of the field. 3:19By the sweat of your face will you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” 3:20The man called his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living. 3:21Yahweh God made coats of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them. 3:22Yahweh God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—” 3:23Therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 3:24So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
4:1The man knew Eve his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Cain, and said, “I have gotten a man with Yahweh’s help.” 4:2Again she gave birth, to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 4:3As time passed, Cain brought an offering to Yahweh from the fruit of the ground. 4:4Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and of its fat. Yahweh respected Abel and his offering, 4:5but he didn’t respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and the expression on his face fell. 4:6Yahweh said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why has the expression of your face fallen? 4:7If you do well, won’t it be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.” 4:8Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field.” While they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him. 4:9Yahweh said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?” He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 4:10Yahweh said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground. 4:11Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 4:12From now on, when you till the ground, it won’t yield its strength to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth.” 4:13Cain said to Yahweh, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 4:14Behold, you have driven me out today from the surface of the ground. I will be hidden from your face, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth. Whoever finds me will kill me.” 4:15Yahweh said to him, “Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” Yahweh appointed a sign for Cain, so that anyone finding him would not strike him. 4:16Cain left Yahweh’s presence, and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 4:17Cain knew his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Enoch. He built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. 4:18To Enoch was born Irad. Irad became the father of Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech. 4:19Lamech took two wives: the name of the first one was Adah, and the name of the second one was Zillah. 4:20Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 4:21His brother’s name was Jubal, who was the father of all who handle the harp and pipe. 4:22Zillah also gave birth to Tubal Cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron. Tubal Cain’s sister was Naamah. 4:23Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice. You wives of Lamech, listen to my speech, for I have slain a man for wounding me, a young man for bruising me. 4:24If Cain will be avenged seven times, truly Lamech seventy-seven times.” 4:25Adam knew his wife again. She gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, saying, “for God has given me another child instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 4:26A son was also born to Seth, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on Yahweh’s name.
5:1This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him in God’s likeness. 5:2He created them male and female, and blessed them. On the day they were created, he named them “Adam”. 5:3Adam lived one hundred thirty years, and became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 5:4The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he became the father of other sons and daughters. 5:5All the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years, then he died. 5:6Seth lived one hundred five years, then became the father of Enosh. 5:7Seth lived after he became the father of Enosh eight hundred seven years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 5:8All of the days of Seth were nine hundred twelve years, then he died. 5:9Enosh lived ninety years, and became the father of Kenan. 5:10Enosh lived after he became the father of Kenan, eight hundred fifteen years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 5:11All of the days of Enosh were nine hundred five years, then he died. 5:12Kenan lived seventy years, then became the father of Mahalalel. 5:13Kenan lived after he became the father of Mahalalel eight hundred forty years, and became the father of other sons and daughters 5:14and all of the days of Kenan were nine hundred ten years, then he died. 5:15Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, then became the father of Jared. 5:16Mahalalel lived after he became the father of Jared eight hundred thirty years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 5:17All of the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety-five years, then he died. 5:18Jared lived one hundred sixty-two years, then became the father of Enoch. 5:19Jared lived after he became the father of Enoch eight hundred years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 5:20All of the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty-two years, then he died. 5:21Enoch lived sixty-five years, then became the father of Methuselah. 5:22After Methuselah’s birth, Enoch walked with God for three hundred years, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 5:23All the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years. 5:24Enoch walked with God, and he was not found, for God took him. 5:25Methuselah lived one hundred eighty-seven years, then became the father of Lamech. 5:26Methuselah lived after he became the father of Lamech seven hundred eighty-two years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 5:27All the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty-nine years, then he died. 5:28Lamech lived one hundred eighty-two years, then became the father of a son. 5:29He named him Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, caused by the ground which Yahweh has cursed.” 5:30Lamech lived after he became the father of Noah five hundred ninety-five years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 5:31All the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy-seven years, then he died. 5:32Noah was five hundred years old, then Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
6:1When men began to multiply on the surface of the ground, and daughters were born to them, 6:2God’s sons saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, and they took any that they wanted for themselves as wives. 6:3Yahweh said, “My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; so his days will be one hundred twenty years.” 6:4The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when God’s sons came in to men’s daughters and had children with them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. 6:5Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil. 6:6Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart. 6:7Yahweh said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground—man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky—for I am sorry that I have made them.” 6:8But Noah found favor in Yahweh’s eyes. 6:9This is the history of the generations of Noah: Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time. Noah walked with God. 6:10Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 6:11The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 6:12God saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 6:13God said to Noah, “I will bring an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them and the earth. 6:14Make a ship of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ship, and shall seal it inside and outside with pitch. 6:15This is how you shall make it. The length of the ship shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 6:16You shall make a roof in the ship, and you shall finish it to a cubit upward. You shall set the door of the ship in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third levels. 6:17I, even I, do bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will die. 6:18But I will establish my covenant with you. You shall come into the ship, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 6:19Of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ship, to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 6:20Of the birds after their kind, of the livestock after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort will come to you, to keep them alive. 6:21Take with you some of all food that is eaten, and gather it to yourself; and it will be for food for you, and for them.” 6:22Thus Noah did. He did all that God commanded him.
7:1Yahweh said to Noah, “Come with all of your household into the ship, for I have seen your righteousness before me in this generation. 7:2You shall take seven pairs of every clean animal with you, the male and his female. Of the animals that are not clean, take two, the male and his female. 7:3Also of the birds of the sky, seven and seven, male and female, to keep seed alive on the surface of all the earth. 7:4In seven days, I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. I will destroy every living thing that I have made from the surface of the ground.” 7:5Noah did everything that Yahweh commanded him. 7:6Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth. 7:7Noah went into the ship with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, because of the floodwaters. 7:8Clean animals, unclean animals, birds, and everything that creeps on the ground 7:9went by pairs to Noah into the ship, male and female, as God commanded Noah. 7:10After the seven days, the floodwaters came on the earth. 7:11In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the sky’s windows opened. 7:12It rained on the earth forty days and forty nights. 7:13In the same day Noah, and Shem, Ham, and Japheth—the sons of Noah—and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered into the ship— 7:14they, and every animal after its kind, all the livestock after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. 7:15Pairs from all flesh with the breath of life in them went into the ship to Noah. 7:16Those who went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him; then Yahweh shut him in. 7:17The flood was forty days on the earth. The waters increased, and lifted up the ship, and it was lifted up above the earth. 7:18The waters rose, and increased greatly on the earth; and the ship floated on the surface of the waters. 7:19The waters rose very high on the earth. All the high mountains that were under the whole sky were covered. 7:20The waters rose fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. 7:21All flesh died that moved on the earth, including birds, livestock, animals, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. 7:22All on the dry land, in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. 7:23Every living thing was destroyed that was on the surface of the ground, including man, livestock, creeping things, and birds of the sky. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ship. 7:24The waters flooded the earth one hundred fifty days.
8:1God remembered Noah, all the animals, and all the livestock that were with him in the ship; and God made a wind to pass over the earth. The waters subsided. 8:2The deep’s fountains and the sky’s windows were also stopped, and the rain from the sky was restrained. 8:3The waters continually receded from the earth. After the end of one hundred fifty days the waters decreased. 8:4The ship rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on Ararat’s mountains. 8:5The waters receded continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were visible. 8:6At the end of forty days, Noah opened the window of the ship which he had made, 8:7and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth, until the waters were dried up from the earth. 8:8He himself sent out a dove to see if the waters were abated from the surface of the ground, 8:9but the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned into the ship to him, for the waters were on the surface of the whole earth. He put out his hand, and took her, and brought her to him into the ship. 8:10He waited yet another seven days; and again he sent the dove out of the ship. 8:11The dove came back to him at evening and, behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from the earth. 8:12He waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; and she didn’t return to him anymore. 8:13In the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth. Noah removed the covering of the ship, and looked. He saw that the surface of the ground was dried. 8:14In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. 8:15God spoke to Noah, saying, 8:16“Go out of the ship, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 8:17Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth.” 8:18Noah went out, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives with him. 8:19Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatever moves on the earth, after their families, went out of the ship. 8:20Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and took of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 8:21Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma. Yahweh said in his heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake because the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth. I will never again strike every living thing, as I have done. 8:22While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.”
9:1God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth. 9:2The fear of you and the dread of you will be on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the sky. Everything that moves along the ground, and all the fish of the sea, are delivered into your hand. 9:3Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. As I gave you the green herb, I have given everything to you. 9:4But flesh with its life, that is, its blood, you shall not eat. 9:5I will surely require your life’s blood. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, I will require the life of man. 9:6Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in his own image. 9:7Be fruitful and multiply. Increase abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it.” 9:8God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 9:9“As for me, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your offspring after you, 9:10and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ship, even every animal of the earth. 9:11I will establish my covenant with you: All flesh will not be cut off any more by the waters of the flood. There will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.” 9:12God said, “This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 9:13I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be a sign of a covenant between me and the earth. 9:14When I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud, 9:15I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. 9:16The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 9:17God said to Noah, “This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” 9:18The sons of Noah who went out from the ship were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham is the father of Canaan. 9:19These three were the sons of Noah, and from these, the whole earth was populated. 9:20Noah began to be a farmer, and planted a vineyard. 9:21He drank of the wine and got drunk. He was uncovered within his tent. 9:22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 9:23Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it on both their shoulders, went in backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were backwards, and they didn’t see their father’s nakedness. 9:24Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done to him. 9:25He said, “Canaan is cursed. He will be a servant of servants to his brothers.” 9:26He said, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Shem. Let Canaan be his servant. 9:27May God enlarge Japheth. Let him dwell in the tents of Shem. Let Canaan be his servant.” 9:28Noah lived three hundred fifty years after the flood. 9:29All the days of Noah were nine hundred fifty years, and then he died.
10:1Now this is the history of the generations of the sons of Noah and of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood. 10:2The sons of Japheth were: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 10:3The sons of Gomer were: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 10:4The sons of Javan were: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 10:5Of these were the islands of the nations divided in their lands, everyone after his language, after their families, in their nations. 10:6The sons of Ham were: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 10:7The sons of Cush were: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah were: Sheba and Dedan. 10:8Cush became the father of Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one in the earth. 10:9He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh. Therefore it is said, “like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before Yahweh”. 10:10The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 10:11Out of that land he went into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, 10:12and Resen between Nineveh and the great city Calah. 10:13Mizraim became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 10:14Pathrusim, Casluhim (which the Philistines descended from), and Caphtorim. 10:15Canaan became the father of Sidon (his firstborn), Heth, 10:16the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 10:17the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 10:18the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were spread abroad. 10:19The border of the Canaanites was from Sidon—as you go toward Gerar—to Gaza—as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim—to Lasha. 10:20These are the sons of Ham, after their families, according to their languages, in their lands and their nations. 10:21Children were also born to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth. 10:22The sons of Shem were: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. 10:23The sons of Aram were: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 10:24Arpachshad became the father of Shelah. Shelah became the father of Eber. 10:25To Eber were born two sons. The name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided. His brother’s name was Joktan. 10:26Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 10:27Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 10:28Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 10:29Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. 10:30Their dwelling extended from Mesha, as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. 10:31These are the sons of Shem, by their families, according to their languages, lands, and nations. 10:32These are the families of the sons of Noah, by their generations, according to their nations. The nations divided from these in the earth after the flood.
11:1The whole earth was of one language and of one speech. 11:2As they traveled from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there. 11:3They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 11:4They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.” 11:5Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. 11:6Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do. 11:7Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 11:8So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city. 11:9Therefore its name was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth. 11:10This is the history of the generations of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old when he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11:11Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 11:12Arpachshad lived thirty-five years and became the father of Shelah. 11:13Arpachshad lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Shelah, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 11:14Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber. 11:15Shelah lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Eber, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 11:16Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg. 11:17Eber lived four hundred thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 11:18Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu. 11:19Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he became the father of Reu, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 11:20Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug. 11:21Reu lived two hundred seven years after he became the father of Serug, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 11:22Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor. 11:23Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 11:24Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah. 11:25Nahor lived one hundred nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 11:26Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 11:27Now this is the history of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot. 11:28Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees. 11:29Abram and Nahor married wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran who was also the father of Iscah. 11:30Sarai was barren. She had no child. 11:31Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife. They went from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there. 11:32The days of Terah were two hundred five years. Terah died in Haran.
12:1Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. 12:2I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. 12:3I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treates you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” 12:4So Abram went, as Yahweh had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 12:5Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they went to go into the land of Canaan. They entered into the land of Canaan. 12:6Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time, Canaanites were in the land. 12:7Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” He built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him. 12:8He left from there to go to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to Yahweh and called on Yahweh’s name. 12:9Abram traveled, still going on toward the South. 12:10There was a famine in the land. Abram went down into Egypt to live as a foreigner there, for the famine was severe in the land. 12:11When he had come near to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at. 12:12It will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me, but they will save you alive. 12:13Please say that you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that my soul may live because of you.” 12:14When Abram had come into Egypt, Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 12:15The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 12:16He dealt well with Abram for her sake. He had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. 12:17Yahweh afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 12:18Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? 12:19Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore, see your wife, take her, and go your way.” 12:20Pharaoh commanded men concerning him, and they escorted him away with his wife and all that he had.
13:1Abram went up out of Egypt—he, his wife, all that he had, and Lot with him—into the South. 13:2Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 13:3He went on his journeys from the South even to Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 13:4to the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. There Abram called on Yahweh’s name. 13:5Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, herds, and tents. 13:6The land was not able to bear them, that they might live together; for their substance was great, so that they could not live together. 13:7There was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites lived in the land at that time. 13:8Abram said to Lot, “Please, let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen; for we are relatives. 13:9Isn’t the whole land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If you go to the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to the right hand, then I will go to the left.” 13:10Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere, before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar. 13:11So Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan for himself. Lot traveled east, and they separated themselves the one from the other. 13:12Abram lived in the land of Canaan, and Lot lived in the cities of the plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 13:13Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against Yahweh. 13:14Yahweh said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him, “Now, lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 13:15for all the land which you see, I will give to you, and to your offspring forever. 13:16I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can count the dust of the earth, then your offspring may also be counted. 13:17Arise, walk through the land in its length and in its width; for I will give it to you.” 13:18Abram moved his tent, and came and lived by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to Yahweh.
14:1In the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim, 14:2they made 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 (also called Zoar). 14:3All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (also called the Salt Sea). 14:4They served Chedorlaomer for twelve years, and in the thirteenth year, they rebelled. 14:5In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came, and the kings who were with him, and struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 14:6and the Horites in their Mount Seir, to El Paran, which is by the wilderness. 14:7They returned, and came to En Mishpat (also called Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that lived in Hazazon Tamar. 14:8The king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (also called Zoar) went out; and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim; 14:9against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five. 14:10Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and some fell there, and those who remained fled to the hills. 14:11They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went their way. 14:12They took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. 14:13One who had escaped came and told Abram, the Hebrew. At that time, he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and they were allies of Abram. 14:14When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan. 14:15He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. 14:16He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative, Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the other people. 14:17The king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 14:18Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High. 14:19He blessed him, and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth: 14:20and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Abram gave him a tenth of all. 14:21The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, and take the goods for yourself.” 14:22Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted up my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, 14:23that I will not take a thread nor a sandal strap nor anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ 14:24I will accept nothing from you except that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion.”
15:1After these things Yahweh’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” 15:2Abram said, “Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 15:3Abram said, “Behold, to me you have given no children: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.” 15:4Behold, Yahweh’s word came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but he who will come out of your own body will be your heir.” 15:5Yahweh brought him outside, and said, “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So will your offspring be.” 15:6He believed in Yahweh, who credited it to him for righteousness. 15:7He said to Abram, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.” 15:8He said, “Lord Yahweh, how will I know that I will inherit it?” 15:9He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 15:10He brought him all these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn’t divide the birds. 15:11The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. 15:12When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him. 15:13He said to Abram, “Know for sure that your offspring will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years. 15:14I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth, 15:15but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried at a good old age. 15:16In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.” 15:17It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 15:18In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates: 15:19the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 15:20the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 15:21the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
16:1Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 16:2Sarai said to Abram, “See now, Yahweh has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my servant. It may be that I will obtain children by her.” Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 16:3Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife. 16:4He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. 16:5Sarai said to Abram, “This wrong is your fault. I gave my servant into your bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes. Yahweh judge between me and you.” 16:6But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your hand. Do to her whatever is good in your eyes.” Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face. 16:7Yahweh’s angel found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain on the way to Shur. 16:8He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where did you come from? Where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai.” 16:9Yahweh’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands.” 16:10Yahweh’s angel said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, that they will not be counted for multitude.” 16:11Yahweh’s angel said to her, “Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because Yahweh has heard your affliction. 16:12He will be like a wild donkey among men. His hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him. He will live opposite all of his brothers.” 16:13She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?” 16:14Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. 16:15Hagar bore a son for Abram. Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16:16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me, and be blameless. 17:2I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” 17:3Abram fell on his face. God talked with him, saying, 17:4“As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 17:5Your name will no more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 17:6I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you. 17:7I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you. 17:8I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God.” 17:9God said to Abraham, “As for you, you will keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 17:10This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised. 17:11You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you. 17:12He who is eight days old will be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. 17:13He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must be circumcised. My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 17:14The uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.” 17:15God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name will be Sarah. 17:16I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her.” 17:17Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?” 17:18Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 17:19God said, “No, but Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 17:20As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 17:21But my covenant I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.” 17:22When he finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. 17:23Abraham took Ishmael his son, 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 in the same day, as God had said to him. 17:24Abraham was ninety-nine years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 17:25Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 17:26In the same day both Abraham and Ishmael, his son, were circumcised. 17:27All the men of his house, those born in the house, and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
18:1Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. 18:2He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth, 18:3and said, “My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please don’t go away from your servant. 18:4Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 18:5I will get a morsel of bread so you can refresh your heart. After that you may go your way, now that you have come to your servant.” They said, “Very well, do as you have said.” 18:6Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly prepare three seahs of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.” 18:7Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to dress it. 18:8He took butter, milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate. 18:9They asked him, “Where is Sarah, your wife?” He said, “See, in the tent.” 18:10He said, “I will certainly return to you at about this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him. 18:11Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 18:12Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” 18:13Yahweh said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Will I really bear a child, yet I am old?’ 18:14Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son.” 18:15Then Sarah denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” 18:16The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way. 18:17Yahweh said, “Will I hide from Abraham what I do, 18:18since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? 18:19For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him.” 18:20Yahweh said, “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, 18:21I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know.” 18:22The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before Yahweh. 18:23Abraham came near, and said, “Will you consume the righteous with the wicked? 18:24What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it? 18:25Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?” 18:26Yahweh said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 18:27Abraham answered, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, although I am dust and ashes. 18:28What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?” He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 18:29He spoke to him yet again, and said, “What if there are forty found there?” He said, “I will not do it for the forty’s sake.” 18:30He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?” He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” 18:31He said, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?” He said, “I will not destroy it for the twenty’s sake.” 18:32He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He said, “I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake.” 18:33Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
19:1The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth, 19:2and he said, “See now, my lords, please come into your servant’s house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you can rise up early, and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we will stay in the street all night.” 19:3He urged them greatly, and they came in with him, and entered into his house. He made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 19:4But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter. 19:5They called to Lot, and said to him, “Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them.” 19:6Lot went out to them to the door, and shut the door after him. 19:7He said, “Please, my brothers, don’t act so wickedly. 19:8See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof.” 19:9They said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one fellow came in to live as a foreigner, and he appoints himself a judge. Now will we deal worse with you, than with them!” They pressed hard on the man Lot, and came near to break the door. 19:10But the men reached out their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. 19:11They struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door. 19:12The men said to Lot, “Do you have anybody else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whoever you have in the city, bring them out of the place: 19:13for we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown so great before Yahweh that Yahweh has sent us to destroy it.” 19:14Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up! Get out of this place, for Yahweh will destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking. 19:15When the morning came, then the angels hurried Lot, saying, “Get up! Take your wife, and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city.” 19:16But he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and his two daughters’ hands, Yahweh being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city. 19:17It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, “Escape for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed!” 19:18Lot said to them, “Oh, not so, my lord. 19:19See now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown to me in saving my life. I can’t escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die. 19:20See now, this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh let me escape there (isn’t it a little one?), and my soul will live.” 19:21He said to him, “Behold, I have granted your request concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 19:22Hurry, escape there, for I can’t do anything until you get there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. 19:23The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 19:24Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky. 19:25He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground. 19:26But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. 19:27Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Yahweh. 19:28He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and looked, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace. 19:29When God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived. 19:30Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters. 19:31The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us in the way of all the earth. 19:32Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.” 19:33They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she arose. 19:34It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine again, tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.” 19:35They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she got up. 19:36Thus both of Lot’s daughters were with child by their father. 19:37The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. 19:38The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.
20:1Abraham traveled from there toward the land of the South, and lived between Kadesh and Shur. He lived as a foreigner in Gerar. 20:2Abraham said about Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. 20:3But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken. For she is a man’s wife.” 20:4Now Abimelech had not come near her. He said, “Lord, will you kill even a righteous nation? 20:5Didn’t he tell me, ‘She is my sister?’ She, even she herself, said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” 20:6God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I didn’t allow you to touch her. 20:7Now therefore, restore the man’s wife. For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. If you don’t restore her, know for sure that you will die, you, and all who are yours.” 20:8Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ear. The men were very scared. 20:9Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!” 20:10Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you have done this thing?” 20:11Abraham said, “Because I thought, ‘Surely the fear of God is not in this place. They will kill me for my wife’s sake.’ 20:12Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. 20:13When God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is your kindness which you shall show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’” 20:14Abimelech took sheep and cattle, male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored Sarah, his wife, to him. 20:15Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you. Dwell where it pleases you.” 20:16To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes to all that are with you. In front of all you are vindicated.” 20:17Abraham prayed to God. God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children. 20:18For Yahweh had closed up tight all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.