In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.


Now the earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water.


God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light!


God saw that the light was good, so God separated the light from the darkness.


God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day.


God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate water from water.


So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. It was so.


God called the expanse “sky.” There was evening, and there was morning, a second day.


God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry ground appear.” It was so.


God called the dry ground “land” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” God saw that it was good.


God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” It was so.


The land produced vegetation – plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. God saw that it was good.


There was evening, and there was morning, a third day.


God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years,


and let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” It was so.


God made two great lights – the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night. He made the stars also.


God placed the lights in the expanse of the sky to shine on the earth,


to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.


There was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.


God said, “Let the water swarm with swarms of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.”


God created the great sea creatures and every living and moving thing with which the water swarmed, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. God saw that it was good.


God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”


There was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.


God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” It was so.


God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the cattle according to their kinds, and all the creatures that creep along the ground according to their kinds. God saw that it was good.


Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.”


God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.


God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.”


Then God said, “I now give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.


And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground – everything that has the breath of life in it – I give every green plant for food.” It was so.


God saw all that he had made – and it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.


The heavens and the earth were completed with everything that was in them.


By the seventh day God finished the work that he had been doing, and he ceased on the seventh day all the work that he had been doing.


God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he ceased all the work that he had been doing in creation.


This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created – when the Lord God made the earth and heavens.


Now no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.


Springs would well up from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.


The Lord God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.


The Lord God planted an orchard in the east, in Eden; and there he placed the man he had formed.


The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, every tree that was pleasing to look at and good for food. (Now the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were in the middle of the orchard.)


Now a river flows from Eden to water the orchard, and from there it divides into four headstreams.


The name of the first is Pishon; it runs through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.


(The gold of that land is pure; pearls and lapis lazuli are also there).


The name of the second river is Gihon; it runs through the entire land of Cush.


The name of the third river is Tigris; it runs along the east side of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.


The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it.


Then the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard,


but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.”


The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him.”


The Lord God formed out of the ground every living animal of the field and every bird of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.


So the man named all the animals, the birds of the air, and the living creatures of the field, but for Adam no companion who corresponded to him was found.


So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was asleep, he took part of the man’s side and closed up the place with flesh.


Then the Lord God made a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.


Then the man said, “This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”


That is why a man leaves his father and mother and unites with his wife, and they become a new family.


The man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed.


Now the serpent was more shrewd than any of the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that God said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?”


The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard;


but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.’”


The serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die,


for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil.”


When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.


Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.


Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard.


But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”


The man replied, “I heard you moving about in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”


And the Lord God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”


The man said, “The woman whom you gave me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.”


So the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman replied, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.”


The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the wild beasts and all the living creatures of the field! On your belly you will crawl and dust you will eat all the days of your life.


And I will put hostility between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; her offspring will attack your head, and you will attack her offspring’s heel.”


To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your labor pains; with pain you will give birth to children. You will want to control your husband, but he will dominate you.”


But to Adam he said, “Because you obeyed your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ cursed is the ground thanks to you; in painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.


It will produce thorns and thistles for you, but you will eat the grain of the field.


By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return.”


The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.


The Lord God made garments from skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.


And the Lord God said, “Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”


So the Lord God expelled him from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken.


When he drove the man out, he placed on the eastern side of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries who used the flame of a whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life.


Now the man had marital relations with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created a man just as the Lord did!”


Then she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground.


At the designated time Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground for an offering to the Lord.


But Abel brought some of the firstborn of his flock – even the fattest of them. And the Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering,


but with Cain and his offering he was not pleased. So Cain became very angry, and his expression was downcast.


Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast?


Is it not true that if you do what is right, you will be fine? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.”


Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.


Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?”


But the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!


So now, you are banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.


When you try to cultivate the ground it will no longer yield its best for you. You will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.”


Then Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to endure!


Look! You are driving me off the land today, and I must hide from your presence. I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me.”


But the Lord said to him, “All right then, if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.” Then the Lord put a special mark on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down.


So Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.


Cain had marital relations with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after his son Enoch.


To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.


Lamech took two wives for himself; the name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah.


Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the first of those who live in tents and keep livestock.


The name of his brother was Jubal; he was the first of all who play the harp and the flute.


Now Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain, who heated metal and shaped all kinds of tools made of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.


Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah! Listen to me! You wives of Lamech, hear my words! I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for hurting me.


If Cain is to be avenged seven times as much, then Lamech seventy-seven times!”


And Adam had marital relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, “God has given me another child in place of Abel because Cain killed him.”


And a son was also born to Seth, whom he named Enosh. At that time people began to worship the Lord.


This is the record of the family line of Adam. When God created humankind, he made them in the likeness of God.


He created them male and female; when they were created, he blessed them and named them “humankind.”


When Adam had lived 130 years he fathered a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and he named him Seth.


The length of time Adam lived after he became the father of Seth was 800 years; during this time he had other sons and daughters.


The entire lifetime of Adam was 930 years, and then he died.


When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father of Enosh.


Seth lived 807 years after he became the father of Enosh, and he had other sons and daughters.


The entire lifetime of Seth was 912 years, and then he died.


When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan.


Enosh lived 815 years after he became the father of Kenan, and he had other sons and daughters.


The entire lifetime of Enosh was 905 years, and then he died.


When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel.


Kenan lived 840 years after he became the father of Mahalalel, and he had other sons and daughters.


The entire lifetime of Kenan was 910 years, and then he died.


When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared.


Mahalalel lived 830 years after he became the father of Jared, and he had other sons and daughters.


The entire lifetime of Mahalalel was 895 years, and then he died.


When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch.


Jared lived 800 years after he became the father of Enoch, and he had other sons and daughters.


The entire lifetime of Jared was 962 years, and then he died.


When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah.


After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God for 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters.


The entire lifetime of Enoch was 365 years.


Enoch walked with God, and then he disappeared because God took him away.


When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech.


Methuselah lived 782 years after he became the father of Lamech, and he had other sons and daughters.


The entire lifetime of Methuselah was 969 years, and then he died.


When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son.


He named him Noah, saying, “This one will bring us comfort from our labor and from the painful toil of our hands because of the ground that the Lord has cursed.”


Lamech lived 595 years after he became the father of Noah, and he had other sons and daughters.


The entire lifetime of Lamech was 777 years, and then he died.


After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.


When humankind began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them,


the sons of God saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose.


So the Lord said, “My spirit will not remain in humankind indefinitely, since they are mortal. They will remain for 120 more years.”


The Nephilim were on the earth in those days (and also after this) when the sons of God were having sexual relations with the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. They were the mighty heroes of old, the famous men.


But the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time.


The Lord regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended.


So the Lord said, “I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – everything from humankind to animals, including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them.”


But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord.


This is the account of Noah. Noah was a godly man; he was blameless among his contemporaries. He walked with God.


Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.


The earth was ruined in the sight of God; the earth was filled with violence.


God saw the earth, and indeed it was ruined, for all living creatures on the earth were sinful.


So God said to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I am about to destroy them and the earth.


Make for yourself an ark of cypress wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and out.


This is how you should make it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.


Make a roof for the ark and finish it, leaving 18 inches from the top. Put a door in the side of the ark, and make lower, middle, and upper decks.


I am about to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy from under the sky all the living creatures that have the breath of life in them. Everything that is on the earth will die,


but I will confirm my covenant with you. You will enter the ark – you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.


You must bring into the ark two of every kind of living creature from all flesh, male and female, to keep them alive with you.


Of the birds after their kinds, and of the cattle after their kinds, and of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you so you can keep them alive.


And you must take for yourself every kind of food that is eaten, and gather it together. It will be food for you and for them.


And Noah did all that God commanded him – he did indeed.


The Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, for I consider you godly among this generation.


You must take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, the male and its mate, two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate,


and also seven of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, to preserve their offspring on the face of the earth.


For in seven days I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made.”


And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.


Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters engulfed the earth.


Noah entered the ark along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives because of the floodwaters.


Pairs of clean animals, of unclean animals, of birds, and of everything that creeps along the ground,


male and female, came into the ark to Noah, just as God had commanded him.


And after seven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth.


In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month – on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.


And the rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.


On that very day Noah entered the ark, accompanied by his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, along with his wife and his sons’ three wives.


They entered, along with every living creature after its kind, every animal after its kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, everything with wings.


Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life came into the ark to Noah.


Those that entered were male and female, just as God commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.


The flood engulfed the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark and raised it above the earth.


The waters completely overwhelmed the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters.


The waters completely inundated the earth so that even all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered.


The waters rose more than twenty feet above the mountains.


And all living things that moved on the earth died, including the birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all humankind.


Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died.


So the Lord destroyed every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, including people, animals, creatures that creep along the ground, and birds of the sky. They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived.


The waters prevailed over the earth for 150 days.


But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over the earth and the waters receded.


The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed, and the rain stopped falling from the sky.


The waters kept receding steadily from the earth, so that they had gone down by the end of the 150 days.


On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat.


The waters kept on receding until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains became visible.


At the end of forty days, Noah opened the window he had made in the ark


and sent out a raven; it kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up on the earth.


Then Noah sent out a dove to see if the waters had receded from the surface of the ground.


The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove, and brought it back into the ark.


He waited seven more days and then sent out the dove again from the ark.


When the dove returned to him in the evening, there was a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak! Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.


He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again, but it did not return to him this time.


In Noah’s six hundred and first year, in the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth, and Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.


And by the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was dry.


Then God spoke to Noah and said,


“Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you.


Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you. Bring out every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase and be fruitful and multiply on the earth!”


Noah went out along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives.


Every living creature, every creeping thing, every bird, and everything that moves on the earth went out of the ark in their groups.


Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.


And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, even though the inclination of their minds is evil from childhood on. I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.


“While the earth continues to exist, planting time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.”


Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.


Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified of you. Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority.


You may eat any moving thing that lives. As I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.


But you must not eat meat with its life (that is, its blood) in it.


For your lifeblood I will surely exact punishment, from every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person I will exact punishment for the life of the individual since the man was his relative.


“Whoever sheds human blood, by other humans must his blood be shed; for in God’s image God has made humankind.”


But as for you, be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.”


God said to Noah and his sons,


“Look! I now confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you


and with every living creature that is with you, including the birds, the domestic animals, and every living creature of the earth with you, all those that came out of the ark with you – every living creature of the earth.


I confirm my covenant with you: Never again will all living things be wiped out by the waters of a flood; never again will a flood destroy the earth.”


And God said, “This is the guarantee of the covenant I am making with you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all subsequent generations:


I will place my rainbow in the clouds, and it will become a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth.


Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,


then I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures of all kinds. Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy all living things.


When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth.”


So God said to Noah, “This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am confirming between me and all living things that are on the earth.”


The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Now Ham was the father of Canaan.)


These were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated.


Noah, a man of the soil, began to plant a vineyard.


When he drank some of the wine, he got drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent.


Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers who were outside.


Shem and Japheth took the garment and placed it on their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered up their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so they did not see their father’s nakedness.


When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor he learned what his youngest son had done to him.


So he said, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves he will be to his brothers.”


He also said, “Worthy of praise is the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem!


May God enlarge Japheth’s territory and numbers! May he live in the tents of Shem and may Canaan be his slave!”


After the flood Noah lived 350 years.


The entire lifetime of Noah was 950 years, and then he died.


This is the account of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.


The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.


The sons of Gomer were Askenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.


The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim, and the Dodanim.


From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to its language, according to their families, by their nations.


The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.


The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.


Cush was the father of Nimrod; he began to be a valiant warrior on the earth.


He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. (That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”)


The primary regions of his kingdom were Babel, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh in the land of Shinar.


From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,


and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city Calah.


Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites,


Pathrusites, Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorites.


Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, Heth,


the Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites,


Hivites, Arkites, Sinites,


Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites. Eventually the families of the Canaanites were scattered


and the borders of Canaan extended from Sidon all the way to Gerar as far as Gaza, and all the way to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.


These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and by their nations.


And sons were also born to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), the father of all the sons of Eber.


The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.


The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.


Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah was the father of Eber.


Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan.


Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,


Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,


Obal, Abimael, Sheba,


Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan.


Their dwelling place was from Mesha all the way to Sephar in the eastern hills.


These are the sons of Shem according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and according to their nations.


These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations, and from these the nations spread over the earth after the flood.


The whole earth had a common language and a common vocabulary.


When the people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.


Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” (They had brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar.)


Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise we will be scattered across the face of the entire earth.”


But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had started building.


And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be beyond them.


Come, let’s go down and confuse their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.”


So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building the city.


That is why its name was called Babel – because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.


This is the account of Shem. Shem was 100 old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood.


And after becoming the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.


When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah.


And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.


When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber.


And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.


When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg.


And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.


When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu.


And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.


When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug.


And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.


When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor.


And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.


When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah.


And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.


When Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.


This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.


Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans, while his father Terah was still alive.


And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah.


But Sarai was barren; she had no children.


Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there.


The lifetime of Terah was 205 years, and he died in Haran.


Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you.


Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, so that you will exemplify divine blessing.


I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, and all the families of the earth will bless one another by your name.”


So Abram left, just as the Lord had told him to do, and Lot went with him. (Now Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.)


And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they left for the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan.


Abram traveled through the land as far as the oak tree of Moreh at Shechem. (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.)


The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.


Then he moved from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and worshiped the Lord.


Abram continually journeyed by stages down to the Negev.


There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to stay for a while because the famine was severe.


As he approached Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman.


When the Egyptians see you they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will keep you alive.


So tell them you are my sister so that it may go well for me because of you and my life will be spared on account of you.”


When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.


When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife was taken into the household of Pharaoh,


and he did treat Abram well on account of her. Abram received sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.


But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe diseases because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.


So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife?


Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Here is your wife! Take her and go!”


Pharaoh gave his men orders about Abram, and so they expelled him, along with his wife and all his possessions.


So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev. He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot.


(Now Abram was very wealthy in livestock, silver, and gold.)


And he journeyed from place to place from the Negev as far as Bethel. He returned to the place where he had pitched his tent at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai.


This was the place where he had first built the altar, and there Abram worshiped the Lord.


Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents.


But the land could not support them while they were living side by side. Because their possessions were so great, they were not able to live alongside one another.


So there were quarrels between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen. (Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.)


Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no quarreling between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are close relatives.


Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself now from me. If you go to the left, then I’ll go to the right, but if you go to the right, then I’ll go to the left.”


Lot looked up and saw the whole region of the Jordan. He noticed that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, all the way to Zoar.


Lot chose for himself the whole region of the Jordan and traveled toward the east. So the relatives separated from each other.


Abram settled in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled among the cities of the Jordan plain and pitched his tents next to Sodom.


(Now the people of Sodom were extremely wicked rebels against the Lord.)


After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, “Look from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west.


I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants forever.


And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted.


Get up and walk throughout the land, for I will give it to you.”


So Abram moved his tents and went to live by the oaks of Mamre in Hebron, and he built an altar to the Lord there.


At that time Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations


went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).


These last five kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).


For twelve years they had served Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.


In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who were his allies came and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim,


and the Horites in their hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is near the desert.


Then they attacked En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh) again, and they conquered all the territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar.


Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and prepared for battle. In the Valley of Siddim they met


Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar. Four kings fought against five.


Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into them, but some survivors fled to the hills.


The four victorious kings took all the possessions and food of Sodom and Gomorrah and left.


They also took Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions when they left, for Lot was living in Sodom.


A fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and Aner. (All these were allied by treaty with Abram.)


When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he mobilized his 318 trained men who had been born in his household, and he pursued the invaders as far as Dan.


Then, during the night, Abram divided his forces against them and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.


He retrieved all the stolen property. He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, as well as the women and the rest of the people.


After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet Abram in the Valley of Shaveh (known as the King’s Valley).


Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (Now he was the priest of the Most High God.)


He blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth.


Worthy of praise is the Most High God, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.


Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and take the possessions for yourself.”


But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I raise my hand to the Lord, the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth, and vow


that I will take nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal. That way you can never say, ‘It is I who made Abram rich.’


I will take nothing except compensation for what the young men have eaten. As for the share of the men who went with me – Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre – let them take their share.”


After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield and the one who will reward you in great abundance.”


But Abram said, “O sovereign Lord, what will you give me since I continue to be childless, and my heir is Eliezer of Damascus?”


Abram added, “Since you have not given me a descendant, then look, one born in my house will be my heir!”


But look, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but instead a son who comes from your own body will be your heir.”


The Lord took him outside and said, “Gaze into the sky and count the stars – if you are able to count them!” Then he said to him, “So will your descendants be.”


Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord considered his response of faith as proof of genuine loyalty.


The Lord said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”


But Abram said, “O sovereign Lord, by what can I know that I am to possess it?”


The Lord said to him, “Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”


So Abram took all these for him and then cut them in two and placed each half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds in half.


When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.


When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, and great terror overwhelmed him.


Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.


But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will come out with many possessions.


But as for you, you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.


In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.”


When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch passed between the animal parts.


That day the Lord made a covenant with Abram: “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River –


the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,


Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,


Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”


Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, but she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.


So Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” Abram did what Sarai told him.


So after Abram had lived in Canaan for ten years, Sarai, Abram’s wife, gave Hagar, her Egyptian servant, to her husband to be his wife.


He had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despised Sarai.


Then Sarai said to Abram, “You have brought this wrong on me! I allowed my servant to have sexual relations with you, but when she realized that she was pregnant, she despised me. May the Lord judge between you and me!”


Abram said to Sarai, “Since your servant is under your authority, do to her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai treated Hagar harshly, so she ran away from Sarai.


The Lord’s angel found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert – the spring that is along the road to Shur.


He said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai.”


Then the Lord’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her authority.


I will greatly multiply your descendants,” the Lord’s angel added, “so that they will be too numerous to count.”


Then the Lord’s angel said to her, “You are now pregnant and are about to give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your painful groans.


He will be a wild donkey of a man. He will be hostile to everyone, and everyone will be hostile to him. He will live away from his brothers.”


So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!”


That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. (It is located between Kadesh and Bered.)


So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, whom Abram named Ishmael.


(Now Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.)


When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the sovereign God. Walk before me and be blameless.


Then I will confirm my covenant between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.”


Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, and God said to him,


“As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations.


No longer will your name be Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham because I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.


I will make you extremely fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.


I will confirm my covenant as a perpetual covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you.


I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent possession. I will be their God.”


Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep the covenantal requirement I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.


This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: Every male among you must be circumcised.


You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder of the covenant between me and you.


Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants.


They must indeed be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant will be visible in your flesh as a permanent reminder.


Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement.”


Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; Sarah will be her name.


I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. Kings of countries will come from her!”


Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed as he said to himself, “Can a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”


Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live before you!”


God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual covenant for his descendants after him.


As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes; I will make him into a great nation.


But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.”


When he finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.


Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) and circumcised them on that very same day, just as God had told him to do.


Now Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised;


his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised.


Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the very same day.


All the men of his household, whether born in his household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.


The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest time of the day.


Abraham looked up and saw three men standing across from him. When he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.


He said, “My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by and leave your servant.


Let a little water be brought so that you may all wash your feet and rest under the tree.


And let me get a bit of food so that you may refresh yourselves since you have passed by your servant’s home. After that you may be on your way.” “All right,” they replied, “you may do as you say.”


So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Take three measures of fine flour, knead it, and make bread.”


Then Abraham ran to the herd and chose a fine, tender calf, and gave it to a servant, who quickly prepared it.


Abraham then took some curds and milk, along with the calf that had been prepared, and placed the food before them. They ate while he was standing near them under a tree.


Then they asked him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” He replied, “There, in the tent.”


One of them said, “I will surely return to you when the season comes round again, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him.


Abraham and Sarah were old and advancing in years; Sarah had long since passed menopause.)


So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, “After I am worn out will I have pleasure, especially when my husband is old too?”


The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child when I am old?’


Is anything impossible for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.”


Then Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. But the Lord said, “No! You did laugh.”


When the men got up to leave, they looked out over Sodom. (Now Abraham was walking with them to see them on their way.)


Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?


After all, Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using his name.


I have chosen him so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then the Lord will give to Abraham what he promised him.”


So the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant


that I must go down and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. If not, I want to know.”


The two men turned and headed toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Lord.


Abraham approached and said, “Will you sweep away the godly along with the wicked?


What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it?


Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right?”


So the Lord replied, “If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”


Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord (although I am but dust and ashes),


what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy the whole city because five are lacking?” He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”


Abraham spoke to him again, “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”


Then Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak! What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”


Abraham said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”


Finally Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”


The Lord went on his way when he had finished speaking to Abraham. Then Abraham returned home.


The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.


He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.”


But he urged them persistently, so they turned aside with him and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them, including bread baked without yeast, and they ate.


Before they could lie down to sleep, all the men – both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom – surrounded the house.


They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!”


Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him.


He said, “No, my brothers! Don’t act so wickedly!


Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”


“Out of our way!” they cried, and “This man came to live here as a foreigner, and now he dares to judge us! We’ll do more harm to you than to them!” They kept pressing in on Lot until they were close enough to break down the door.


So the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house as they shut the door.


Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, from the youngest to the oldest, with blindness. The men outside wore themselves out trying to find the door.


Then the two visitors said to Lot, “Who else do you have here? Do you have any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or other relatives in the city? Get them out of this place


because we are about to destroy it. The outcry against this place is so great before the Lord that he has sent us to destroy it.”


Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them.


At dawn the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!”


When Lot hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them. They led them away and placed them outside the city.


When they had brought them outside, they said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look behind you or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!”


But Lot said to them, “No, please, Lord!


Your servant has found favor with you, and you have shown me great kindness by sparing my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because this disaster will overtake me and I’ll die.


Look, this town over here is close enough to escape to, and it’s just a little one. Let me go there. It’s just a little place, isn’t it? Then I’ll survive.”


“Very well,” he replied, “I will grant this request too and will not overthrow the town you mentioned.


Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” (This incident explains why the town was called Zoar.)


The sun had just risen over the land as Lot reached Zoar.


Then the Lord rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord.


So he overthrew those cities and all that region, including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew from the ground.


But Lot’s wife looked back longingly and was turned into a pillar of salt.


Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord.


He looked out toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace.


So when God destroyed the cities of the region, God honored Abraham’s request. He removed Lot from the midst of the destruction when he destroyed the cities Lot had lived in.


Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and settled in the mountains because he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters.


Later the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man anywhere nearby to have sexual relations with us, according to the way of all the world.


Come, let’s make our father drunk with wine so we can have sexual relations with him and preserve our family line through our father.”


So that night they made their father drunk with wine, and the older daughter came and had sexual relations with her father. But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up.


So in the morning the older daughter said to the younger, “Since I had sexual relations with my father last night, let’s make him drunk again tonight. Then you go and have sexual relations with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.”


So they made their father drunk that night as well, and the younger one came and had sexual relations with him. But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up.


In this way both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.


The older daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the ancestor of the Moabites of today.


The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-Ammi. He is the ancestor of the Ammonites of today.


Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident in Gerar,


Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.


But God appeared to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.”


Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, would you really slaughter an innocent nation?


Did Abraham not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience and with innocent hands!”


Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. That is why I have kept you from sinning against me and why I did not allow you to touch her.


But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed he is a prophet and he will pray for you; thus you will live. But if you don’t give her back, know that you will surely die along with all who belong to you.”


Early in the morning Abimelech summoned all his servants. When he told them about all these things, they were terrified.


Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done!”


Then Abimelech asked Abraham, “What prompted you to do this thing?”


Abraham replied, “Because I thought, ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of my wife.’


What’s more, she is indeed my sister, my father’s daughter, but not my mother’s daughter. She became my wife.


When God made me wander from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”


So Abimelech gave sheep, cattle, and male and female servants to Abraham. He also gave his wife Sarah back to him.


Then Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please.”


To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your ‘brother.’ This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you.”


Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children.


For the Lord had caused infertility to strike every woman in the household of Abimelech because he took Sarah, Abraham’s wife.


The Lord visited Sarah just as he had said he would and did for Sarah what he had promised.


So Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him.


Abraham named his son – whom Sarah bore to him – Isaac.


When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do.


(Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.)


Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”


She went on to say, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”


The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.


But Sarah noticed the son of Hagar the Egyptian – the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham – mocking.


So she said to Abraham, “Banish that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”


Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son.


But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset about the boy or your slave wife. Do all that Sarah is telling you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted.


But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”


Early in the morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, and sent her away. So she went wandering aimlessly through the wilderness of Beer Sheba.


When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved the child under one of the shrubs.


Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot away; for she thought, “I refuse to watch the child die.” So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably.


But God heard the boy’s voice. The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the boy’s voice right where he is crying.


Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”


Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.


God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer.


He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt.


At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.


Now swear to me right here in God’s name that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. Show me, and the land where you are staying, the same loyalty that I have shown you.”


Abraham said, “I swear to do this.”


But Abraham lodged a complaint against Abimelech concerning a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized.


“I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”


Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty.


Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves.


Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?”


He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof that I dug this well.”


That is why he named that place Beer Sheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.


So they made a treaty at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned to the land of the Philistines.


Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, the eternal God.


So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time.


Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham replied.


God said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac – and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you.”


Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out for the place God had spoken to him about.


On the third day Abraham caught sight of the place in the distance.


So he said to his servants, “You two stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go up there. We will worship and then return to you.”


Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, and the two of them walked on together.


Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father?” “What is it, my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”


“God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.


When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood.


Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter his son.


But the Lord’s angel called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered.


“Do not harm the boy!” the angel said. “Do not do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”


Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.


And Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord provides.” It is said to this day, “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.”


The Lord’s angel called to Abraham a second time from heaven


and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ decrees the Lord, ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,


I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the strongholds of their enemies.


Because you have obeyed me, all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.’”


Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed.


After these things Abraham was told, “Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor –


Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram),


Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.”


(Now Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) These were the eight sons Milcah bore to Abraham’s brother Nahor.


His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore him children – Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.


Sarah lived 127 years.


Then she died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.


Then Abraham got up from mourning his dead wife and said to the sons of Heth,


“I am a temporary settler among you. Grant me ownership of a burial site among you so that I may bury my dead.”


The sons of Heth answered Abraham,


“Listen, sir, you are a mighty prince among us! You may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb to prevent you from burying your dead.”


Abraham got up and bowed down to the local people, the sons of Heth.


Then he said to them, “If you agree that I may bury my dead, then hear me out. Ask Ephron the son of Zohar


if he will sell me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me publicly for the full price, so that I may own it as a burial site.”


(Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth.) Ephron the Hethite replied to Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth – before all who entered the gate of his city –


“No, my lord! Hear me out. I sell you both the field and the cave that is in it. In the presence of my people I sell it to you. Bury your dead.”


Abraham bowed before the local people


and said to Ephron in their hearing, “Hear me, if you will. I pay to you the price of the field. Take it from me so that I may bury my dead there.”


Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,


“Hear me, my lord. The land is worth 400 pieces of silver, but what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.”


So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price and weighed out for him the price that Ephron had quoted in the hearing of the sons of Heth – 400 pieces of silver, according to the standard measurement at the time.


So Abraham secured Ephron’s field in Machpelah, next to Mamre, including the field, the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field and all around its border,


as his property in the presence of the sons of Heth before all who entered the gate of Ephron’s city.


After this Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah next to Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.


So Abraham secured the field and the cave that was in it as a burial site from the sons of Heth.


Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed him in everything.


Abraham said to his servant, the senior one in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh


so that I may make you solemnly promise by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living.


You must go instead to my country and to my relatives to find a wife for my son Isaac.”


The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with me to this land? Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?”


“Be careful never to take my son back there!” Abraham told him.


“The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, promised me with a solemn oath, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel before you so that you may find a wife for my son from there.


But if the woman is not willing to come back with you, you will be free from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!”


So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and gave his solemn promise he would carry out his wishes.


Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all kinds of gifts from his master at his disposal. He journeyed to the region of Aram Naharaim and the city of Nahor.


He made the camels kneel down by the well outside the city. It was evening, the time when the women would go out to draw water.


He prayed, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, guide me today. Be faithful to my master Abraham.


Here I am, standing by the spring, and the daughters of the people who live in the town are coming out to draw water.


I will say to a young woman, ‘Please lower your jar so I may drink.’ May the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac reply, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ In this way I will know that you have been faithful to my master.”


Before he had finished praying, there came Rebekah with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah (Milcah was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor).


Now the young woman was very beautiful. She was a virgin; no man had ever had sexual relations with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up.


Abraham’s servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a sip of water from your jug.”


“Drink, my lord,” she replied, and quickly lowering her jug to her hands, she gave him a drink.


When she had done so, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have drunk as much as they want.”


She quickly emptied her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw more water until she had drawn enough for all his camels.


Silently the man watched her with interest to determine if the Lord had made his journey successful or not.


After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels and gave them to her.


“Whose daughter are you?” he asked. “Tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”


She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.


We have plenty of straw and feed,” she added, “and room for you to spend the night.”


The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord,


saying “Praised be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his faithful love for my master! The Lord has led me to the house of my master’s relatives!”


The young woman ran and told her mother’s household all about these things.


(Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban.) Laban rushed out to meet the man at the spring.


When he saw the bracelets on his sister’s wrists and the nose ring and heard his sister Rebekah say, “This is what the man said to me,” he went out to meet the man. There he was, standing by the camels near the spring.


Laban said to him, “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord! Why are you standing out here when I have prepared the house and a place for the camels?”


So Abraham’s servant went to the house and unloaded the camels. Straw and feed were given to the camels, and water was provided so that he and the men who were with him could wash their feet.


When food was served, he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I want to say.” “Tell us,” Laban said.


“I am the servant of Abraham,” he began.


“The Lord has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy. The Lord has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.


My master’s wife Sarah bore a son to him when she was old, and my master has given him everything he owns.


My master made me swear an oath. He said, ‘You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living,


but you must go to the family of my father and to my relatives to find a wife for my son.’


But I said to my master, ‘What if the woman does not want to go with me?’


He answered, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you. He will make your journey a success and you will find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father’s family.


You will be free from your oath if you go to my relatives and they will not give her to you. Then you will be free from your oath.’


When I came to the spring today, I prayed, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you have decided to make my journey successful, may events unfold as follows:


Here I am, standing by the spring. When the young woman goes out to draw water, I’ll say, “Give me a little water to drink from your jug.”


Then she will reply to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too.” May that woman be the one whom the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’


“Before I finished praying in my heart, along came Rebekah with her water jug on her shoulder! She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’


She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ So I drank, and she also gave the camels water.


Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She replied, ‘The daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.’ I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.


Then I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right path to find the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son.


Now, if you will show faithful love to my master, tell me. But if not, tell me as well, so that I may go on my way.”


Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “This is the Lord’s doing. Our wishes are of no concern.


Rebekah stands here before you. Take her and go so that she may become the wife of your master’s son, just as the Lord has decided.”


When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord.


Then he brought out gold, silver jewelry, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and to her mother.


After this, he and the men who were with him ate a meal and stayed there overnight. When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me leave now so I can return to my master.”


But Rebekah’s brother and her mother replied, “Let the girl stay with us a few more days, perhaps ten. Then she can go.”


But he said to them, “Don’t detain me – the Lord has granted me success on my journey. Let me leave now so I may return to my master.”


Then they said, “We’ll call the girl and find out what she wants to do.”


So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Do you want to go with this man?” She replied, “I want to go.”


So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, accompanied by her female attendant, with Abraham’s servant and his men.


They blessed Rebekah with these words: “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands! May your descendants possess the strongholds of their enemies.”


Then Rebekah and her female servants mounted the camels and rode away with the man. So Abraham’s servant took Rebekah and left.


Now Isaac came from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev.


He went out to relax in the field in the early evening. Then he looked up and saw that there were camels approaching.


Rebekah looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel


and asked Abraham’s servant, “Who is that man walking in the field toward us?” “That is my master,” the servant replied. So she took her veil and covered herself.


The servant told Isaac everything that had happened.


Then Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took her as his wife and loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.


Abraham had taken another wife, named Keturah.


She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.


Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites.


The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.


Everything he owned Abraham left to his son Isaac.


But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off to the east, away from his son Isaac.


Abraham lived a total of 175 years.


Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man who had lived a full life. He joined his ancestors.


His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar, the Hethite.


This was the field Abraham had purchased from the sons of Heth. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah.


After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac. Isaac lived near Beer Lahai Roi.


This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham.


These are the names of Ishmael’s sons, by their names according to their records: Nebaioth (Ishmael’s firstborn), Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,


Mishma, Dumah, Massa,


Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.


These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names by their settlements and their camps – twelve princes according to their clans.


Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. He breathed his last and died; then he joined his ancestors.


His descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs next to Egypt all the way to Asshur. They settled away from all their relatives.


This is the account of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Abraham became the father of Isaac.


When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.


Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.


But the children struggled inside her, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, I’m not so sure I want to be pregnant!” So she asked the Lord,


and the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from within you. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”


When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, there were twins in her womb.


The first came out reddish all over, like a hairy garment, so they named him Esau.


When his brother came out with his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.


When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents.


Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.


Now Jacob cooked some stew, and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished.


So Esau said to Jacob, “Feed me some of the red stuff – yes, this red stuff – because I’m starving!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)


But Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”


“Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die! What use is the birthright to me?”


But Jacob said, “Swear an oath to me now.” So Esau swore an oath to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.


Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew; Esau ate and drank, then got up and went out. So Esau despised his birthright.


There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.


The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; settle down in the land that I will point out to you.


Stay in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will fulfill the solemn promise I made to your father Abraham.


I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.


All this will come to pass because Abraham obeyed me and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”


So Isaac settled in Gerar.


When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, “She is my sister.” He was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” for he thought to himself, “The men of this place will kill me to get Rebekah because she is very beautiful.”


After Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines happened to look out a window and observed Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.


So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied, “Because I thought someone might kill me to get her.”


Then Abimelech exclaimed, “What in the world have you done to us? One of the men might easily have had sexual relations with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”


So Abimelech commanded all the people, “Whoever touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”


When Isaac planted in that land, he reaped in the same year a hundred times what he had sown, because the Lord blessed him.


The man became wealthy. His influence continued to grow until he became very prominent.


He had so many sheep and cattle and such a great household of servants that the Philistines became jealous of him.


So the Philistines took dirt and filled up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham.


Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave us and go elsewhere, for you have become much more powerful than we are.”


So Isaac left there and settled in the Gerar Valley.


Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug back in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after Abraham died. Isaac gave these wells the same names his father had given them.


When Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well with fresh flowing water there,


the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water belongs to us!” So Isaac named the well Esek because they argued with him about it.


His servants dug another well, but they quarreled over it too, so Isaac named it Sitnah.


Then he moved away from there and dug another well. They did not quarrel over it, so Isaac named it Rehoboth, saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will prosper in the land.”


From there Isaac went up to Beer Sheba.


The Lord appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”


Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. He pitched his tent there, and his servants dug a well.


Now Abimelech had come to him from Gerar along with Ahuzzah his friend and Phicol the commander of his army.


Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me? You hate me and sent me away from you.”


They replied, “We could plainly see that the Lord is with you. So we decided there should be a pact between us – between us and you. Allow us to make a treaty with you


so that you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed you, but have always treated you well before sending you away in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord.”


So Isaac held a feast for them and they celebrated.


Early in the morning the men made a treaty with each other. Isaac sent them off; they separated on good terms.


That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. “We’ve found water,” they reported.


So he named it Shibah; that is why the name of the city has been Beer Sheba to this day.


When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, as well as Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.


They caused Isaac and Rebekah great anxiety.


When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he was almost blind, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son!” “Here I am!” Esau replied.


Isaac said, “Since I am so old, I could die at any time.


Therefore, take your weapons – your quiver and your bow – and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild game for me.


Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then I will eat it so that I may bless you before I die.”


Now Rebekah had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back,


Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau,


‘Bring me some wild game and prepare for me some tasty food. Then I will eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before I die.’


Now then, my son, do exactly what I tell you!


Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I’ll prepare them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them.


Then you will take it to your father. Thus he will eat it and bless you before he dies.”


“But Esau my brother is a hairy man,” Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, “and I have smooth skin!


My father may touch me! Then he’ll think I’m mocking him and I’ll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.”


So his mother told him, “Any curse against you will fall on me, my son! Just obey me! Go and get them for me!”


So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother. She prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it.


Then Rebekah took her older son Esau’s best clothes, which she had with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob.


She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck.


Then she handed the tasty food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.


He went to his father and said, “My father!” Isaac replied, “Here I am. Which are you, my son?”


Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I’ve done as you told me. Now sit up and eat some of my wild game so that you can bless me.”


But Isaac asked his son, “How in the world did you find it so quickly, my son?” “Because the Lord your God brought it to me,” he replied.


Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you, my son, and know for certain if you really are my son Esau.”


So Jacob went over to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s.”


He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau’s hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob.


Then he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” “I am,” Jacob replied.


Isaac said, “Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son. Then I will bless you.” So Jacob brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac drank.


Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here and kiss me, my son.”


So Jacob went over and kissed him. When Isaac caught the scent of his clothing, he blessed him, saying, “Yes, my son smells like the scent of an open field which the Lord has blessed.


May God give you the dew of the sky and the richness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine.


May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. You will be lord over your brothers, and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.”


Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt.


He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Esau said to him, “My father, get up and eat some of your son’s wild game. Then you can bless me.”


His father Isaac asked, “Who are you?” “I am your firstborn son,” he replied, “Esau!”


Isaac began to shake violently and asked, “Then who else hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it just before you arrived, and I blessed him. He will indeed be blessed!”


When Esau heard his father’s words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. He said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!”


But Isaac replied, “Your brother came in here deceitfully and took away your blessing.”


Esau exclaimed, “‘Jacob’ is the right name for him! He has tripped me up two times! He took away my birthright, and now, look, he has taken away my blessing!” Then he asked, “Have you not kept back a blessing for me?”


Isaac replied to Esau, “Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?”


Esau said to his father, “Do you have only that one blessing, my father? Bless me too!” Then Esau wept loudly.


So his father Isaac said to him, “Indeed, your home will be away from the richness of the earth, and away from the dew of the sky above.


You will live by your sword but you will serve your brother. When you grow restless, you will tear off his yoke from your neck.”


So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. Esau said privately, “The time of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill my brother Jacob!”


When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, she quickly summoned her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you.


Now then, my son, do what I say. Run away immediately to my brother Laban in Haran.


Live with him for a little while until your brother’s rage subsides.


Stay there until your brother’s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I’ll send someone to bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”


Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am deeply depressed because of these daughters of Heth. If Jacob were to marry one of these daughters of Heth who live in this land, I would want to die!”


So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman!


Leave immediately for Paddan Aram! Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and find yourself a wife there, among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.


May the sovereign God bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! Then you will become a large nation.


May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham so that you may possess the land God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident.”


So Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.


Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him off to Paddan Aram to find a wife there. As he blessed him, Isaac commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.”


Jacob obeyed his father and mother and left for Paddan Aram.


Then Esau realized that the Canaanite women were displeasing to his father Isaac.


So Esau went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, along with the wives he already had.


Meanwhile Jacob left Beer Sheba and set out for Haran.


He reached a certain place where he decided to camp because the sun had gone down. He took one of the stones and placed it near his head. Then he fell asleep in that place


and had a dream. He saw a stairway erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it


and the Lord stood at its top. He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the ground you are lying on.


Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using your name and that of your descendants.


I am with you! I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!”


Then Jacob woke up and thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!”


He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!”


Early in the morning Jacob took the stone he had placed near his head and set it up as a sacred stone. Then he poured oil on top of it.


He called that place Bethel, although the former name of the town was Luz.


Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear,


and I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will become my God.


Then this stone that I have set up as a sacred stone will be the house of God, and I will surely give you back a tenth of everything you give me.”


So Jacob moved on and came to the land of the eastern people.


He saw in the field a well with three flocks of sheep lying beside it, because the flocks were watered from that well. Now a large stone covered the mouth of the well.


When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone off the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in its place over the well’s mouth.


Jacob asked them, “My brothers, where are you from?” They replied, “We’re from Haran.”


So he said to them, “Do you know Laban, the grandson of Nahor?” “We know him,” they said.


“Is he well?” Jacob asked. They replied, “He is well. Now look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.”


Then Jacob said, “Since it is still the middle of the day, it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. You should water the sheep and then go and let them graze some more.”


“We can’t,” they said, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone is rolled off the mouth of the well. Then we water the sheep.”


While he was still speaking with them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, for she was tending them.


When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, and the sheep of his uncle Laban, he went over and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of his uncle Laban.


Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep loudly.


When Jacob explained to Rachel that he was a relative of her father and the son of Rebekah, she ran and told her father.


When Laban heard this news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he rushed out to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban how he was related to him.


Then Laban said to him, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.” So Jacob stayed with him for a month.


Then Laban said to Jacob, “Should you work for me for nothing because you are my relative? Tell me what your wages should be.”


(Now Laban had two daughters; the older one was named Leah, and the younger one Rachel.


Leah’s eyes were tender, but Rachel had a lovely figure and beautiful appearance.)