NRS Genesis 1:1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness cove

^NRSGenesis

1:1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,²the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.³Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.⁴And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.⁵God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

⁶And God said, "Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."⁷So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so.⁸God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

⁹And God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so.¹⁰God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.¹¹Then God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it." And it was so.¹²The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good.¹³And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

¹⁴And God said, "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years,¹⁵and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth." And it was so.¹⁶God made the two great lights-- the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night-- and the stars.¹⁷God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth,¹⁸to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.¹⁹And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

²⁰And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky."²¹So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good.²²God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."²³And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

²⁴And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind." And it was so.²⁵God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."

²⁷So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.²⁸God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."²⁹God said, "See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.³⁰And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so.³¹God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude.²And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done.³So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.

⁴These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,⁵when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up-- for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground;⁶but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground--⁷then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.⁸And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.⁹Out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches.¹¹The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;¹²and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.¹³The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Cush.¹⁴The name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.¹⁶And the LORD God commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."

¹⁸Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner."¹⁹So out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.²⁰The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner.²¹So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.²²And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.²³Then the man said,

²⁵Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, for she said, "God has appointed for me another child instead of Abel, because Cain killed him."²⁶To Seth also a son was born, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to invoke the name of the LORD.

5:1 This is the list of the descendants of Adam. When God created humankind, he made them in the likeness of God.²Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them "Humankind" when they were created.

³When Adam had lived one hundred thirty years, he became the father of a son in his likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.⁴The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years; and he had other sons and daughters.⁵Thus all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years; and he died.

⁶When Seth had lived one hundred five years, he became the father of Enosh.⁷Seth lived after the birth of Enosh eight hundred seven years, and had other sons and daughters.⁸Thus all the days of Seth were nine hundred twelve years; and he died.

⁹When Enosh had lived ninety years, he became the father of Kenan.¹⁰Enosh lived after the birth of Kenan eight hundred fifteen years, and had other sons and daughters.¹¹Thus all the days of Enosh were nine hundred five years; and he died.

¹²When Kenan had lived seventy years, he became the father of Mahalalel.¹³Kenan lived after the birth of Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years, and had other sons and daughters.¹⁴Thus all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.

¹⁵When Mahalalel had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Jared.¹⁶Mahalalel lived after the birth of Jared eight hundred thirty years, and had other sons and daughters.¹⁷Thus all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety-five years; and he died.

¹⁸When Jared had lived one hundred sixty-two years he became the father of Enoch.¹⁹Jared lived after the birth of Enoch eight hundred years, and had other sons and daughters.²⁰Thus all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty-two years; and he died.

²¹When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Methuselah.²²Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah three hundred years, and had other sons and daughters.²³Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years.²⁴Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him.

²⁵When Methuselah had lived one hundred eighty-seven years, he became the father of Lamech.²⁶Methuselah lived after the birth of Lamech seven hundred eighty-two years, and had other sons and daughters.²⁷Thus all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty-nine years; and he died.

²⁸When Lamech had lived one hundred eighty-two years, he became the father of a son;²⁹he named him Noah, saying, "Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the toil of our hands."³⁰Lamech lived after the birth of Noah five hundred ninety-five years, and had other sons and daughters.³¹Thus all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy-seven years; and he died.

³²After Noah was five hundred years old, Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

6:1 When people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them,²the sons of God saw that they were fair; and they took wives for themselves of all that they chose.³Then the LORD said, "My spirit shall not abide in mortals forever, for they are flesh; their days shall be one hundred twenty years."⁴The Nephilim were on the earth in those days-- and also afterward-- when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.

⁵The LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.⁶And the LORD was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.⁷So the LORD said, "I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created-- people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them."⁸But Noah found favor in the sight of the LORD.

⁹These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.¹⁰And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence.¹²And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth.¹³And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth.¹⁴Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.¹⁵This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.¹⁶Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks.¹⁷For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.¹⁸But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.¹⁹And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.²⁰Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind shall come in to you, to keep them alive.²¹Also take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them."²²Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

7:1 Then the LORD said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation.²Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and its mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and its mate;³and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their kind alive on the face of all the earth.⁴For in seven days I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground."⁵And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him.

⁶Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth.⁷And Noah with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood.⁸Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground,⁹two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah.¹⁰And after seven days the waters of the flood came on the earth.

¹¹In 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 forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.¹²The rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.¹³On the very same day Noah with his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons entered the ark,¹⁴they and every wild animal of every kind, and all domestic animals of every kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every bird of every kind-- every bird, every winged creature.¹⁵They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life.¹⁶And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in.

¹⁷The flood continued forty days on the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.¹⁸The waters swelled and increased greatly on the earth; and the ark floated on the face of the waters.¹⁹The waters swelled so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered;²⁰the waters swelled above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep.²¹And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all human beings;²²everything on dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.²³He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, human beings and animals and creeping things and birds of the air; they were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark.²⁴And the waters swelled on the earth for one hundred fifty days.

8:1 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and all the domestic animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided;²the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained,³and the waters gradually receded from the earth. At the end of one hundred fifty days the waters had abated;⁴and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.⁵The waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.⁶At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made⁷and sent out the raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth.⁸Then he sent out the dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground;⁹but the dove found no place to set its foot, and it returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took it and brought it into the ark with him.¹⁰He waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark;¹¹and the dove came back to him in the evening, and there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.¹²Then he waited another seven days, and sent out the dove; and it did not return to him any more.

¹³In the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and saw that the face of the ground was drying.¹⁴In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.¹⁵Then God said to Noah,¹⁶"Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you.¹⁷Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh-- birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth-- so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth."¹⁸So Noah went out with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives.¹⁹And every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out of the ark by families.

²⁰Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.²¹And when the LORD smelled the pleasing odor, the LORD said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done.

²⁸After the flood Noah lived three hundred fifty years.²⁹All the days of Noah were nine hundred fifty years; and he died.

10:1 These are the descendants of Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth; children were born to them after the flood.

²The descendants of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.³The descendants of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.⁴The descendants of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim.⁵From these the coastland peoples spread. These are the descendants of Japheth in their lands, with their own language, by their families, in their nations.

⁶The descendants of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.⁷The descendants of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The descendants of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.⁸Cush became the father of Nimrod; he was the first on earth to become a mighty warrior.⁹He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD."¹⁰The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, and Accad, all of them in the land of Shinar.¹¹From that land he went into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, and¹²Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.¹³Egypt became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim,¹⁴Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim, from which the Philistines come.

¹⁵Canaan became the father of Sidon his firstborn, and Heth,¹⁶and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites,¹⁷the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,¹⁸the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.¹⁹And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon, in the direction of Gerar, as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.²⁰These are the descendants of Ham, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

²¹To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born.²²The descendants of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.²³The descendants of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.²⁴Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber.²⁵To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's name was Joktan.²⁶Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,²⁷Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,²⁸Obal, Abimael, Sheba,²⁹Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the descendants of Joktan.³⁰The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar, the hill country of the east.³¹These are the descendants of Shem, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

³²These are the families of Noah's sons, according to their genealogies, in their nations; and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.

11:1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.²And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.³And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.⁴Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."⁵The LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built.⁶And the LORD said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.⁷Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech."⁸So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.⁹Therefore it was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

¹⁰These are the descendants of Shem. When Shem was one hundred years old, he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood;¹¹and Shem lived after the birth of Arpachshad five hundred years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹²When Arpachshad had lived thirty-five years, he became the father of Shelah;¹³and Arpachshad lived after the birth of Shelah four hundred three years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁴When Shelah had lived thirty years, he became the father of Eber;¹⁵and Shelah lived after the birth of Eber four hundred three years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁶When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he became the father of Peleg;¹⁷and Eber lived after the birth of Peleg four hundred thirty years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁸When Peleg had lived thirty years, he became the father of Reu;¹⁹and Peleg lived after the birth of Reu two hundred nine years, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁰When Reu had lived thirty-two years, he became the father of Serug;²¹and Reu lived after the birth of Serug two hundred seven years, and had other sons and daughters.

²²When Serug had lived thirty years, he became the father of Nahor;²³and Serug lived after the birth of Nahor two hundred years, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁴When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he became the father of Terah;²⁵and Nahor lived after the birth of Terah one hundred nineteen years, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁶When Terah had lived seventy years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

²⁷Now these are the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot.²⁸Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.²⁹Abram and Nahor took wives; 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 Milcah and Iscah.³⁰Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.

³¹Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there.³²The days of Terah were two hundred five years; and Terah died in Haran.

12:1 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.²I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.³I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

⁴So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.⁵Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother's son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan,⁶Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.⁷Then the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.⁸From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and invoked the name of the LORD.⁹And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.

¹⁰Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to reside there as an alien, for the famine was severe in the land.¹¹When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "I know well that you are a woman beautiful in appearance;¹²and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife'; then they will kill me, but they will let you live.¹³Say you are my sister, so that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared on your account."¹⁴When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.¹⁵When the officials of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.¹⁶And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female slaves, female donkeys, and camels.

¹⁷But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.¹⁸So Pharaoh called Abram, and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?¹⁹Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her, and be gone."²⁰And Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning him; and they set him on the way, with his wife and all that he had.

13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.

²Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.³He journeyed on by stages from the Negeb as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,⁴to the place where he had made an altar at the first; and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.⁵Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents,⁶so that the land could not support both of them living together; for their possessions were so great that they could not live together,⁷and there was strife between the herders of Abram's livestock and the herders of Lot's livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites lived in the land.

⁸Then Abram said to Lot, "Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herders and my herders; for we are kindred.⁹Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left."¹⁰Lot looked about him, and saw that the plain of the Jordan was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar; this was before the LORD had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.¹¹So Lot chose for himself all the plain of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward; thus they separated from each other.¹²Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the Plain and moved his tent as far as Sodom.¹³Now the people of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD.

¹⁴The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, "Raise your eyes now, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;¹⁵for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.¹⁶I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth; so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.¹⁷Rise up, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you."¹⁸So Abram moved his tent, and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron; and there he built an altar to the LORD.

14:1 In the days of King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim,²these kings made war with King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).³All these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea).⁴Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.⁵In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and subdued the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,⁶and the Horites in the hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the edge of the wilderness;⁷then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and subdued all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar.⁸Then 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 they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim⁹with King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Shinar, and King Arioch of Ellasar, four kings against five.¹⁰Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits; and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country.¹¹So the enemy took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way;¹²they also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

¹³Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner; these were allies of Abram.¹⁴When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred eighteen of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.¹⁵He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus.¹⁶Then he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his nephew Lot with his goods, and the women and the people.

¹⁷After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).¹⁸And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High.¹⁹He blessed him and said,

¹³So she named the LORD who spoke to her, "You are El-roi"; for she said, "Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him?"¹⁴Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.¹⁶Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.²And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous."³Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him,⁴"As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations.⁵No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations.⁶I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.⁷I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.⁸And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God."

⁹God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.¹⁰This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.¹¹You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.¹²Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring.¹³Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.¹⁴Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."

¹⁵God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.¹⁶I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her."¹⁷Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, "Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"¹⁸And Abraham said to God, "O that Ishmael might live in your sight!"¹⁹God said, "No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.²⁰As for Ishmael, I have heard you; I will bless him and make him fruitful and exceedingly numerous; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.²¹But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year."²²And when he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.

²³Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all the slaves born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him.²⁴Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.²⁵And his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.²⁶That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised;²⁷and all the men of his house, slaves born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

18:1 The LORD appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day.²He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground.³He said, "My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant.⁴Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.⁵Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on-- since you have come to your servant." So they said, "Do as you have said."⁶And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes."⁷Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it.⁸Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

⁹They said to him, "Where is your wife Sarah?" And he said, "There, in the tent."¹⁰Then one said, "I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him.¹¹Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.¹²So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?"¹³The LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, and say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?'¹⁴Is anything too wonderful for the LORD? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son."¹⁵But Sarah denied, saying, "I did not laugh"; for she was afraid. He said, "Oh yes, you did laugh."

¹⁶Then the men set out from there, and they looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to set them on their way.¹⁷The LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,¹⁸seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?¹⁹No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice; so that the LORD may bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."²⁰Then the LORD said, "How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin!²¹I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know."

²²So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the LORD.²³Then Abraham came near and said, "Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?²⁴Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it?²⁵Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?"²⁶And the LORD said, "If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake."²⁷Abraham answered, "Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.²⁸Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?" And he said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there."²⁹Again he spoke to him, "Suppose forty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of forty I will not do it."³⁰Then he said, "Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak. Suppose thirty are found there." He answered, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there."³¹He said, "Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it."³²Then he said, "Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there." He answered, "For the sake of ten I will not destroy it."³³And the LORD went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed down with his face to the ground.²He said, "Please, my lords, turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you can rise early and go on your way." They said, "No; we will spend the night in the square."³But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.⁴But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house;⁵and they called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, so that we may know them."⁶Lot went out of the door to the men, shut the door after him,⁷and said, "I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.⁸Look, I have two daughters who have not known a man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please; only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof."⁹But they replied, "Stand back!" And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and he would play the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them." Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near the door to break it down.¹⁰But the men inside reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.¹¹And they struck with blindness the men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, so that they were unable to find the door.

¹²Then the men said to Lot, "Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city-- bring them out of the place.¹³For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it."¹⁴So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, "Up, get out of this place; for the LORD is about to destroy the city." But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.

¹⁵When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or else you will be consumed in the punishment of the city."¹⁶But he lingered; so the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and left him outside the city.¹⁷When they had brought them outside, they said, "Flee for your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, or else you will be consumed."¹⁸And Lot said to them, "Oh, no, my lords;¹⁹your servant has found favor with you, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life; but I cannot flee to the hills, for fear the disaster will overtake me and I die.²⁰Look, that city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there-- is it not a little one?-- and my life will be saved!"²¹He said to him, "Very well, I grant you this favor too, and will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.²²Hurry, escape there, for I can do nothing until you arrive there." Therefore the city was called Zoar.²³The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

²⁴Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven;²⁵and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.²⁶But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

²⁷Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD;²⁸and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the Plain and saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of a furnace.

²⁹So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had settled.

³⁰Now Lot went up out of Zoar and settled in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar; so he lived in a cave with his two daughters.³¹And the firstborn said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the world.³²Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, so that we may preserve offspring through our father."³³So they made their father drink wine that night; and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she rose.³⁴On the next day, the firstborn said to the younger, "Look, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, so that we may preserve offspring through our father."³⁵So they made their father drink wine that night also; and the younger rose, and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she rose.³⁶Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father.³⁷The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab; he is the ancestor of the Moabites to this day.³⁸The younger also bore a son and named him Ben-ammi; he is the ancestor of the Ammonites to this day.

20:1 From there Abraham journeyed toward the region of the Negeb, and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While residing in Gerar as an alien,²Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." And King Abimelech of Gerar sent and took Sarah.³But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, "You are about to die because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is a married woman."⁴Now Abimelech had not approached her; so he said, "Lord, will you destroy an innocent people?⁵Did he not himself say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she herself said, 'He is my brother.' I did this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands."⁶Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart; furthermore it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her.⁷Now then, return the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all that are yours."

⁸So Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants and told them all these things; and the men were very much afraid.⁹Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, "What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such great guilt on me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that ought not to be done."¹⁰And Abimelech said to Abraham, "What were you thinking of, that you did this thing?"¹¹Abraham said, "I did it because I thought, There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.¹²Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.¹³And when God caused me to wander from my father's house, I said to her, 'This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, He is my brother.'"¹⁴Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves, and gave them to Abraham, and restored his wife Sarah to him.¹⁵Abimelech said, "My land is before you; settle where it pleases you."¹⁶To Sarah he said, "Look, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; it is your exoneration before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated."¹⁷Then Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children.¹⁸For the LORD had closed fast all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

21:1 The LORD dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as he had promised.²Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him.³Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him.⁴And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.⁵Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.⁶Now Sarah said, "God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me."⁷And she said, "Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."

⁸The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.⁹But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac.¹⁰So she said to Abraham, "Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac."¹¹The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son.¹²But God said to Abraham, "Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you.¹³As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring."¹⁴So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.

¹⁵When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes.¹⁶Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, "Do not let me look on the death of the child." And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.¹⁷And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, "What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.¹⁸Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him."¹⁹Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow.²¹He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

²²At that time Abimelech, with Phicol the commander of his army, said to Abraham, "God is with you in all that you do;²³now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but as I have dealt loyally with you, you will deal with me and with the land where you have resided as an alien."²⁴And Abraham said, "I swear it."

²⁵When Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized,²⁶Abimelech said, "I do not know who has done this; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today."²⁷So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant.²⁸Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs of the flock.²⁹And Abimelech said to Abraham, "What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?"³⁰He said, "These seven ewe lambs you shall accept from my hand, in order that you may be a witness for me that I dug this well."³¹Therefore that place was called Beer-sheba; because there both of them swore an oath.³²When they had made a covenant at Beer-sheba, Abimelech, with Phicol the commander of his army, left and returned to the land of the Philistines.³³Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.³⁴And Abraham resided as an alien many days in the land of the Philistines.

22:1 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."²He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you."³So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him.⁴On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away.⁵Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you."⁶Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.⁷Isaac said to his father Abraham, "Father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." He said, "The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"⁸Abraham said, "God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together.

⁹When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.¹⁰Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.¹¹But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."¹²He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."¹³And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.¹⁴So Abraham called that place "The LORD will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided."

¹⁵The angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven,¹⁶and said, "By myself I have sworn, says the LORD: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son,¹⁷I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies,¹⁸and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice."¹⁹So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham lived at Beer-sheba.

²⁰Now after these things it was told Abraham, "Milcah also has borne children, to your brother Nahor:²¹Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,²²Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel."²³Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother.²⁴Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

23:1 Sarah lived one hundred twenty-seven years; this was the length of Sarah's life.²And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.³Abraham rose up from beside his dead, and said to the Hittites,⁴"I am a stranger and an alien residing among you; give me property among you for a burying place, so that I may bury my dead out of my sight."⁵The Hittites answered Abraham,⁶"Hear us, my lord; you are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places; none of us will withhold from you any burial ground for burying your dead."⁷Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land.⁸He said to them, "If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me Ephron son of Zohar,⁹so that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as a possession for a burying place."¹⁰Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city,¹¹"No, my lord, hear me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it; in the presence of my people I give it to you; bury your dead."¹²Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land.¹³He said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, "If you only will listen to me! I will give the price of t