Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

No shrub of the field had yet grown on the land, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground.

The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found as his complement.

Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

“No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman.

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

Adam was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have had a male child with the Lord’s help.”

Then she also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”

So now you are cursed, alienated, from the ground that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood you have shed.

Cain was intimate with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain became the builder of a city, and he named the city Enoch after his son.

Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has given me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”

And he named him Noah, saying, “This one will bring us relief from the agonizing labor of our hands, caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.”

Lamech lived 595 years after Noah’s birth, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

Noah was 500 years old, and he fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Noah, however, found favor in the sight of the Lord.

These are the family records of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God.

And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness.

Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth.

And Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded him.

Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before Me in this generation.

Seven days from now I will make it rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights, and I will wipe off from the face of the earth every living thing I have made.”

And Noah did everything that the Lord commanded him.

Noah was 600 years old when the flood came and water covered the earth.

So Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives entered the ark because of the waters of the flood.

two of each, male and female, entered the ark with Noah, just as God had commanded him.

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 sources of the watery depths burst open, the floodgates of the sky were opened,

On that same day Noah along with his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, Noah’s wife, and his three sons’ wives entered the ark with him.

Two of all flesh that has the breath of life in it entered the ark with Noah.

He wiped out every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, from mankind to livestock, to creatures that crawl, to the birds of the sky, and they were wiped off the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark.

God remembered Noah, as well as all the wildlife and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water began to subside.

After 40 days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made,

but the dove found no resting place for her foot. She returned to him in the ark because water covered the surface of the whole earth. He reached out and brought her into the ark to himself.

So Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove from the ark again.

When the dove came to him at evening, there was a plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the water on the earth’s surface had gone down.

In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water that had covered the earth was dried up. Then Noah removed the ark’s cover and saw that the surface of the ground was drying.

Then God spoke to Noah,

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

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

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

Then God said to Noah and his sons with him,

God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have confirmed between Me and every creature on earth.”

Noah’s sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.

These three were Noah’s sons, and from them the whole earth was populated.

Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard.

When Noah awoke from his drinking and learned what his youngest son had done to him,

Now Noah lived 350 years after the flood.

So Noah’s life lasted 950 years; then he died.

These are the family records of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. They also had sons after the flood.

These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their family records, in their nations. The nations on earth spread out from these after the flood.

Sarai was unable to conceive; she did not have a child.

When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are.

Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!”

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

Now the men of Sodom were evil, sinning greatly against the Lord.

Now the Valley of Siddim contained many asphalt pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, but the rest fled to the mountains.

Abram continued, “Look, You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”

Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”

But he said, “Lord God, how can I know that I will possess it?”

Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be foreigners in a land that does not belong to them; they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years.

Your name will no longer be Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations.

But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his future offspring.

The Lord said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.

Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid.

But He replied, “No, you did laugh.”

and said, “My lords, turn aside to your servant’s house, wash your feet, and spend the night. Then you can get up early and go on your way.”

“No,” they said. “We would rather spend the night in the square.”

“Get out of the way!” they said, adding, “This one came here as a foreigner, but he’s acting like a judge! Now we’ll do more harm to you than to them.” They put pressure on Lot and came up to break down the door.

But Lot said to them, “No, my lords—please.

Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us as is the custom of all the land.

So they got their father to drink wine that night, and the firstborn came and slept with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.

That night they again got their father to drink wine, and the younger went and slept with him; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.

Now Abimelech had not approached her, so he said, “Lord, would You destroy a nation even though it is innocent?

Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience. I have also kept you from sinning against Me. Therefore I have not let you touch her.

Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all who are yours.”

Abraham replied, “I thought, ‘There is absolutely no fear of God in this place. They will kill me because of my wife.’

Now this was a very difficult thing for Abraham because of his son.

Swear to me by God here and now, that you will not break an agreement with me or with my children and descendants. As I have been loyal to you, so you will be loyal to me and to the country where you are a foreign resident.”

Abimelech replied, “I don’t know who did this thing. You didn’t report anything to me, so I hadn’t heard about it until today.”

Then He said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me.”

Now after these things Abraham was told, “Milcah also has borne sons to your brother Nahor:

Now Sarah lived 127 years; these were all the years of her life.

“No, my lord. Listen to me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”

Abraham was now old, getting on in years, and the Lord had blessed him in everything.

Let the girl to whom I say, ‘Please lower your water jug so that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels also’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. By this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”

Now the girl was very beautiful, a young woman who had not known a man intimately. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up.

Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and Laban ran out to the man at the spring.

Now, if you are going to show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; if not, tell me, and I will go elsewhere.”

Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord; we have no choice in the matter.

Now Isaac was returning from Beer-lahai-roi, for he was living in the Negev region.

Now Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah,

He moved from there and dug another, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Open Spaces and said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

You will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have only done what was good to you, sending you away in peace. You are now blessed by the Lord.”

He said, “Look, I am old and do not know the day of my death.

Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac said to his son Esau. So while Esau went to the field to hunt some game to bring in,

Now obey every order I give you, my son.

May God give to you—
from the dew of the sky
and from the richness of the land—
an abundance of grain and new wine.

So he said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice now. He took my birthright, and look, now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

But Isaac answered Esau: “Look, I have made him a master over you, have given him all of his relatives as his servants, and have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then can I do for you, my son?”

So now, my son, listen to me. Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran,