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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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'?"

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."

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.

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."

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

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."

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

male and female, came into the ark to 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 fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Then God spoke to Noah and said,

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

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.

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

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

God said to Noah and his sons,

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

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

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.

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.

But Sarai was barren; she had no children.

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.

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.)

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

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

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

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."

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

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.

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.)

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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 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 your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; Sarah will be her name.

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.

Now Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised;

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.

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.)

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

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."

He said, "No, my brothers! Don't act so wickedly!

"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.

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

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.

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

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."

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

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

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."

"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."

"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."

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

(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."

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