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

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

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.

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.

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

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."

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

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."

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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."

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

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.

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.

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

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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

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

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.

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

"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."

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,

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

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.

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

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.)

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

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."

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."

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 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.

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.

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

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!"

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!"

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

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.

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

So Jacob worked for seven years to acquire Rachel. But they seemed like only a few days to him because his love for her was so great.

She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, "Because the Lord heard that I was unloved, he gave me this one too." So she named him Simeon.

She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, "Now this time my husband will show me affection, because I have given birth to three sons for him." That is why he was named Levi.

When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must sleep with me because I have paid for your services with my son's mandrakes." So he had marital relations with her that night.

Then Leah said, "God has granted me a reward because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife." So she named him Issachar.

Then Leah said, "God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons." So she named him Zebulun.

Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. Then I'll depart, because you know how hard I've worked for you."

Now I understand that you have gone away because you longed desperately for your father's house. Yet why did you steal my gods?"

"I left secretly because I was afraid!" Jacob replied to Laban. "I thought you might take your daughters away from me by force.

Rachel said to her father, "Don't be angry, my lord. I cannot stand up in your presence because I am having my period." So he searched thoroughly, but did not find the idols.

It was also called Mizpah because he said, "May the Lord watch between us when we are out of sight of one another.

"No longer will your name be Jacob," the man told him, "but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have prevailed."

The sun rose over him as he crossed over Penuel, but he was limping because of his hip.

That is why to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck the socket of Jacob's hip near the attached sinew.

Now Jacob's sons had come in from the field when they heard the news. They were offended and very angry because Shechem had disgraced Israel by sexually assaulting Jacob's daughter, a crime that should not be committed.

Jacob's sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully when they spoke because Shechem had violated their sister Dinah.

The young man did not delay in doing what they asked because he wanted Jacob's daughter Dinah badly. (Now he was more important than anyone in his father's household.)

Jacob's sons killed them and looted the city because their sister had been violated.

He built an altar there and named the place El Bethel because there God had revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

because they had too many possessions to be able to stay together and the land where they had settled was not able to support them because of their livestock.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was a son born to him late in life, and he made a special tunic for him.

Then his brothers asked him, "Do you really think you will rule over us or have dominion over us?" They hated him even more because of his dream and because of what he said.

So she removed her widow's clothes and covered herself with a veil. She wrapped herself and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the way to Timnah. (She did this because she saw that she had not been given to Shelah as a wife, even though he had now grown up.)

When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face.

Judah recognized them and said, "She is more upright than I am, because I wouldn't give her to Shelah my son." He did not have sexual relations with her again.

There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?"

The warden did not concern himself with anything that was in Joseph's care because the Lord was with him and whatever he was doing the Lord was making successful.

The previous abundance of the land will not be remembered because of the famine that follows, for the famine will be very severe.

The dream was repeated to Pharaoh because the matter has been decreed by God, and God will make it happen soon.

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning as you are!

Joseph stored up a vast amount of grain, like the sand of the sea, until he stopped measuring it because it was impossible to measure.

People from every country came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain because the famine was severe throughout the earth.

They said to one other, "Surely we're being punished because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress has come on us!"

But if you will not send him, we won't go down there because the man said to us, 'You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.'"

But the men were afraid when they were brought to Joseph's house. They said, "We are being brought in because of the money that was returned in our sacks last time. He wants to capture us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys!"

Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?" His brothers could not answer him because they were dumbfounded before him.

Now, do not be upset and do not be angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me ahead of you to preserve life!

I will provide you with food there because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise you would become poor -- you, your household, and everyone who belongs to you."'

Then they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to live as temporary residents in the land. There is no pasture for your servants' flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen."

But there was no food in all the land because the famine was very severe; the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan wasted away because of the famine.

When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was used up, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us food! Why should we die before your very eyes because our money has run out?"

But he did not purchase the land of the priests because the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh and they ate from their allotment that Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

Now Israel's eyes were failing because of his age; he was not able to see well. So Joseph brought his sons near to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.

But his bow will remain steady, and his hands will be skillful; because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

because of the God of your father, who will help you, because of the sovereign God, who will bless you with blessings from the sky above, blessings from the deep that lies below, and blessings of the breasts and womb.