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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The waters prevailed over the earth for 150 days.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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."

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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