This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created -- when the Lord God made the earth and heavens.

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."

So the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman replied, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate."

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.

This is the record of the family line of Adam. When God created humankind, he made them in the likeness of God.

The length of time Adam lived after he became the father of Seth was 800 years; during this time he had other sons and daughters.

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."

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days (and also after this) when the sons of God were having sexual relations with the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. They were the mighty heroes of old, the famous men.

This is the account of Noah. Noah was a godly man; he was blameless among his contemporaries. He walked with God.

This is how you should make it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.

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

He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again, but it did not return to him this time.

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:

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."

This is the account of Noah's sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.

And the Lord said, "If as one people all sharing a common language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be beyond them.

This is the account of Shem. Shem was 100 old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood.

This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.

The Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

When the Egyptians see you they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will keep you alive.

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?

This was the place where he had first built the altar, and there Abram worshiped the Lord.

But look, the word of the Lord came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but instead a son who comes from your own body will be your heir."

The Lord said to him, "I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess."

That day the Lord made a covenant with Abram: "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River --

Then Sarai said to Abram, "You have brought this wrong on me! I allowed my servant to have sexual relations with you, but when she realized that she was pregnant, she despised me. May the Lord judge between you and me!"

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

This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: Every male among you must be circumcised.

You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder of the covenant between me and you.

But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year."

"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.

Then the two visitors said to Lot, "Who else do you have here? Do you have any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or other relatives in the city? Get them out of this place

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.

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.

Look, this town over here is close enough to escape to, and it's just a little one. Let me go there. It's just a little place, isn't it? Then I'll survive."

"Very well," he replied, "I will grant this request too and will not overthrow the town you mentioned.

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

In this way both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father.

Did Abraham not say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she herself said, 'He is my brother.' I have done this with a clear conscience and with innocent hands!"

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.

Then Abimelech asked Abraham, "What prompted you to do this thing?"

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

When God made me wander from my father's house, I told her, 'This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: Every place we go, say about me, "He is my brother."'"

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."

Sarah said, "God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me."

Abraham said, "I swear to do this."

"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."

He replied, "You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof that I dug this well."

And Abraham called the name of that place "The Lord provides." It is said to this day, "In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made."

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,

After this Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah next to Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

The servant asked him, "What if the woman is not willing to come back with me to this land? Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?"

"The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and the land of my relatives, promised me with a solemn oath, 'To your descendants I will give this land.' He will send his angel before you so that you may find a wife for my son from there.

But if the woman is not willing to come back with you, you will be free from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!"

I will say to a young woman, 'Please lower your jar so I may drink.' May the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac reply, 'Drink, and I'll give your camels water too.' In this way I will know that you have been faithful to my master."

When he saw the bracelets on his sister's wrists and the nose ring and heard his sister Rebekah say, "This is what the man said to me," he went out to meet the man. There he was, standing by the camels near the spring.

Then Laban and Bethuel replied, "This is the Lord's doing. Our wishes are of no concern.

After this, he and the men who were with him ate a meal and stayed there overnight. When they got up in the morning, he said, "Let me leave now so I can return to my master."

So they called Rebekah and asked her, "Do you want to go with this man?" She replied, "I want to go."

This was the field Abraham had purchased from the sons of Heth. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah.

This is the account of Abraham's son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's servant, bore to Abraham.

This is the account of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Abraham became the father of Isaac.

But the children struggled inside her, and she said, "If it is going to be like this, I'm not so sure I want to be pregnant!" So she asked the Lord,

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.)

Stay in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will fulfill the solemn promise I made to your father Abraham.

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 commanded all the people, "Whoever touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death."

So he named it Shibah; that is why the name of the city has been Beer Sheba to this day.

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!"

I am with you! I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!"

Then Jacob woke up and thought, "Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!"

He was afraid and said, "What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!"

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear,

Then this stone that I have set up as a sacred stone will be the house of God, and I will surely give you back a tenth of everything you give me."

When Laban heard this news about Jacob, his sister's son, he rushed out to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban how he was related to him.

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.

She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, "This time I will praise the Lord." That is why she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.

So Laban asked, "What should I give you?" "You don't need to give me a thing," Jacob replied, "but if you agree to this one condition, I will continue to care for your flocks and protect them:

In this way Jacob became extremely prosperous. He owned large flocks, male and female servants, camels, and donkeys.

In this way God has snatched away your father's livestock and given them to me.

I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the sacred stone and made a vow to me. Now leave this land immediately and return to your native land.'"

This was my lot for twenty years in your house: I worked like a slave for you -- fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, but you changed my wages ten times!

Laban said, "This pile of stones is a witness of our agreement today." That is why it was called Galeed.

"Here is this pile of stones and this pillar I have set up between me and you," Laban said to Jacob.

"This pile of stones and the pillar are reminders that I will not pass beyond this pile to come to harm you and that you will not pass beyond this pile and this pillar to come to harm me.

When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, "This is the camp of God!" So he named that place Mahanaim.

He commanded them, "This is what you must say to my lord Esau: 'This is what your servant Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban until now.

I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent this message to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.'"

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.

Shechem said to his father Hamor, "Acquire this young girl as my wife."

But Hamor made this appeal to them: "My son Shechem is in love with your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife.

We will give you our consent on this one condition: You must become like us by circumcising all your males.

Only on this one condition will these men consent to live with us and become one people: They demand that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised.

The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you. To your descendants I will also give this land."

Jacob set up a marker over her grave; it is the Marker of Rachel's Grave to this day.

This is the account of Esau, the father of the Edomites, in the hill country of Seir.

chief Magdiel, chief Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements in the land they possessed. This was Esau, the father of the Edomites.