This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

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

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created.

that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.

they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of birds.

So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.

Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark.

Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given.

But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.

It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.

They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.

Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”

So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.

Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there.

Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.

and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.

Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.

And the land could not sustain them while dwelling together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together.

So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other.

that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).

Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but the thirteenth year they rebelled.

Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and conquered all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, who lived in Hazazon-tamar.

And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out; and they arrayed for battle against them in the valley of Siddim,

Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them. But those who survived fled to the hill country.

Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply, and departed.

They also took Lot, Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed, for he was living in Sodom.

God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.

But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.

Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

Moreover, the angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.”

and I will bring a piece of bread, that you may refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have visited your servant.” And they said, “So do, as you have said.”

He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and placed it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate.

Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “There, in the tent.”

I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”

And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said however, “No, but we shall spend the night in the square.”

Yet he urged them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter;

and they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them.”

Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof.”

But they said, “Stand aside.” Furthermore, they said, “This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them.” So they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door.

They struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway.

But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city.

When they had brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.”

So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.

Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maids, so that they bore children.

So they made a covenant at Beersheba; and Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, arose and returned to the land of the Philistines.

Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba.

Now when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking.”

then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’

Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they arose in the morning, he said, “Send me away to my master.”

And they said, “We will call the girl and consult her wishes.”

Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.”

Thus they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse with Abraham’s servant and his men.

They blessed Rebekah and said to her,
“May you, our sister,
Become thousands of ten thousands,
And may your descendants possess
The gate of those who hate them.”

Then Rebekah arose with her maids, and they mounted the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

They settled from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria; he settled in defiance of all his relatives.

Now the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau.

the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him.

Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it Sitnah.

He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it Rehoboth, for he said, “At last the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you,

Then he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.

In the morning they arose early and exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in peace.

Now it came about on the same day, that Isaac’s servants came in and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.”

and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

He looked, and saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for from that well they watered the flocks. Now the stone on the mouth of the well was large.

When all the flocks were gathered there, they would then roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well.

Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.”

He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.”

And he said to them, “Is it well with him?” And they said, “It is well, and here is Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep.”

But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.

He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the gutters, even in the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink.

Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the gutters, so that they might mate by the rods;

Though you have felt through all my goods, what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two.

Then Laban replied to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, and the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children whom they have borne?

Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” So they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap.

Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his kinsmen to the meal; and they ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain.

Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.

Then the maids came near with their children, and they bowed down.

Leah likewise came near with her children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed down.

But he said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds which are nursing are a care to me. And if they are driven hard one day, all the flocks will die.

Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter; but his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob kept silent until they came in.

Now the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved, and they were very angry because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.

They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us.

Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people: that every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised.

Will not their livestock and their property and all their animals be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will live with us.”

Now it came about on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came upon the city unawares, and killed every male.

They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went forth.