Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for festivals and for days and years.

God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you,

for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it. I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation.

No shrub of the field had yet grown on the land, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground.

The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A river went out from Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became the source of four rivers.

And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden,

but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement.”

The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found as his complement.

And the man said:

This one, at last, is bone of my bone
and flesh of my flesh;
this one will be called “woman,”
for she was taken from man.

Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

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

He said to the woman:

I will intensify your labor pains;
you will bear children in anguish.
Your desire will be for your husband,
yet he will rule over you.

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

You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow
until you return to the ground,
since you were taken from it.
For you are dust,
and you will return to dust.”

The Lord God made clothing out of skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.

And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,

but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.

If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah.

Lamech said to his wives:

Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
wives of Lamech, pay attention to my words.
For I killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for striking me.

If Cain is to be avenged seven times over,
then for Lamech it will be seventy-seven times!

Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has given me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”

the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives for themselves.

Then the Lord said, “I will wipe off from the face of the earth mankind, whom I created, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.”

God saw how corrupt the earth was, for every creature had corrupted its way on the earth.

Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth.

Take with you every kind of food that is eaten; gather it as food for you and for them.”

Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before Me in this generation.

but the dove found no resting place for her foot. She returned to him in the ark because water covered the surface of the whole earth. He reached out and brought her into the ark to himself.

The fear and terror of you will be in every living creature on the earth, every bird of the sky, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are placed under your authority.

Every living creature will be food for you; as I gave the green plants, I have given you everything.

I will require the life of every animal and every man for your life and your blood. I will require the life of each man’s brother for a man’s life.

Whoever sheds man’s blood,
his blood will be shed by man,
for God made man in His image.

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations:

The Canaanite border went from Sidon going toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and going toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim as far as Lasha.

Eber had two sons. One was named Peleg, for during his days the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.

They said to each other, “Come, let us make oven-fired bricks.” They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar.

And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

The Lord said, “If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

Therefore its name is called Babylon, for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people he had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,

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

Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.”

Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s household.

But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai.

So Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?

Then Pharaoh gave his men orders about him, and they sent him away with his wife and all he had.

But the land was unable to support them as long as they stayed together, for they had so many possessions that they could not stay together,

Lot looked out and saw that the entire Jordan Valley as far as Zoar was well watered everywhere like the Lord’s garden and the land of Egypt. This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

So Lot chose the entire Jordan Valley for himself. Then Lot journeyed eastward, and they separated from each other.

for I will give you and your offspring forever all the land that you see.

Get up and walk around the land, through its length and width, for I will give it to you.”

They were subject to Chedorlaomer for 12 years, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

and the Horites in the mountains of Seir, as far as El-paran by the wilderness.

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 lined up for battle in the Valley of Siddim

against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five.

The four kings took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food and went on.

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

When Abram heard that his relative had been taken prisoner, he assembled his 318 trained men, born in his household, and they went in pursuit as far as Dan.

And he and his servants deployed against them by night, attacked them, and pursued them as far as Hobah to the north of Damascus.

Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, but take the possessions for yourself.”

I will take nothing except what the servants have eaten. But as for the share of the men who came with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—they can take their share.”

Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be foreigners in a land that does not belong to them; they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years.

In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals.

So Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan 10 years.

Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering! I put my slave in your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the Lord judge between me and you.”

Then the Angel of the Lord said to her:

You have conceived and will have a son.
You will name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction.

So she called the Lord who spoke to her: The God Who Sees, for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen the One who sees me?”

“As for Me, My covenant is with you: you will become the father of many nations.

Your name will no longer be Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations.

God also said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations are to keep My covenant.

God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai, for Sarah will be her name.

But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his future offspring.

As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will certainly bless him; I will make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly. He will father 12 tribal leaders, and I will make him into a great nation.

Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.”

For I have chosen him so that he will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. This is how the Lord will fulfill to Abraham what He promised him.”

What if there are 50 righteous people in the city? Will You really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of the 50 righteous people who are in it?

The Lord said, “If I find 50 righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

suppose the 50 righteous lack five. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?”

He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find 45 there.”

But he urged them so strongly that they followed him and went into his house. He prepared a feast and baked unleavened bread for them, and they ate.

for we are about to destroy this place because the outcry against its people is so great before the Lord, that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”

So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were going to marry his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

But he hesitated. Because of the Lord’s compassion for him, the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters. Then they brought him out and left him outside the city.

As soon as the angels got them outside, one of them said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look back and don’t stop anywhere on the plain! Run to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”

Look, this town is close enough for me to run to. It is a small place. Please let me go there—it’s only a small place, isn’t it?—so that I can survive.”

Hurry up! Run there, for I cannot do anything until you get there.” Therefore the name of the city is Zoar.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “You are about to die because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”

Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all who are yours.”

Abraham replied, “I thought, ‘There is absolutely no fear of God in this place. They will kill me because of my wife.’

for the Lord had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household on account of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

The Lord came to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised.

So she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this slave will not be a coheir with my son Isaac!”

Now this was a very difficult thing for Abraham because of his son.

Then she went and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I can’t bear to watch the boy die!” So as she sat nearby, she wept loudly.

God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What’s wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy from the place where he is.

Get up, help the boy up, and support him, for I will make him a great nation.”