When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him.

“May God enlarge Japheth,
And let him dwell in the tents of Shem;
And let Canaan be his servant.”

From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.

Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth.

The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Two sons were born to Eber; the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.

These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations; and out of these the nations were separated on the earth after the flood.

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.

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.”

These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old, and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood;

and Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and he had other sons and daughters.

Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

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.

The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.

And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

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.

Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land.

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

Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.

Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev.

Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.

It came about when he came near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman;

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

Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.”

It came about when Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.

Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold.

He went on his journeys from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,

to the place of the altar which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.

And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Now the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land.

Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom.

Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

And it came about in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim,

In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim and the Zuzim in Ham and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,

and the Horites in their Mount Seir, as far as El-paran, which is by the wilderness.

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,

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

When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,
“Do not fear, Abram,
I am a shield to you;
Your reward shall be very great.”

And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.”

Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.”

Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.

Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.

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.

As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.

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

It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.

On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,
“To your descendants I have given this land,
From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.

So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife.

He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight.

And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done me be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight. May the Lord judge between you and me.”

But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her what is good in your sight.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence.

Now the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.

Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,
“I am God Almighty;
Walk before Me, and be blameless.

Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,

I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.

I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.

And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants.

A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

When He finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.

Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day, as God had said to him.

Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

In the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son.

All the men of his household, who were born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Now the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.

When he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth,

and said, “My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass Your servant by.

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.”

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

Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing.

And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’

since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed?

Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it?

So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.”

He spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it on account of the forty.”

And he said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the twenty.”

Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.”

Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.

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.”

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.

Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place;

Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting.

When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of 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.”

Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die;

The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven,