But water would come out of the ground and water the entire surface of the land.

So the Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

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.

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Then the Lord God said to the serpent:

Because you have done this,
you are cursed more than any livestock
and more than any wild animal.
You will move on your belly
and eat dust all the days of your life.

If you work the ground, it will never again give you its yield. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

Then the Lord replied to him, “In that case, whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” And He placed a mark on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him.

Adam was 130 years old when he fathered a son in his likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.

Seth was 105 years old when he fathered Enosh.

Enosh was 90 years old when he fathered Kenan.

Kenan was 70 years old when he fathered Mahalalel.

Mahalalel was 65 years old when he fathered Jared.

Jared was 162 years old when he fathered Enoch.

Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methuselah.

Methuselah was 187 years old when he fathered Lamech.

Lamech was 182 years old when he fathered a son.

Noah was 500 years old, and he fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The Nephilim were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men.

Noah was 600 years old when the flood came and water covered the earth.

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.

He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

But you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.

This man will be like a wild donkey.
His hand will be against everyone,
and everyone’s hand will be against him;
he will live at odds with all his brothers.

Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live in My presence and be blameless.

Throughout your generations, every male among you at eight days old is to be circumcised. This includes a slave born in your house and one purchased with money from any foreigner. The one who is not your offspring,

Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?”

Abraham was 99 years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised,

and his son Ishmael was 13 years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised.

Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

So she laughed to herself: “After I have become shriveled up and my lord is old, will I have delight?”

But the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’

and said, “My lords, turn aside to your servant’s house, wash your feet, and spend the night. Then you can get up early and go on your way.”

“No,” they said. “We would rather spend the night in the square.”

Before they went to bed, the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, the whole population, surrounded the house.

They struck the men who were at the entrance of the house, both young and old, with a blinding light so that they were unable to find the entrance.

Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us as is the custom of all the land.

Now Abimelech had not approached her, so he said, “Lord, would You destroy a nation even though it is innocent?

Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time God had told him.

When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.

Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

She also said, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son for him in his old age.”

Abraham was now old, getting on in years, and the Lord had blessed him in everything.

Sarah, my master’s wife, bore a son to my master in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns.

And Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were sons of Keturah.

He took his last breath and died at a ripe old age, old and contented, and he was gathered to his people.

Isaac was 40 years old when he took as his wife Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.

After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel with his hand. So he was named Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.

Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Then Abimelech said, “What is this you’ve done to us? One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.”

When Esau was 40 years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.

When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could not see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.”

And he answered, “Here I am.”

He said, “Look, I am old and do not know the day of my death.

When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the opening of the well and water the sheep. The stone was then placed back on the well’s opening.

Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob placed the branches in the troughs, in full view of the flocks, and they would breed in front of the branches.

Why did you secretly flee from me, deceive me, and not tell me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and lyres,

Jacob answered, “I was afraid, for I thought you would take your daughters from me by force.

I did not bring you any of the flock torn by wild beasts; I myself bore the loss. You demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or by night.

If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, certainly now you would have sent me off empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and my hard work, and He issued His verdict last night.”

He took his last breath and died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons because Joseph was a son born to him in his old age, and he made a robe of many colors for him.

But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he released his semen on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother.

Joseph was 30 years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout the land of Egypt.

Then they said to each other, “Obviously, we are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his deep distress when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this trouble has come to us.”

They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”

and we answered my lord, ‘We have an elderly father and a younger brother, the child of his old age. The boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’

But we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave, his father would die.’

For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the grief that would overwhelm my father.”

Now his eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly see. Joseph brought them to him, and he kissed and embraced them.

Then his sister stood at a distance in order to see what would happen to him.

Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are so numerous, and you would stop them from working.”

Moses was 80 years old and Aaron 83 when they spoke to Pharaoh.

But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their occult practices. So Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

But when Pharaoh saw there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

“This is the finger of God,” the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

But Moses said, “It would not be right to do that, because what we will sacrifice to the Lord our God is detestable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice what the Egyptians detest in front of them, won’t they stone us?

By now I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague, and you would have been obliterated from the earth.

Moses replied, “We will go with our young and our old; we will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds because we must hold Yahweh’s festival.”

Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his land.

You must have an unblemished animal, a year-old male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats.

It was a night of vigil in honor of the Lord, because He would bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night is in honor of the Lord, a night vigil for all the Israelites throughout their generations.

When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers that He would give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you must carry out this ritual in this month.

Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

They judged the people at all times; they would bring the hard cases to Moses, but they would judge every minor case themselves.

If it was actually torn apart by a wild animal, he is to bring it as evidence; he does not have to make restitution for the torn carcass.

But during the seventh year you are to let it rest and leave it uncultivated, so that the poor among your people may eat from it and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

I will not drive them out ahead of you in a single year; otherwise, the land would become desolate, and wild animals would multiply against you.

He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people. They responded, “We will do and obey everything that the Lord has commanded.”

“This is what you are to offer regularly on the altar every day: two year-old lambs.

Each man who is registered, 20 years old or more, must give this contribution to the Lord.

So the Lord relented concerning the disaster He said He would bring on His people.

Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them get out of control, resulting in weakness before their enemies.

Now if You would only forgive their sin. But if not, please erase me from the book You have written.”

For the Lord said to Moses: “Tell the Israelites: You are a stiff-necked people. If I went with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.”

Now Moses took a tent and set it up outside the camp, far away from the camp; he called it the tent of meeting. Anyone who wanted to consult the Lord would go to the tent of meeting that was outside the camp.

Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would stand up, each one at the door of his tent, and they would watch Moses until he entered the tent.

When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and remain at the entrance to the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses.

As all the people saw the pillar of cloud remaining at the entrance to the tent, they would stand up, then bow in worship, each one at the door of his tent.

The Lord spoke with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his assistant, the young man Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the inside of the tent.

But whenever Moses went before the Lord to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out. After he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded,

and the Israelites would see that Moses’ face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went to speak with the Lord.