God saw all that he had made -- and it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.

By the seventh day God finished the work that he had been doing, and he ceased on the seventh day all the work that he had been doing.

God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he ceased all the work that he had been doing in creation.

Now no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

The Lord God planted an orchard in the east, in Eden; and there he placed the man he had formed.

Then the Lord God made a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

Now the serpent was more shrewd than any of the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Is it really true that God said, 'You must not eat from any tree of the orchard'?"

So the Lord God expelled him from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken.

Now the man had marital relations with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, "I have created a man just as the Lord did!"

Cain had marital relations with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after his son Enoch.

And Adam had marital relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, "God has given me another child in place of Abel because Cain killed him."

When Adam had lived 130 years he fathered a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and he named him Seth.

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.

When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father of Enosh.

Seth lived 807 years after he became the father of Enosh, and he had other sons and daughters.

When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan.

Enosh lived 815 years after he became the father of Kenan, and he had other sons and daughters.

When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel.

Kenan lived 840 years after he became the father of Mahalalel, and he had other sons and daughters.

When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared.

Mahalalel lived 830 years after he became the father of Jared, and he had other sons and daughters.

When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch.

Jared lived 800 years after he became the father of Enoch, and he had other sons and daughters.

When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah.

After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God for 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters.

When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech.

Methuselah lived 782 years after he became the father of Lamech, and he had other sons and daughters.

When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son.

Lamech lived 595 years after he became the father of Noah, and he had other sons and daughters.

But the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time.

The Lord regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended.

Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

male and female, came into the ark to Noah, just as God had commanded him.

Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died.

The waters kept receding steadily from the earth, so that they had gone down by the end of the 150 days.

At the end of forty days, Noah opened the window he had made in the ark

and sent out a raven; it kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up on the earth.

Then Noah sent out a dove to see if the waters had receded from the surface of the ground.

When the dove returned to him in the evening, there was a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak! Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.

In Noah's six hundred and first year, in the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth, and Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.

When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor he learned what his youngest son had done to him.

The whole earth had a common language and a common vocabulary.

Then they said to one another, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." (They had brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar.)

But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had started building.

And after becoming the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah.

And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber.

And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg.

And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu.

And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug.

And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor.

And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah.

And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

But Sarai was barren; she had no children.

So Abram left, just as the Lord had told him to do, and Lot went with him. (Now Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.)

And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they left for the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan.

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.

And he journeyed from place to place from the Negev as far as Bethel. He returned to the place where he had pitched his tent at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai.

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

Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents.

After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, "Look from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west.

For twelve years they had served Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he mobilized his 318 trained men who had been born in his household, and he pursued the invaders as far as Dan.

When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch passed between the animal parts.

Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had not given birth to any children, but she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.

So after Abram had lived in Canaan for ten years, Sarai, Abram's wife, gave Hagar, her Egyptian servant, to her husband to be his wife.

He had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despised Sarai.

Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) and circumcised them on that very same day, just as God had told him to do.

Abraham then took some curds and milk, along with the calf that had been prepared, and placed the food before them. They ate while he was standing near them under a tree.

Abraham and Sarah were old and advancing in years; Sarah had long since passed menopause.)

The Lord went on his way when he had finished speaking to Abraham. Then Abraham returned home.

Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. Only don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."

When Lot hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them. They led them away and placed them outside the city.

When they had brought them outside, they said, "Run for your lives! Don't look behind you or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!"

The sun had just risen over the land as Lot reached Zoar.

Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord.

So when God destroyed the cities of the region, God honored Abraham's request. He removed Lot from the midst of the destruction when he destroyed the cities Lot had lived in.

So that night they made their father drunk with wine, and the older daughter came and had sexual relations with her father. But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up.

So in the morning the older daughter said to the younger, "Since I had sexual relations with my father last night, let's make him drunk again tonight. Then you go and have sexual relations with him so we can preserve our family line through our father."

So they made their father drunk that night as well, and the younger one came and had sexual relations with him. But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up.

Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, "Lord, would you really slaughter an innocent nation?

For the Lord had caused infertility to strike every woman in the household of Abimelech because he took Sarah, Abraham's wife.

The Lord visited Sarah just as he had said he would and did for Sarah what he had promised.

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

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

But Sarah noticed the son of Hagar the Egyptian -- the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham -- mocking.

But Abraham lodged a complaint against Abimelech concerning a well that Abimelech's servants had seized.

Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out for the place God had spoken to him about.

When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood.

So Abraham agreed to Ephron's price and weighed out for him the price that Ephron had quoted in the hearing of the sons of Heth -- 400 pieces of silver, according to the standard measurement at the time.

Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed him in everything.

Abraham said to his servant, the senior one in his household who was in charge of everything he had, "Put your hand under my thigh

Before he had finished praying, there came Rebekah with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah (Milcah was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor).