God said, "Let there be light." And there was light!

God saw that the light was good, so God separated the light from the darkness.

God called the light "day" and the darkness "night." There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day.

God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate water from water.

God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry ground appear." It was so.

God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds." It was so.

God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years,

and let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." It was so.

God made two great lights -- the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night. He made the stars also.

to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.

God said, "Let the water swarm with swarms of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."

God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth."

God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals, each according to its kind." It was so.

Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth."

Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you. Bring out every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase and be fruitful and multiply on the earth!"

The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.

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.)

Then they said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise we will be scattered across the face of the entire earth."

Come, let's go down and confuse their language so they won't be able to understand each other."

This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.

Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there.

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.

So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev. He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot.

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

So there were quarrels between Abram's herdsmen and Lot's herdsmen. (Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.)

Abram said to Lot, "Let there be no quarreling between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are close relatives.

Lot looked up and saw the whole region of the Jordan. He noticed that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, all the way to Zoar.

Lot chose for himself the whole region of the Jordan and traveled toward the east. So the relatives separated from each other.

Abram settled in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled among the cities of the Jordan plain and pitched his tents next to Sodom.

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

They also took Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions when they left, for Lot was living in Sodom.

He retrieved all the stolen property. He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, as well as the women and the rest of the people.

I will take nothing except compensation for what the young men have eaten. As for the share of the men who went with me -- Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre -- let them take their share."

Let a little water be brought so that you may all wash your feet and rest under the tree.

And let me get a bit of food so that you may refresh yourselves since you have passed by your servant's home. After that you may be on your way." "All right," they replied, "you may do as you say."

The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while Lot was sitting in the city's gateway. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.

They shouted to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!"

Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him.

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."

"Out of our way!" they cried, and "This man came to live here as a foreigner, and now he dares to judge us! We'll do more harm to you than to them!" They kept pressing in on Lot until they were close enough to break down the door.

So the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house as they shut the door.

Then the two visitors said to Lot, "Who else do you have here? Do you have any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or other relatives in the city? Get them out of this place

Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. He said, "Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them.

At dawn the angels hurried Lot along, saying, "Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!"

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.

But Lot said to them, "No, please, Lord!

Look, this town over here is close enough to escape to, and it's just a little one. Let me go there. It's just a little place, isn't it? Then I'll survive."

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

But Lot's wife looked back longingly and was turned into a pillar of salt.

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.

Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and settled in the mountains because he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters.

Come, let's make our father drunk with wine so we can have sexual relations with him and preserve our family line through our father."

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."

In this way both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father.

if he will sell me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me publicly for the full price, so that I may own it as a burial site."

saying "Praised be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his faithful love for my master! The Lord has led me to the house of my master's relatives!"

Then I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right path to find the granddaughter of my master's brother for his son.

After this, he and the men who were with him ate a meal and stayed there overnight. When they got up in the morning, he said, "Let me leave now so I can return to my master."

But Rebekah's brother and her mother replied, "Let the girl stay with us a few more days, perhaps ten. Then she can go."

But he said to them, "Don't detain me -- the Lord has granted me success on my journey. Let me leave now so I may return to my master."

Then Jacob said, "Since it is still the middle of the day, it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. You should water the sheep and then go and let them graze some more."

Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. Then I'll depart, because you know how hard I've worked for you."

Let me walk among all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and the spotted or speckled goats. These animals will be my wages.

When you searched through all my goods, did you find anything that belonged to you? Set it here before my relatives and yours, and let them settle the dispute between the two of us!

This was my lot for twenty years in your house: I worked like a slave for you -- fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, but you changed my wages ten times!

So now, come, let's make a formal agreement, you and I, and it will be proof that we have made peace."

Then the man said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." "I will not let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me."

Then Esau said, "Let's be on our way! I will go in front of you."

Let my lord go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the herds and the children, until I come to my lord at Seir."

So Esau said, "Let me leave some of my men with you." "Why do that?" Jacob replied. "My lord has already been kind enough to me."

Intermarry with us. Let us marry your daughters, and take our daughters as wives for yourselves.

Then Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers, "Let me find favor in your sight, and whatever you require of me I'll give.

"These men are at peace with us. So let them live in the land and travel freely in it, for the land is wide enough for them. We will take their daughters for wives, and we will give them our daughters to marry.

If we do so, won't their livestock, their property, and all their animals become ours? So let's consent to their demand, so they will live among us."

Let us go up at once to Bethel. Then I will make an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress and has been with me wherever I went."

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was a son born to him late in life, and he made a special tunic for him.

The man said, "They left this area, for I heard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

Come now, let's kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and then say that a wild animal ate him. Then we'll see how his dreams turn out!"

When Reuben heard this, he rescued Joseph from their hands, saying, "Let's not take his life!"

Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let's not lay a hand on him, for after all, he is our brother, our own flesh." His brothers agreed.

Judah said, "Let her keep the things for herself. Otherwise we will appear to be dishonest. I did indeed send this young goat, but you couldn't find her."

After three months Judah was told, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar has turned to prostitution, and as a result she has become pregnant." Judah said, "Bring her out and let her be burned!"

So she laid his outer garment beside her until his master came home.

"So now, please let your servant remain as my lord's slave instead of the boy. As for the boy, let him go back with his brothers.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Say to your brothers, 'Do this: Load your animals and go to the land of Canaan!

Israel said to Joseph, "Now let me die since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive."

Then they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to live as temporary residents in the land. There is no pasture for your servants' flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen."

My father made me swear an oath. He said, "I am about to die. Bury me in my tomb that I dug for myself there in the land of Canaan." Now let me go and bury my father; then I will return.'"

Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to you and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

Come, let's deal wisely with them. Otherwise they will continue to multiply, and if a war breaks out, they will ally themselves with our enemies and fight against us and leave the country."

But the midwives feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live.

Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this and let the boys live?"

Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, "All sons that are born you must throw into the river, but all daughters you may let live."

Now Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb.

"The elders will listen to you, and then you and the elders of Israel must go to the king of Egypt and tell him, 'The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.'

But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, not even under force.

So Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, "Let me go, so that I may return to my relatives in Egypt and see if they are still alive." Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace."

The Lord said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put under your control. But I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go.