Then the man said, "This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man."

When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.

The man said, "The woman whom you gave me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it."

The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

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!"

Then she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground.

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."

After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

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

On that very day Noah entered the ark, accompanied by his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, along with his wife and his sons' three wives.

"Whoever sheds human blood, by other humans must his blood be shed; for in God's image God has made humankind."

The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Now Ham was the father of Canaan.)

Shem and Japheth took the garment and placed it on their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered up their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so they did not see their father's nakedness.

He also said, "Worthy of praise is the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem!

May God enlarge Japheth's territory and numbers! May he live in the tents of Shem and may Canaan be his slave!"

This is the account of Noah's sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.

And sons were also born to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), the father of all the sons of Eber.

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

These are the sons of Shem according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and according to their nations.

This is the account of Shem. Shem was 100 old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood.

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

And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah.

But Sarai was barren; she had no children.

So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why didn't you tell me that she was your wife?

Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Here is your wife! Take her and go!"

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

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

Then Sarai said to Abram, "You have brought this wrong on me! I allowed my servant to have sexual relations with you, but when she realized that she was pregnant, she despised me. May the Lord judge between you and me!"

Abram said to Sarai, "Since your servant is under your authority, do to her whatever you think best." Then Sarai treated Hagar harshly, so she ran away from Sarai.

He said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?" She replied, "I'm running away from my mistress, Sarai."

So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "Here I have seen one who sees me!"

I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. Kings of countries will come from her!"

Then Sarah lied, saying, "I did not laugh," because she was afraid. But the Lord said, "No! You did laugh."

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 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.

Abraham said about his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.

But God appeared to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, "You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else's wife."

Did Abraham not say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she herself said, 'He is my brother.' I have done this with a clear conscience and with innocent hands!"

What's more, she is indeed my sister, my father's daughter, but not my mother's daughter. She became my wife.

She went on to say, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!"

So she said to Abraham, "Banish that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!"

Early in the morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, and sent her away. So she went wandering aimlessly through the wilderness of Beer Sheba.

When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved the child under one of the shrubs.

Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot away; for she thought, "I refuse to watch the child die." So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably.

Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.

Then she died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

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).

Now the young woman was very beautiful. She was a virgin; no man had ever had sexual relations with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up.

"Drink, my lord," she replied, and quickly lowering her jug to her hands, she gave him a drink.

When she had done so, she said, "I'll draw water for your camels too, until they have drunk as much as they want."

She quickly emptied her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw more water until she had drawn enough for all his camels.

She said to him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.

We have plenty of straw and feed," she added, "and room for you to spend the night."

My master's wife Sarah bore a son to him when she was old, and my master has given him everything he owns.

Then she will reply to me, "Drink, and I'll draw water for your camels too." May that woman be the one whom the Lord has chosen for my master's son.'

"Before I finished praying in my heart, along came Rebekah with her water jug on her shoulder! She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, 'Please give me a drink.'

She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, 'Drink, and I'll give your camels water too.' So I drank, and she also gave the camels water.

Then I asked her, 'Whose daughter are you?' She replied, 'The daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.' I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.

Rebekah stands here before you. Take her and go so that she may become the wife of your master's son, just as the Lord has decided."

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

Then they said, "We'll call the girl and find out what she wants to do."

So they called Rebekah and asked her, "Do you want to go with this man?" She replied, "I want to go."

Rebekah looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel

and asked Abraham's servant, "Who is that man walking in the field toward us?" "That is my master," the servant replied. So she took her veil and covered herself.

She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.

But the children struggled inside her, and she said, "If it is going to be like this, I'm not so sure I want to be pregnant!" So she asked the Lord,

When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, "She is my sister." He was afraid to say, "She is my wife," for he thought to himself, "The men of this place will kill me to get Rebekah because she is very beautiful."

So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, "She is really your wife! Why did you say, 'She is my sister'?" Isaac replied, "Because I thought someone might kill me to get her."

So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother. She prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it.

Then Rebekah took her older son Esau's best clothes, which she had with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob.

She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck.

Then she handed the tasty food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.

When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, she quickly summoned her younger son Jacob and told him, "Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you.

While he was still speaking with them, Rachel arrived with her father's sheep, for she was tending them.

When Jacob explained to Rachel that he was a relative of her father and the son of Rebekah, she ran and told her father.

So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, "The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. Surely my husband will love me now."

She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, "Because the Lord heard that I was unloved, he gave me this one too." So she named him Simeon.

She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, "Now this time my husband will show me affection, because I have given birth to three sons for him." That is why he was named Levi.

She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, "This time I will praise the Lord." That is why she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.

When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, "Give me children or I'll die!"

She replied, "Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with her so that she can bear children for me and I can have a family through her."

Then Rachel said, "God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer and given me a son." That is why she named him Dan.

Then Rachel said, "I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won." So she named him Naphtali.

When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife.

Leah said, "How fortunate!" So she named him Gad.

Leah said, "How happy I am, for women will call me happy!" So she named him Asher.

God paid attention to Leah; she became pregnant and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time.

Then Leah said, "God has granted me a reward because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife." So she named him Issachar.

Then Leah said, "God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons." So she named him Zebulun.

After that she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Then she said, "God has taken away my shame."

She named him Joseph, saying, "May the Lord give me yet another son."

Now Dinah, Leah's daughter whom she bore to Jacob, went to meet the young women of the land.

With her dying breath, she named him Ben-Oni. But his father called him Benjamin instead.

These were the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon: She bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah to Esau.

Reuben continued, "Don't shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don't lay a hand on him." (Reuben said this so he could rescue Joseph from them and take him back to his father.)

She became pregnant and had a son. Judah named him Er.

She became pregnant again and had another son, whom she named Onan.