God called the expanse "sky." There was evening, and there was morning, a second day.

God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry ground appear." 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 placed the lights in the expanse of the sky to shine on the earth,

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

I am about to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy from under the sky all the living creatures that have the breath of life in them. Everything that is on the earth will die,

and also seven of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, to preserve their offspring on the face of the earth.

The waters completely inundated the earth so that even all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered.

So the Lord destroyed every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, including people, animals, creatures that creep along the ground, and birds of the sky. They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived.

The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed, and the rain stopped falling from the sky.

Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified of you. Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority.

The Lord took him outside and said, "Gaze into the sky and count the stars -- if you are able to count them!" Then he said to him, "So will your descendants be."

What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it?

Far be it from you to do such a thing -- to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right?"

So the Lord replied, "If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake."

Abraham spoke to him again, "What if forty are found there?" He replied, "I will not do it for the sake of the forty."

Abraham said, "Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?" He replied, "I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty."

Finally Abraham said, "May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?" He replied, "I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten."

Then the Lord rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord.

Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done!"

I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the strongholds of their enemies.

I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.

He had so many sheep and cattle and such a great household of servants that the Philistines became jealous of him.

The Lord appeared to him that night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham."

May God give you the dew of the sky and the richness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine.

So his father Isaac said to him, "Indeed, your home will be away from the richness of the earth, and away from the dew of the sky above.

From the time Potiphar appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's household for Joseph's sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both in his house and in his fields.

There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?"

Then seven other cows came up after them; they were scrawny, very bad-looking, and lean. I had never seen such bad-looking cows as these in all the land of Egypt!

Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man's money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. His orders were carried out.

When one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey at their resting place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack.

He said to his brothers, "My money was returned! Here it is in my sack!" They were dismayed; they turned trembling one to another and said, "What in the world has God done to us?"

When they were emptying their sacks, there was each man's bag of money in his sack! When they and their father saw the bags of money, they were afraid.

But when we came to the place where we spent the night, we opened our sacks and each of us found his money -- the full amount -- in the mouth of his sack. So we have returned it.

He instructed the servant who was over his household, "Fill the sacks of the men with as much food as they can carry and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack.

Then put my cup -- the silver cup -- in the mouth of the youngest one's sack, along with the money for his grain." He did as Joseph instructed.

They answered him, "Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!

So each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it.

Then the man searched. He began with the oldest and finished with the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin's sack!

because of the God of your father, who will help you, because of the sovereign God, who will bless you with blessings from the sky above, blessings from the deep that lies below, and blessings of the breasts and womb.

I am going to cause very severe hail to rain down about this time tomorrow, such hail as has never occurred in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Extend your hand toward the sky that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on people and on animals, and on everything that grows in the field in the land of Egypt."

When Moses extended his staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire fell to the earth; so the Lord caused hail to rain down on the land of Egypt.

They will fill your houses, the houses of your servants, and all the houses of Egypt, such as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen since they have been in the land until this day!'" Then Moses turned and went out from Pharaoh.

The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and settled down in all the territory of Egypt. It was very severe; there had been no locusts like them before, nor will there be such ever again.

There will be a great cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again.

Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to Egypt for Israel's sake, and all the hardship that had come on them along the way, and how the Lord had delivered them.

and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear like the sky itself.

He said, "See, I am going to make a covenant before all your people. I will do wonders such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation. All the people among whom you live will see the work of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am doing with you.

But Aaron spoke to Moses, "See here! Just today they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord and such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten a sin offering today would the Lord have been pleased?"

Also, anything they fall on when they die will become unclean -- any wood vessel or garment or article of leather or sackcloth. Any such vessel with which work is done must be immersed in water and will be unclean until the evening. Then it will become clean.

Any food that may be eaten which becomes soaked with water will become unclean. Anything drinkable in any such vessel will become unclean.

Now, if such a carcass falls on any sowing seed which is to be sown, it is clean,

but if water is put on the seed and such a carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.

the one who is sick in her menstruation, the one with a discharge, whether male or female, and a man who has sexual intercourse with an unclean woman.'"

Do not turn to the spirits of the dead and do not seek familiar spirits to become unclean by them. I am the Lord your God.

You must not expose the nakedness of your mother's sister and your father's sister, for such a person has laid bare his own close relative. They must bear their punishment for iniquity.

Even from a foreigner you must not present the food of your God from such animals as these, for they are ruined and flawed; they will not be acceptable for your benefit.'"

I will break your strong pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze.

Any human being who is permanently dedicated must not be ransomed; such a person must be put to death.

"Also in the time when you rejoice, such as on your appointed festivals or at the beginnings of your months, you must blow with your trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings, so that they may become a memorial for you before your God: I am the Lord your God."

but a whole month, until it comes out your nostrils and makes you sick, because you have despised the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, "Why did we ever come out of Egypt?"'"

He has brought you near and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, with you. Do you now seek the priesthood also?

And the Moabites were greatly afraid of the people, because they were so numerous. The Moabites were sick with fear because of the Israelites.

When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at the other times to seek for omens, but he set his face toward the wilderness.

"Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites, when he manifested such zeal for my sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in my zeal.

The Lord replied to Moses, "Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is such a spirit, and lay your hand on him;

And he will stand before Eleazar the priest, who will seek counsel for him before the Lord by the decision of the Urim. At his command they will go out, and at his command they will come in, he and all the Israelites with him, the whole community."

The Lord your God has increased your population to the point that you are now as numerous as the very stars of the sky.

You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, a mountain ablaze to the sky above it and yet dark with a thick cloud.

any kind of land animal, any bird that flies in the sky,

When you look up to the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars -- the whole heavenly creation -- you must not be seduced to worship and serve them, for the Lord your God has assigned them to all the people of the world.

But if you seek the Lord your God from there, you will find him, if, indeed, you seek him with all your heart and soul.

Indeed, ask about the distant past, starting from the day God created humankind on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether there has ever been such a great thing as this, or even a rumor of it.

Then I again fell down before the Lord for forty days and nights; I ate and drank nothing because of all the sin you had committed, doing such evil before the Lord as to enrage him.

When your ancestors went down to Egypt, they numbered only seventy, but now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.

Then the anger of the Lord will erupt against you and he will close up the sky so that it does not rain. The land will not yield its produce, and you will soon be removed from the good land that the Lord is about to give you.

But you must seek only the place he chooses from all your tribes to establish his name as his place of residence, and you must go there.

You must investigate thoroughly and inquire carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done among you,

You are children of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald for the sake of the dead.

When it is reported to you and you hear about it, you must investigate carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done in Israel,

You will go to the Levitical priests and the judge in office in those days and seek a solution; they will render a verdict.

Those nations that you are about to dispossess listen to omen readers and diviners, but the Lord your God has not given you permission to do such things.

The rest of the people will hear and become afraid to keep doing such evil among you.

You must not seek peace and prosperity for them through all the ages to come.

Whatever you vow, you must be careful to do what you have promised, such as what you have vowed to the Lord your God as a freewill offering.

The sky above your heads will be bronze and the earth beneath you iron.

The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; it will come down on you from the sky until you are destroyed.

Your carcasses will be food for every bird of the sky and wild animal of the earth, and there will be no one to chase them off.

There will be very few of you left, though at one time you were as numerous as the stars in the sky, because you will have disobeyed the Lord your God.

When such a person hears the words of this oath he secretly blesses himself and says, "I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit." This will destroy the watered ground with the parched.

Of Joseph he said: May the Lord bless his land with the harvest produced by the sky, by the dew, and by the depths crouching beneath;

There is no one like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the sky to help you, on the clouds in majesty.

The one caught with the riches must be burned up along with all who belong to him, because he violated the Lord's covenant and did such a disgraceful thing in Israel.'"

When the men of Ai turned around, they saw the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction. In the meantime the men who were retreating to the desert turned against their pursuers.

As they fled from Israel on the slope leading down from Beth Horon, the Lord threw down on them large hailstones from the sky, all the way to Azekah. They died -- in fact, more died from the hailstones than the Israelites killed with the sword.

The sun stood still and the moon stood motionless while the nation took vengeance on its enemies. The event is recorded in the Scroll of the Upright One. The sun stood motionless in the middle of the sky and did not set for about a full day.

Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah,

These cities were in the hill country: Shamir, Jattir, Socoh,