The Lord God formed out of the ground every living animal of the field and every bird of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

So the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman replied, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate."

Is it not true that if you do what is right, you will be fine? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it."

But the Lord said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground!

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

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?

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."

But Abram said, "O sovereign Lord, what will you give me since I continue to be childless, and my heir is Eliezer of Damascus?"

But Abram said, "O sovereign Lord, by what can I know that I am to possess it?"

So Sarai said to Abram, "Since the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her." Abram did what Sarai told him.

Then the Lord said, "Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?

I have chosen him so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then the Lord will give to Abraham what he promised him."

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?"

what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy the whole city because five are lacking?" He replied, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there."

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

Then Abraham said, "May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak! What if thirty are found there?" He replied, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."

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."

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!"

Then Abimelech asked Abraham, "What prompted you to do this thing?"

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

When God made me wander from my father's house, I told her, 'This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: Every place we go, say about me, "He is my brother."'"

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

But God heard the boy's voice. The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Don't be afraid, for God has heard the boy's voice right where he is crying.

Abimelech asked Abraham, "What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?"

Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father?" "What is it, my son?" he replied. "Here is the fire and the wood," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

"Hear me, my lord. The land is worth 400 pieces of silver, but what is that between me and you? So bury your dead."

The servant asked him, "What if the woman is not willing to come back with me to this land? Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?"

When he saw the bracelets on his sister's wrists and the nose ring and heard his sister Rebekah say, "This is what the man said to me," he went out to meet the man. There he was, standing by the camels near the spring.

When food was served, he said, "I will not eat until I have said what I want to say." "Tell us," Laban said.

But I said to my master, 'What if the woman does not want to go with me?'

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

"Look," said Esau, "I'm about to die! What use is the birthright to me?"

Then Abimelech exclaimed, "What in the world have you done to us? One of the men might easily have had sexual relations with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!"

When Isaac planted in that land, he reaped in the same year a hundred times what he had sown, because the Lord blessed him.

Now then, my son, do exactly what I tell you!

Isaac replied to Esau, "Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?"

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.

Now then, my son, do what I say. Run away immediately to my brother Laban in Haran.

Stay there until your brother's anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I'll send someone to bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?"

I am with you! I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!"

He was afraid and said, "What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!"

Then Laban said to Jacob, "Should you work for me for nothing because you are my relative? Tell me what your wages should be."

In the morning Jacob discovered it was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, "What in the world have you done to me! Didn't I work for you in exchange for Rachel? Why have you tricked me?"

So Laban asked, "What should I give you?" "You don't need to give me a thing," Jacob replied, "but if you agree to this one condition, I will continue to care for your flocks and protect them:

"What have you done?" Laban demanded of Jacob. "You've deceived me and carried away my daughters as if they were captives of war!

Jacob became angry and argued with Laban. "What did I do wrong?" he demanded of Laban. "What sin of mine prompted you to chase after me in hot pursuit?

He commanded them, "This is what you must say to my lord Esau: 'This is what your servant Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban until now.

The man asked him, "What is your name?" He answered, "Jacob."

Esau then asked, "What did you intend by sending all these herds to meet me?" Jacob replied, "To find favor in your sight, my lord."

But Esau said, "I have plenty, my brother. Keep what belongs to you."

The young man did not delay in doing what they asked because he wanted Jacob's daughter Dinah badly. (Now he was more important than anyone in his father's household.)

What follows is the account of Esau (also known as Edom).

Then his brothers asked him, "Do you really think you will rule over us or have dominion over us?" They hated him even more because of his dream and because of what he said.

When he told his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him, saying, "What is this dream that you had? Will I, your mother, and your brothers really come and bow down to you?"

His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what Joseph said.

When Joseph reached Shechem, a man found him wandering in the field, so the man asked him, "What are you looking for?"

Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?

What he did was evil in the Lord's sight, so the Lord killed him too.

He turned aside to her along the road and said, "Come on! I want to have sex with you." (He did not realize it was his daughter-in-law.) She asked, "What will you give me in exchange for having sex with you?"

He said, "What pledge should I give you?" She replied, "Your seal, your cord, and the staff that's in your hand." So he gave them to her and had sex with her. She became pregnant by him.

This is what she said to him: "That Hebrew slave you brought to us tried to humiliate me,

Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "Both dreams of Pharaoh have the same meaning. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.

This is just what I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.

But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, "What if some accident happens to him?"

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?"

Joseph said to them, "What did you think you were doing? Don't you know that a man like me can find out things like this by divination?"

Judah replied, "What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? God has exposed the sin of your servants! We are now my lord's slaves, we and the one in whose possession the cup was found."

Now go up to my father quickly and tell him, 'This is what your son Joseph says: "God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not delay!

Pharaoh will summon you and say, 'What is your occupation?'

Pharaoh said to Joseph's brothers, "What is your occupation?" They said to Pharaoh, "Your servants take care of flocks, just as our ancestors did."

Jacob called for his sons and said, "Gather together so I can tell you what will happen to you in the future.

These are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He gave each of them an appropriate blessing.

When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph bears a grudge and wants to repay us in full for all the harm we did to him?"

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

His sister stationed herself at a distance to find out what would happen to him.

The man replied, "Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Are you planning to kill me like you killed that Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid, thinking, "Surely what I did has become known."

Moses said to God, "If I go to the Israelites and tell them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' -- what should I say to them?"

"Go and bring together the elders of Israel and tell them, 'The Lord, the God of your fathers, appeared to me -- the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob -- saying, "I have attended carefully to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt,

The Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A staff."

So now go, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you must say."

Then the Lord became angry with Moses, and he said, "What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can speak very well. Moreover, he is coming to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart.

"So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And as for me, I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you both what you must do.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for compelled by my strong hand he will release them, and by my strong hand he will drive them out of his land."

They will cover the surface of the earth, so that you will be unable to see the ground. They will eat the remainder of what escaped -- what is left over for you -- from the hail, and they will eat every tree that grows for you from the field.

No! Go, you men only, and serve the Lord, for that is what you want." Then Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh's presence.

Our livestock must also go with us! Not a hoof is to be left behind! For we must take these animals to serve the Lord our God. Until we arrive there, we do not know what we must use to serve the Lord."

On the first day there will be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there will be a holy convocation for you. You must do no work of any kind on them, only what every person will eat -- that alone may be prepared for you.

For seven days yeast must not be found in your houses, for whoever eats what is made with yeast -- that person will be cut off from the community of Israel, whether a foreigner or one born in the land.

When your children ask you, 'What does this ceremony mean to you?' --

You are to tell your son on that day, 'It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.'

In the future, when your son asks you 'What is this?' you are to tell him, 'With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the land of slavery.

I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after them. I will gain honor because of Pharaoh and because of all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." So this is what they did.

When it was reported to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people, and the king and his servants said, "What in the world have we done? For we have released the people of Israel from serving us!"

and they said to Moses, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the desert? What in the world have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?

Isn't this what we told you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians, because it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!'"

So the people murmured against Moses, saying, "What can we drink?"

He said, "If you will diligently obey the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the Lord, am your healer."

On the sixth day they will prepare what they bring in, and it will be twice as much as they gather every other day."