Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for festivals and for days and years.

They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth.” And it was so.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”

God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you,

but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement.”

So the Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found as his complement.

And the man said:

This one, at last, is bone of my bone
and flesh of my flesh;
this one will be called “woman,”
for she was taken from man.

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”

“No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman.

“In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Then the Lord God said to the serpent:

Because you have done this,
you are cursed more than any livestock
and more than any wild animal.
You will move on your belly
and eat dust all the days of your life.

I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.

He said to the woman:

I will intensify your labor pains;
you will bear children in anguish.
Your desire will be for your husband,
yet he will rule over you.

And He said to Adam, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’:

The ground is cursed because of you.
You will eat from it by means of painful labor
all the days of your life.

It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.

You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow
until you return to the ground,
since you were taken from it.
For you are dust,
and you will return to dust.”

If you work the ground, it will never again give you its yield. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

Since You are banishing me today from the soil, and I must hide myself from Your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me.”

Then the Lord replied to him, “In that case, whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” And He placed a mark on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him.

If Cain is to be avenged seven times over,
then for Lamech it will be seventy-seven times!

And he named him Noah, saying, “This one will bring us relief from the agonizing labor of our hands, caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.”

And the Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years.”

Then the Lord said, “I will wipe off from the face of the earth mankind, whom I created, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.”

This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.

“Understand that I am bringing a flood—floodwaters on the earth to destroy every creature under heaven with the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will die.

But I will establish My covenant with you, and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives.

Two of everything—from the birds according to their kinds, from the livestock according to their kinds, and from the animals that crawl on the ground according to their kinds—will come to you so that you can keep them alive.

Seven days from now I will make it rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights, and I will wipe off from the face of the earth every living thing I have made.”

Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, those that crawl on the ground—and they will spread over the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, He said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, even though man’s inclination is evil from his youth. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.

As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, and day and night
will not cease.”

The fear and terror of you will be in every living creature on the earth, every bird of the sky, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are placed under your authority.

Every living creature will be food for you; as I gave the green plants, I have given you everything.

I will require the life of every animal and every man for your life and your blood. I will require the life of each man’s brother for a man’s life.

Whoever sheds man’s blood,
his blood will be shed by man,
for God made man in His image.

I confirm My covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by the waters of a flood; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”

I have placed My bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.

I will remember My covenant between Me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature.

The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all the living creatures on earth.”

he said:

Canaan will be cursed.
He will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers.

He also said:

Praise the Lord, the God of Shem;
Canaan will be his slave.

God will extend Japheth;
he will dwell in the tents of Shem;
Canaan will be his slave.

And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

The Lord said, “If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

Come, let Us go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”

The Lord said to Abram:

Go out from your land,
your relatives,
and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.

I will make you into a great nation,
I will bless you,
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,
I will curse those who treat you with contempt,
and all the peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.

Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.

When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me but let you live.

Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.”

Isn’t the whole land before you? Separate from me: if you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”

for I will give you and your offspring forever all the land that you see.

I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted.

Get up and walk around the land, through its length and width, for I will give it to you.”

that I will not take a thread or sandal strap or anything that belongs to you, so you can never say, ‘I made Abram rich.’

I will take nothing except what the servants have eaten. But as for the share of the men who came with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—they can take their share.”

After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield;
your reward will be very great.

Abram continued, “Look, You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”

Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”

He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”

But he said, “Lord God, how can I know that I will possess it?”

Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be foreigners in a land that does not belong to them; they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years.

However, I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many possessions.

But you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.

In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

The Angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count.”

Then the Angel of the Lord said to her:

You have conceived and will have a son.
You will name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction.

This man will be like a wild donkey.
His hand will be against everyone,
and everyone’s hand will be against him;
he will live at odds with all his brothers.

I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.”

“As for Me, My covenant is with you: you will become the father of many nations.

Your name will no longer be Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations.

I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you.

I will keep My covenant between Me and you, and your future offspring throughout their generations, as an everlasting covenant to be your God and the God of your offspring after you.

And to you and your future offspring I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession, and I will be their God.”

a slave born in your house, as well as one purchased with money, must be circumcised. My covenant will be marked in your flesh as an everlasting covenant.

If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai, for Sarah will be her name.

I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will produce nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his future offspring.

As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will certainly bless him; I will make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly. He will father 12 tribal leaders, and I will make him into a great nation.

But I will confirm My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”

I will bring a bit of bread so that you may strengthen yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. Later, you can continue on.”

“Yes,” they replied, “do as you have said.”

The Lord said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.

So she laughed to herself: “After I have become shriveled up and my lord is old, will I have delight?”

Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.”

Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.

For I have chosen him so that he will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. This is how the Lord will fulfill to Abraham what He promised him.”

I will go down to see if what they have done justifies the cry that has come up to Me. If not, I will find out.”

Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

What if there are 50 righteous people in the city? Will You really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of the 50 righteous people who are in it?

The Lord said, “If I find 50 righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

suppose the 50 righteous lack five. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?”

He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find 45 there.”

Then he spoke to Him again, “Suppose 40 are found there?”

He answered, “I will not do it on account of 40.”

Then he said, “Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak further. Suppose 30 are found there?”

He answered, “I will not do it if I find 30 there.”

Then he said, “Since I have ventured to speak to the Lord, suppose 20 are found there?”

He replied, “I will not destroy it on account of 20.”

Then he said, “Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak one more time. Suppose 10 are found there?”

He answered, “I will not destroy it on account of 10.”