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.

God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the cattle according to their kinds, and all the creatures that creep along the ground according to their kinds. God saw that it was good.

Then God said, "I now give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.

but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die."

The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him."

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."

Now the serpent was more shrewd than any of the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Is it really true that God said, 'You must not eat from any tree of the orchard'?"

but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, 'You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.'"

The serpent said to the woman, "Surely you will not die,

for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil."

The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the wild beasts and all the living creatures of the field! On your belly you will crawl and dust you will eat all the days of your life.

And I will put hostility between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; her offspring will attack your head, and you will attack her offspring's heel."

To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your labor pains; with pain you will give birth to children. You will want to control your husband, but he will dominate you."

But to Adam he said, "Because you obeyed your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat from it,' cursed is the ground thanks to you; in painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

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

By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return."

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."

When you try to cultivate the ground it will no longer yield its best for you. You will be a homeless wanderer on the earth."

Look! You are driving me off the land today, and I must hide from your presence. I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me."

But the Lord said to him, "All right then, if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much." Then the Lord put a special mark on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down.

He named him Noah, saying, "This one will bring us comfort from our labor and from the painful toil of our hands because of the ground that the Lord has cursed."

So the Lord said, "My spirit will not remain in humankind indefinitely, since they are mortal. They will remain for 120 more years."

So the Lord said, "I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth -- everything from humankind to animals, including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them."

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,

but I will confirm my covenant with you. You will enter the ark -- you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.

Of the birds after their kinds, and of the cattle after their kinds, and of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you so you can keep them alive.

And you must take for yourself every kind of food that is eaten, and gather it together. It will be food for you and for them.

For in seven days I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made."

And all living things that moved on the earth died, including the birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all humankind.

But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over the earth and the waters receded.

And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma and said to himself, "I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, even though the inclination of their minds is evil from childhood on. I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.

"While the earth continues to exist, planting time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease."

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.

For your lifeblood I will surely exact punishment, from every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person I will exact punishment for the life of the individual since the man was his relative.

I confirm my covenant with you: Never again will all living things be wiped out by the waters of a flood; never again will a flood destroy the earth."

I will place my rainbow in the clouds, and it will become a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth.

then I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures of all kinds. Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy all living things.

When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth."

So he said, "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves he will be to his brothers."

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."

And the Lord said, "If as one people all sharing a common language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be beyond them.

Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father's household to the land that I will show you.

Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, so that you will exemplify divine blessing.

I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, and all the families of the earth will bless one another by your name."

The Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

When the Egyptians see you they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will keep you alive.

So tell them you are my sister so that it may go well for me because of you and my life will be spared on account of you."

I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants forever.

And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted.

Get up and walk throughout the land, for I will give it to you."

that I will take nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal. That way you can never say, 'It is I who made Abram rich.'

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."

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram! I am your shield and the one who will reward you in great abundance."

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

Abram added, "Since you have not given me a descendant, then look, one born in my house will be my heir!"

But look, the word of the Lord came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but instead a son who comes from your own body will be your heir."

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."

Then the Lord said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.

But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will come out with many possessions.

But as for you, you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.

In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit."

I will greatly multiply your descendants," the Lord's angel added, "so that they will be too numerous to count."

He will be a wild donkey of a man. He will be hostile to everyone, and everyone will be hostile to him. He will live away from his brothers."

Then I will confirm my covenant between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants."

"As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations.

No longer will your name be Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham because I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.

I will make you extremely fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.

I will confirm my covenant as a perpetual covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

I will give the whole land of Canaan -- the land where you are now residing -- to you and your descendants after you as a permanent possession. I will be their God."

You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder of the covenant between me and you.

They must indeed be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant will be visible in your flesh as a permanent reminder.

Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off from his people -- he has failed to carry out my requirement."

Then God said to Abraham, "As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; Sarah will be her name.

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!"

God said, "No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual covenant for his descendants after him.

As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes; I will make him into a great nation.

But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year."

One of them said, "I will surely return to you when the season comes round again, and your wife Sarah will have a son!" (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him.

So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, "After I am worn out will I have pleasure, especially when my husband is old too?"

The Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child when I am old?'

Is anything impossible for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son."

After all, Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using his name.

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."

Abraham approached and said, "Will you sweep away the godly along with the wicked?

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."

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."

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 they had brought them outside, they said, "Run for your lives! Don't look behind you or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!"

Your servant has found favor with you, and you have shown me great kindness by sparing my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because this disaster will overtake me and I'll die.

"Very well," he replied, "I will grant this request too and will not overthrow the town you mentioned.

But now give back the man's wife. Indeed he is a prophet and he will pray for you; thus you will live. But if you don't give her back, know that you will surely die along with all who belong to you."

Abraham replied, "Because I thought, 'Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of my wife.'

To Sarah he said, "Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your 'brother.' This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you."

Sarah said, "God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me."