'Generation' in the Bible

These are the records of the generations (family history) of Noah. Noah was a righteous man [one who was just and had right standing with God], blameless in his [evil] generation; Noah walked (lived) [in habitual fellowship] with God.

Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you with all your household, for you [alone] I have seen as righteous (doing what is right) before Me in this generation.

Then in the fourth generation your descendants shall return here [to Canaan, the land of promise], for the wickedness and guilt of the Amorites is not yet complete (finished).”

Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children; also the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born and raised on Joseph’s knees.

Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation,

saying, “The Lord has sworn [an oath]; the Lord will have war against [the people of] Amalek from generation to generation.”

You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers on the children [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

keeping mercy and lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; but He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers upon the children and the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers].”

‘The Lord is slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving wickedness and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting (avenging) the wickedness and guilt of the fathers on the children, to the third and fourth generations [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers].’

So the Lord’s anger was kindled against the sons of Israel (Jacob) and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the Lord was destroyed.

‘Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore (solemnly promised) to give to your fathers,

Now thirty-eight years passed from the time we left Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley, until that entire generation of the men of war had died from within the camp, just as the Lord had sworn to them.

A person of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation.

An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the Lord,

Their children of the third generation who are born to them may enter the assembly of the Lord.

Now the next generation, your children who come after you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land, when they see the plagues of this land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it, will say,

“They (Israel) have acted corruptly toward Him.They are not His children, because of their [moral] defect;But are a perverse and crooked generation.

“Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them,I will see what their end shall be;For they are a perverse generation,Sons in whom there is no faithfulness.

At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make for yourself flint knives and circumcise the [new generation of the] sons of Israel as [was done] before.”

Also, all [the people of] that generation were gathered to their fathers [in death]; and another generation arose after them who did not know (recognize, understand) the Lord, nor even the work which He had done for Israel.

The Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in executing what is right in My eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab in accordance with everything that was in My heart, your sons (descendants) shall sit on Israel’s throne to the fourth generation.”

This is [the fulfillment of] the word of the Lord which He spoke to Jehu, saying, “Your sons (descendants) shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” And so it came to pass.

So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province and every city; and these days of Purim were not to cease from among the Jews, nor their memory fade from their descendants.

You, O Lord, will preserve and keep them;You will protect him from this [evil] generation forever.

There they tremble with great fear,For God is with the [consistently] righteous generation.

Posterity will serve Him;They will tell of the Lord to the next generation.

This is the generation (description) of those who diligently seek Him and require Him as their greatest need,Who seek Your face, even [as did] Jacob. Selah.

Consider her ramparts,Go through her palaces,That you may tell the next generation [about her glory].

He shall go to the generation of his fathers;They shall never again see the light.

You will prolong the king’s life [adding days upon days];His years will be like many generations.

And even when I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not abandon me,Until I declare Your [mighty] strength to this generation,Your power to all who are to come.

If I had said, “I will say this,” [and expressed my feelings],I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.

We will not hide them from their children,But [we will] tell to the generation to come the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,And [tell of] His great might and power and the wonderful works that He has done.

That the generation to come might know them, that the children still to be bornMay arise and recount them to their children,

And not be like their fathers—A stubborn and rebellious generation,A generation that did not prepare its heart to know and follow God,And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Why should the [Gentile] nations say, “Where is their God?”Let there be known [without delay] among the nations in our sight [and to this generation],Your vengeance for the blood of Your servants which has been poured out.

So we Your people, the sheep of Your pasture,Will give You thanks forever;We will declare and publish Your praise from generation to generation.

I will sing of the goodness and lovingkindness of the Lord forever;With my mouth I will make known Your faithfulness from generation to generation.

“For forty years I was grieved and disgusted with that generation,And I said, ‘They are a people who err in their heart,And they do not acknowledge or regard My ways.’

Let this be recorded for the generation to come,That a people yet to be created will praise the Lord.

Let his descendants be cut off,And in the following generation let their name be blotted out.

His descendants will be mighty on earth;The generation of the upright will be blessed.

Your faithfulness continues from generation to generation;You have established the earth, and it stands [securely].

One generation shall praise Your works to another,And shall declare Your mighty and remarkable acts.

The Lord shall reign forever,Your God, O Zion, to all generations.Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

One generation goes and another generation comes,But the earth remains forever.

Babylon will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there,Nor will the shepherds let their sheep lie down there.

The burning will not be quenched night or day;Its smoke will go up forever.From generation to generation it will lie in ruins;No one will ever again pass through it.

The Lord has cast the lot for them,And His hand has divided and apportioned Edom to the wild beasts by measuring-line.They will possess it forever;From generation to generation they will dwell in it.

After oppression and judgment He was taken away;And as for His generation [His contemporaries], who [among them] concerned himself with the factThat He was cut off from the land of the living [by His death]For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke [of death] was due?

“O generation [that you are], consider and regard carefully the word of the Lord.Have I been a wilderness to Israel [like a land without food],A land of thick and deep darkness [like a path without light]?Why do My people say, ‘We [have broken loose and we] are free to roam [at will];We will no longer come to You’?

‘Cut off your hair [your crown, O Jerusalem] and throw it away,And take up a mournful cry on the barren heights,For the Lord has rejected and abandonedThe generation of His wrath.’

“Therefore wild beasts of the desert will live there [in Babylon] with the jackals;The ostriches also will live there,And it will never again be inhabited [with people]Or lived in from generation to generation.

But You, O Lord, reign forever;Your throne endures from generation to [all] generations.

“How great are His signsAnd how mighty are His wonders!His kingdom is an everlasting kingdomAnd His dominion is from generation to generation.

“But at the end of the days [that is, at the seven periods of time], I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my understanding and reason returned to me; and I blessed the Most High [God] and I praised and honored and glorified Him who lives forever,For His dominion is an everlasting dominion;And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

Tell your children about it,And let your children tell their children,And their children the next generation.

But Judah shall be inhabited foreverAnd Jerusalem from generation to generation.