'Generations' in the Bible
This is the book (the written record, the history) of the generations of [the descendants of] Adam. When God created man, He made him in the likeness of God [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness].
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.
And God said, “This is the token (visible symbol, memorial) of the [solemn] covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations;
These are the records of the generations (descendants) of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and the sons born to them after the flood:
These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their descendants, by their nations; and from these [people] the nations were separated and spread abroad on the earth after the flood.
These are the records of the generations of Shem [from whom Abraham descended]. Shem was a hundred years old when he became the father of Arpachshad, two years after the flood.
I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.
Further, God said to Abraham, “As for you [your part of the agreement], you shall keep and faithfully obey [the terms of] My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
Every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, [including] a servant whether born in the house or one who is purchased with [your] money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants.
Then God also said to Moses, “This is what you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Israel), has sent me to you.’ This is My Name forever, and this is My memorial [name] to all generations.
The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their generations.
‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as an ordinance forever.
You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I brought your hosts [grouped according to tribal armies] out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an ordinance forever.
It is a night of watching to be observed for the Lord for having brought them out of the land of Egypt; this [same] night is for the Lord, to be observed and celebrated by all the Israelites throughout their generations.
Then Moses said, “This is the word which the Lord commands, ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.”
but showing graciousness and steadfast lovingkindness to thousands [of generations] of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
In the Tent of Meeting [of God with His people], outside the veil which is in front of the [ark of the] Testimony [and sets it apart], Aaron [the high priest] and his sons shall keep the lamp burning from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a perpetual statute [to be observed] throughout their generations on behalf of the Israelites.
This will be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there.
When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.
Once a year Aaron shall make atonement [for sin] on its horns. He shall make atonement on it with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.”
They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die; it shall be a perpetual statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations.”
You shall say to the Israelites, ‘This shall be a holy and sacred anointing oil, to Me [alone] throughout your generations.
“But as for you, say to the Israelites, ‘You shall most certainly observe My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, so that you may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that I am the Lord who sanctifies you and sets you apart [for Myself].
So the Israelites shall observe the Sabbath, to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.’
you shall anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may serve as priests to Me; and their anointing shall qualify them for an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.”
It is a permanent statute for your generations wherever you may be, that you shall not eat any fat or any blood.’”
Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it [as his share]; it is a permanent ordinance throughout your generations, from offerings by fire to the Lord. Whatever touches them will become consecrated (ceremonially clean).’”
The Lord commanded this to be given to the priests by the Israelites on the day that He anointed them. It is their portion perpetually throughout their generations.’”
“Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the Tent of Meeting, so that you will not die—it is a permanent statute throughout your generations—
So they shall no longer offer their sacrifices to goat-idols or demons or field spirits with which they have played the prostitute. This shall be a permanent statute for them throughout their generations.”’
“Say to Aaron, ‘Throughout their generations none of your descendants who has any [physical] defect shall approach [the altar] to present the food of his God.
Say to them, ‘Any one of your descendants throughout your generations who approaches the holy things which the Israelites dedicate to the Lord, while he is [ceremonially] unclean, that person shall be cut off from My presence and excluded from the sanctuary; I am the Lord.
You shall not eat any bread or roasted grain or new growth, until this same day when you bring in the offering to your God; it is a permanent statute throughout your generations wherever you may be.
On this same day you shall make a proclamation, you are to have a holy convocation (calling together); you shall not do any laborious work [on that day]. It is to be a permanent statute throughout your generations wherever you may be.
You shall do no work at all [on that day]. It is a permanent statute throughout your generations wherever you may be.
You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”
Outside the veil of the Testimony [between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place] in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron shall always keep the lamps burning before the Lord from evening until morning; it shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations.
But if it is not redeemed for him within a full year, then the house that is in the walled city passes permanently and irrevocably to the purchaser throughout his generations. It does not revert back in the Year of Jubilee.
The sons of Reuben, Israel’s (Jacob’s) firstborn, their generations, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
Of the sons of Simeon, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, their numbered men according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
Of the sons of Gad, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
Of the sons of Judah, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
Of the sons of Issachar, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
Of the sons of Zebulun, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
Of the sons of Joseph: the sons (descendants) of Ephraim, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
Of the sons of Manasseh, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
Of the sons of Benjamin, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
Of the sons of Dan, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
Of the sons of Asher, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
Of the sons of Naphtali, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
Now these are the records of the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day when the Lord spoke [by special revelation] with Moses on Mount Sinai.
The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and the trumpets shall be for you a perpetual statute throughout your generations.
If a stranger lives as a resident alien with you, or whoever may be among you throughout your generations, and he wishes to make an offering by fire, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord, just as you do, so shall he do.
As for the assembly, there shall be one [and the same] statute for you [of the congregation] and for the stranger who is a resident alien with you, a permanent statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord.
From the first of your dough (ground grain) you shall give to the Lord an offering throughout your generations.
even all that the Lord has commanded you through Moses, from the day that the Lord gave commandments and onward throughout your generations,
“Speak to the sons of Israel and tell them to make for themselves tassels on the hems of their garments throughout their generations, and put a cord of blue on the tassel of each hem.
Only the Levites shall perform the service of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, that the Levites shall have no inheritance [of land] among the children of Israel.
‘These things shall be a statute for you throughout your generations wherever you may be.
You shall not worship them or 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 the fourth generations of those who hate Me,
but showing graciousness and lovingkindness to thousands [of generations] of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Therefore know [without any doubt] and understand that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who is keeping His covenant and His [steadfast] lovingkindness to a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
“Remember the days of old,Consider the years of many generations.Ask your father, and he will inform you,Your elders, and they will tell you.
but to be a witness between us and you and between the generations after us, that we are to perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings, so that your sons (descendants) will not say to our sons in time to come, “You have no part in the Lord.”’
only in order that the generations of the sons of Israel might be taught war, at least those who had not experienced it previously).
And his brothers (relatives) by their families, in the genealogy of their generations, were the chief Jeiel, and Zechariah,
The sons of Tola: Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Samuel, heads of their fathers’ households. The sons of Tola were courageous men in their generations; their number in the days of David was 22,600.
With them by their generations according to their fathers’ households were 36,000 troops of the army for war, for they had many wives and children.
They were registered by their genealogies according to their generations, as heads of their fathers’ households, courageous men, 20,200 in number.
These [men] were heads of the fathers’ households, according to their generations, chief men who lived in Jerusalem.
and their relatives according to their generations, 956. All these men were heads of fathers’ households according to their fathers’ houses.
These were heads of fathers’ households of the Levites according to their generations, chief men, who lived in Jerusalem.
Be mindful of His covenant forever,The promise which He commanded and established to a thousand generations,
Of the Hebronites: Jerijah was the chief (these Hebronites were examined according to their descendants and fathers’ households in the fortieth [and final] year of David’s reign, and men of courage and ability were found among them at Jazer in Gilead)
After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations.
He says to himself, “I will not be moved;For throughout all generations I will not be in adversity [for nothing bad will happen to me].”
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,The thoughts and plans of His heart through all generations.
I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations;Therefore the peoples will praise and give You thanks forever and ever.
Their inward thought is that their houses will continue forever,And their dwelling places to all generations;They have named their lands after their own names [ignoring God].
You will prolong the king’s life [adding days upon days];His years will be like many generations.
Let them fear You [with awe-inspired reverence and worship You with obedience] while the sun endures,And as long as the moon [reflects light], throughout all generations.
Will You be angry with us forever?Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?
I will establish your seed foreverAnd I will build up your throne for all generations.” Selah.
Lord, You have been our dwelling place [our refuge, our sanctuary, our stability] in all generations.
For the Lord is good;His mercy and lovingkindness are everlasting,His faithfulness [endures] to all generations.
But You, O Lord, are enthroned forever [ruling eternally as sovereign];And [the fame and glory of] Your name [endures] to all generations.
I said, “O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days;Your years are [eternal] throughout all generations.
He has remembered His covenant forever,The word which He commanded and established to a thousand generations,
And that was credited to him for righteousness,To all generations forever.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
For riches are not forever,Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
There is no remembrance of earlier things,Nor also of the later things that are to come;There will be for them no remembranceBy generations who will come after them.
In the generations to come Jacob will take root;Israel will blossom and sprout,And they will fill the surface of the world with fruit.
“Who has performed and done this,Calling forth [and guiding the destinies of] the generations [of the nations] from the beginning?‘I, the Lord—the first, and with the last [existing before history began, the ever-present, unchanging God]—I am He.’”
“For the moth will eat them like a garment,And the worm will eat them like wool.But My righteousness and justice [faithfully promised] will exist forever,And My salvation to all generations.”
Awake, awake, put on strength and might, O arm of the Lord;Awake as in the ancient days, as in the generations of long ago.Was it not You who cut Rahab (Egypt) in pieces,Who pierced the dragon [of Egypt]?
“And your people will rebuild the ancient ruins;You will raise up and restore the age-old foundations [of buildings that have been laid waste];You will be called Repairer of the Breach,Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins,They will raise up and restore the former desolations;And they will renew the ruined cities,The desolations (deserted settlements) of many generations.