'One' in the Bible

God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry ground appear." It was so.

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."

When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.

And the Lord God said, "Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."

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."

On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat.

From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to its language, according to their families, by their nations.

Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's name was Joktan.

Then they said to one another, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." (They had brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar.)

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.

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."

But the land could not support them while they were living side by side. Because their possessions were so great, they were not able to live alongside one another.

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."

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

So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "Here I have seen one who sees me!"

Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants.

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.

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.

Look, this town over here is close enough to escape to, and it's just a little one. Let me go there. It's just a little place, isn't it? Then I'll survive."

So they made their father drunk that night as well, and the younger one came and had sexual relations with him. But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up.

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

When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved the child under one of the shrubs.

God said, "Take your son -- your only son, whom you love, Isaac -- and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you."

Because you have obeyed me, all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.'"

Abraham said to his servant, the senior one in his household who was in charge of everything he had, "Put your hand under my thigh

I will say to a young woman, 'Please lower your jar so I may drink.' May the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac reply, 'Drink, and I'll give your camels water too.' In this way I will know that you have been faithful to my master."

Then she will reply to me, "Drink, and I'll draw water for your camels too." May that woman be the one whom the Lord has chosen for my master's son.'

and the Lord said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from within you. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger."

I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.

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!"

Esau said to his father, "Do you have only that one blessing, my father? Bless me too!" Then Esau wept loudly.

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?"

Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am deeply depressed because of these daughters of Heth. If Jacob were to marry one of these daughters of Heth who live in this land, I would want to die!"

He reached a certain place where he decided to camp because the sun had gone down. He took one of the stones and placed it near his head. Then he fell asleep in that place

Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using your name and that of your descendants.

(Now Laban had two daughters; the older one was named Leah, and the younger one Rachel.

Complete my older daughter's bridal week. Then we will give you the younger one too, in exchange for seven more years of work."

She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, "Because the Lord heard that I was unloved, he gave me this one too." So she named him Simeon.

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:

If the God of my father -- the God of Abraham, the one whom Isaac fears -- had not been with me, you would certainly have sent me away empty-handed! But God saw how I was oppressed and how hard I worked, and he rebuked you last night."

It was also called Mizpah because he said, "May the Lord watch between us when we are out of sight of one another.

If you mistreat my daughters or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one else is with us, realize that God is witness to your actions."

"If Esau attacks one camp," he thought, "then the other camp will be able to escape."

He entrusted them to his servants, who divided them into herds. He told his servants, "Pass over before me, and keep some distance between one herd and the next."

We will give you our consent on this one condition: You must become like us by circumcising all your males.

Then we will give you our daughters to marry, and we will take your daughters as wives for ourselves, and we will live among you and become one people.

Only on this one condition will these men consent to live with us and become one people: They demand that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised.

They said to one another, "Here comes this master of dreams!

Come now, let's kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and then say that a wild animal ate him. Then we'll see how his dreams turn out!"

Now in Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard.

While they were bringing her out, she sent word to her father-in-law: "I am pregnant by the man to whom these belong." Then she said, "Identify the one to whom the seal, cord, and staff belong."

While she was giving birth, one child put out his hand, and the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his hand, saying, "This one came out first."

Afterward his brother came out -- the one who had the scarlet thread on his hand -- and he was named Zerah.

There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?"

One day he went into the house to do his work when none of the household servants were there in the house.

They told him, "We both had dreams, but there is no one to interpret them." Joseph responded, "Don't interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me."

Then he fell asleep again and had a second dream: There were seven heads of grain growing on one stalk, healthy and good.

In the morning he was troubled, so he called for all the diviner-priests of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.

We each had a dream one night; each of us had a dream with its own meaning.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard about you, that you can interpret dreams."

When they had eaten them, no one would have known that they had done so, for they were just as bad-looking as before. Then I woke up.

I also saw in my dream seven heads of grain growing on one stalk, full and good.

The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. So I told all this to the diviner-priests, but no one could tell me its meaning."

So Pharaoh asked his officials, "Can we find a man like Joseph, one in whom the Spirit of God is present?"

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning as you are!

Pharaoh also said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, but without your permission no one will move his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt."

Now Joseph was the ruler of the country, the one who sold grain to all the people of the country. Joseph's brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

We are all the sons of one man; we are honest men! Your servants are not spies."

They replied, "Your servants are from a family of twelve brothers. We are the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is with our father at this time, and one is no longer alive."

One of you must go and get your brother, while the rest of you remain in prison. In this way your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!"

If you are honest men, leave one of your brothers confined here in prison while the rest of you go and take grain back for your hungry families.

They said to one other, "Surely we're being punished because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress has come on us!"

When one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey at their resting place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack.

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?"

We are from a family of twelve brothers; we are the sons of one father. One is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father at this time in the land of Canaan.'

"Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, 'This is how I will find out if you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for your hungry households and go.

Israel said, "Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had one more brother?"

He asked them how they were doing. Then he said, "Is your aging father well, the one you spoke about? Is he still alive?"

If one of us has it, he will die, and the rest of us will become my lord's slaves!"

He replied, "You have suggested your own punishment! The one who has it will become my slave, but the rest of you will go free."

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."

We said to my lord, 'We have an aged father, and there is a young boy who was born when our father was old. The boy's brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother's sons left, and his father loves him.'

If you take this one from me too and an accident happens to him, then you will bring down my gray hair in tragedy to the grave.'

Joseph was no longer able to control himself before all his attendants, so he cried out, "Make everyone go out from my presence!" No one remained with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers.

You and my brother Benjamin can certainly see with your own eyes that I really am the one who speaks to you.

He gave sets of clothes to each one of them, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five sets of clothes.

Joseph made all the people slaves from one end of Egypt's border to the other end of it.

As one who is above your brothers, I give to you the mountain slope, which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow."

Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.

But his bow will remain steady, and his hands will be skillful; because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah,

Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself by the Nile, while her attendants were walking alongside the river, and she saw the basket among the reeds. She sent one of her attendants, took it,

opened it, and saw the child -- a boy, crying! -- and she felt compassion for him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children."

In those days, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and observed their hard labor, and he saw an Egyptian man attacking a Hebrew man, one of his own people.

He looked this way and that and saw that no one was there, and then he attacked the Egyptian and concealed the body in the sand.

When he went out the next day, there were two Hebrew men fighting. So he said to the one who was in the wrong, "Why are you attacking your fellow Hebrew?"

Every woman will ask her neighbor and the one who happens to be staying in her house for items of silver and gold and for clothing. You will put these articles on your sons and daughters -- thus you will plunder Egypt!"

Now Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' households of Levi according to their clans.

He said, "Tomorrow." And Moses said, "It will be as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.