The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. ² And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in ^(A)the land of Shinar and settled there. ³ And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, ^(B)and bitumen for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower ^(C)with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” ⁵ And ^(D)the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. ⁶ And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, ^(E)let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.” ⁸ So ^(F)the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. ⁹ Therefore its name was called ^(G)Babel, because there the Lord confused^[a] the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

Shem's Descendants

^10 (H)These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. ¹¹ And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹² When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah. ¹³ And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁴ When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber. ¹⁵ And Shelah lived after he fathered Eber 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁶ When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg. ¹⁷ And Eber lived after he fathered Peleg 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁸ When Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu. ¹⁹ And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁰ When Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug. ²¹ And Reu lived after he fathered Serug 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

²² When Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor. ²³ And Serug lived after he fathered Nahor 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁴ When ^(I)Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah. ²⁵ And Nahor lived after he fathered Terah 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁶ When ^(J)Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Terah's Descendants

²⁷ Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. ²⁸ Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹ And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was ^(K)Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, ^(L)Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. ³⁰ Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.

³¹ Terah ^(M)took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth together ^(N)from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. ³² The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.

The Call of Abram

12 Now ^(O)the Lord said^[b] to Abram, “Go from your country^[c] and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. ^2 (P)And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ^3 (Q)I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and ^(R)in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”^[d]

⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from ^(S)Haran. ⁵ And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, ⁶ Abram ^(T)passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to ^(U)the oak^[e] of ^(V)Moreh. At that time ^(W)the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷ Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ^(X)“To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸ From there he moved to the hill country on the east of ^(Y)Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. ⁹ And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

¹⁰ Now ^(Z)there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹ When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, ¹² and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they ^(AA)will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³ Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” ¹⁴ When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. ¹⁶ And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

¹⁷ But the Lord ^(AB)afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. ¹⁸ So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” ²⁰ And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

Abram and Lot Separate

13 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, ^(AC)into the Negeb.

^2 (AD)Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³ And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to ^(AE)the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.

The Sermon on the Mount

5 Seeing the crowds, ^(A)he went up on the mountain, and when he ^(B)sat down, his disciples came to him.

The Beatitudes

² And ^(C)he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

^3 (D)“Blessed are ^(E)the poor in spirit, for ^(F)theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are ^(G)those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the ^(H)meek, for they ^(I)shall inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and ^(J)thirst ^(K)for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷ “Blessed are ^(L)the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are ^(M)the pure in heart, for ^(N)they shall see God.

⁹ “Blessed are ^(O)the peacemakers, for ^(P)they shall be called ^(Q)sons^[a] of God.

^10 (R)“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for ^(S)theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

^11 (T)“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely ^(U)on my account. ^12 (V)Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for ^(W)so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Salt and Light

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, ^(X)but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

^14 (Y)“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ^15 (Z)Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so ^(AA)that^[b] they may see your good works and ^(AB)give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Christ Came to Fulfill the Law

^17 (AC)“Do not think that I have come to abolish ^(AD)the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but ^(AE)to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly, I say to you, ^(AF)until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ^19 (AG)Therefore whoever relaxes ^(AH)one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least ^(AI)in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great ^(AJ)in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds ^(AK)that of the scribes and Pharisees, you ^(AL)will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Anger

^21 (AM)“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ^(AN)‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable ^(AO)to judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that ^(AP)everyone who is angry with his brother^[c] will be liable ^(AQ)to judgment; whoever insults^[d] his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to ^(AR)the hell^[e] of fire. ^23 (AS)So if ^(AT)you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ^25 (AU)Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. ²⁶ Truly, I say to you, ^(AV)you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.^[f]

Lead Me in Your Righteousness

To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.