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Genesis 4

Cain Murders Abel

    ⁶The LORD said to Cain:

   What's wrong with you? Why do you have such an angry look on your face? ⁷If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling. ^[c] But you did the wrong thing, and now sin is waiting to attack you like a lion. Sin wants to destroy you, but don't let it! ⁸Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go for a walk." ^[d] And when they were out in a field, Cain killed him. ⁹Afterwards the LORD asked Cain, "Where is Abel?"

   "How should I know?" he answered. "Am I supposed to look after my brother?"

    ¹⁰Then the LORD said:

   Why have you done this terrible thing? You killed your own brother, and his blood flowed onto the ground. Now his blood is calling out for me to punish you. ¹¹And so, I'll put you under a curse. Because you killed Abel and made his blood run out on the ground, you will never be able to farm the land again. ¹²If you try to farm the land, it won't produce anything for you. From now on, you'll be without a home, and you'll spend the rest of your life wandering from place to place.

    ¹³"This punishment is too hard!" Cain said. ¹⁴"You're making me leave my home and live far from you. ^[e] I will have to wander about without a home, and just anyone could kill me." ¹⁵"No!" ^[f] the LORD answered. "Anyone who kills you will be punished seven times worse than I am punishing you." So the LORD put a mark on Cain to warn everyone not to kill him. ¹⁶But Cain had to go far from the LORD and live in the Land of Wandering, ^[g] which is east of Eden.

More and More People

    ¹⁹Lamech married Adah, then Zillah. ^20-21Lamech and Adah had two sons, Jabal and Jubal. Their son Jabal was the first to live in tents and raise sheep and goats. Jubal was the first to play harps and flutes.

    ²²Lamech and Zillah had a son named Tubal Cain who made tools out of bronze and iron. They also had a daughter, whose name was Naamah.

    ²³One day, Lamech said to his two wives, "A young man wounded me, and I killed him. ²⁴Anyone who tries to get even with me will be punished ten times more than anyone who tries to get even with Cain."

    ²⁵Adam and his wife had another son. They named him Seth, because they said, "God has given ^[h] us a son to take the place of Abel, who was killed by his brother Cain." ²⁶Later, Seth had a son and named him Enosh. About this time people started worshiping the LORD. ^[i]

Genesis 5

Descendants of Adam

    ^3-4When Adam was one hundred thirty, he had a son who was just like him, and he named him Seth. Adam had more children ⁵and died at the age of nine hundred thirty.

    ⁶When Seth was one hundred five, he had a son named Enosh. ⁷Seth had more children ⁸and died at the age of nine hundred twelve.

    ⁹When Enosh was ninety, he had a son named Kenan. ¹⁰Enosh had more children ¹¹and died at the age of nine hundred five.

    ¹²When Kenan was seventy, he had a son named Mahalalel. ¹³Kenan had more children ¹⁴and died at the age of nine hundred ten.

    ¹⁵When Mahalalel was sixty-five, he had a son named Jared. ¹⁶Mahalalel had more children ¹⁷and died at the age of eight hundred ninety-five.

    ¹⁸When Jared was one hundred sixty-two, he had a son named Enoch. ¹⁹Jared had more children ²⁰and died at the age of nine hundred sixty-two.

    ²¹When Enoch was sixty-five, he had a son named Methuselah, ²²and during the next three hundred years he had more children. Enoch truly loved God, ^23-24and God took him away at the age of three hundred sixty-five.

    ²⁵When Methuselah was one hundred eighty-seven, he had a son named Lamech. ²⁶Methuselah had more children ²⁷and died at the age of nine hundred sixty-nine.

    ²⁸When Lamech was one hundred eighty-two, he had a son. ²⁹Lamech said, "I'll name him Noah because he will give us comfort, ^[j] as we struggle hard to make a living on this land that the LORD has put under a curse." ³⁰Lamech had more children ³¹and died at the age of seven hundred seventy-seven. ³²After Noah was five hundred years old, he had three sons and named them Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 6

The LORD Will Send a Flood

    ⁵The LORD saw how bad the people on earth were and that everything they thought and planned was evil. ⁶He was very sorry that he had made them, ⁷and he said, "I'll destroy every living creature on earth! I'll wipe out people, animals, birds, and reptiles. I'm sorry I ever made them."

    ⁸But the LORD was pleased with Noah, ⁹and this is the story about him. Noah was the only person who lived right and obeyed God. ¹⁰He had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

    ^11-12God knew that everyone was terribly cruel and violent. ¹³So he told Noah:

   Cruelty and violence have spread everywhere. Now I'm going to destroy the whole earth and all its people. ¹⁴Get some good lumber and build a boat. Put rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out. ¹⁵Make it four hundred fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. ¹⁶Build a roof ^[n] on the boat and leave a space of about eighteen inches between the roof and the sides. ^[o] Make the boat three stories high and put a door on one side. ¹⁷I'm going to send a flood that will destroy everything that breathes! Nothing will be left alive. ¹⁸But I solemnly promise that you, your wife, your sons, and your daughters-in-law will be kept safe in the boat. ^{[p] 19-20}Bring into the boat with you a male and a female of every kind of animal and bird, as well as a male and a female of every reptile. I don't want them to be destroyed. ²¹Store up enough food both for yourself and for them.

    ²²Noah did everything the LORD told him to do.

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Matthew 2

The Wise Men

    ⁵They told him, "He will be born in Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote,

    ⁶'Bethlehem in the land

   of Judea,

   you are very important

   among the towns of Judea.

   From your town

   will come a leader,

   who will be like a shepherd

   for my people Israel.' "

    ⁷Herod secretly called in the wise men and asked them when they had first seen the star. ⁸He told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, let me know. I want to go and worship him too."

    ⁹The wise men listened to what the king said and then left. And the star they had seen in the east went on ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰They were thrilled and excited to see the star.

    ¹¹When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh ^[c] and gave them to him. ¹²Later they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they went back home by another road.

The Escape to Egypt

    ¹⁴That night, Joseph got up and took his wife and the child to Egypt, ¹⁵where they stayed until Herod died. So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, "I called my son out of Egypt."

The Killing of the Children

    ¹⁷So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet Jeremiah had said,

    ¹⁸"In Ramah a voice was heard

   crying and weeping loudly.

   Rachel was mourning

   for her children,

   and she refused

   to be comforted,

   because they were dead."

The Return from Egypt

    ²¹Joseph got up and left with them for Israel. ²²But when he heard that Herod's son Archelaus was now ruler of Judea, he was afraid to go there. Then in a dream he was told to go to Galilee, ²³and they went to live there in the town of Nazareth. So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, "He will be called a Nazarene." ^[d]