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The Dispersion of the Nations at Babel
11 The whole earth[a] had a common language and a common vocabulary.[b] 2 When the people[c] moved eastward,[d] they found a plain in Shinar[e] and settled there. 3 Then they said to one another,[f] “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.”[g] (They had brick instead of stone and tar[h] instead of mortar.)[i] 4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens[j] so that[k] we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise[l] we will be scattered[m] across the face of the entire earth.”
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people[n] had started[o] building. 6 And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language[p] they have begun to do this, then[q] nothing they plan to do will be beyond them.[r] 7 Come, let’s go down and confuse[s] their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.”[t]
8 So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building[u] the city. 9 That is why its name was called[v] Babel[w]—because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.
The Genealogy of Shem
10 This is the account of Shem.
Shem was 100 years old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood. 11 And after becoming the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other[x] sons and daughters.
12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. 13 And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other[y] sons and daughters.[z]
14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. 15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. 17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. 19 And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. 21 And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. 23 And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. 25 And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
26 When Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
The Record of Terah
27 This is the account of Terah.
Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 28 Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans,[aa] while his father Terah was still alive.[ab] 29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai.[ac] And the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah;[ad] she was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no children.
31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there. 32 The lifetime[ae] of Terah was 205 years, and he[af] died in Haran.
The Obedience of Abram
12 Now the Lord said[ag] to Abram,[ah]
“Go out[ai] from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household
to the land that I will show you.[aj]
2 Then I will make you[ak] into a great nation, and I will bless you,[al]
and I will make your name great,[am]
so that you will exemplify divine blessing.[an]
3 I will bless those who bless you,[ao]
but the one who treats you lightly[ap] I must curse,
so that all the families of the earth may receive blessing[aq] through you.”
4 So Abram left,[ar] just as the Lord had told him to do,[as] and Lot went with him. (Now[at] Abram was 75 years old[au] when he departed from Haran.) 5 And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew[av] Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired[aw] in Haran, and they left for[ax] the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan.
6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the oak tree[ay] of Moreh[az] at Shechem.[ba] (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.)[bb] 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants[bc] I will give this land.” So Abram[bd] built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
8 Then he moved from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and worshiped the Lord.[be] 9 Abram continually journeyed by stages[bf] down to the Negev.[bg]
The Promised Blessing Jeopardized
10 There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt[bh] to stay for a while[bi] because the famine was severe.[bj] 11 As he approached[bk] Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look,[bl] I know that you are a beautiful woman.[bm] 12 When the Egyptians see you they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will keep you alive.[bn] 13 So tell them[bo] you are my sister[bp] so that it may go well[bq] for me because of you and my life will be spared[br] on account of you.”
14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife[bs] was taken[bt] into the household of Pharaoh,[bu] 16 and he did treat Abram well[bv] on account of her. Abram received[bw] sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe diseases[bx] because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, “What is this[by] you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her[bz] to be my wife?[ca] Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!”[cb] 20 Pharaoh gave his men orders about Abram,[cc] and so they expelled him, along with his wife and all his possessions.
Abram’s Solution to the Strife
13 So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev.[cd] He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot.[ce] 2 (Now Abram was very wealthy[cf] in livestock, silver, and gold.)[cg]
3 And he journeyed from place to place[ch] from the Negev as far as Bethel. He returned[ci] to the place where he had pitched his tent[cj] at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai. 4 This was the place where he had first built the altar,[ck] and there Abram worshiped the Lord.[cl]
The Beatitudes
5 When[a] he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain.[b] After he sat down his disciples came to him. 2 Then[c] he began to teach[d] them by saying:
3 “Blessed[e] are the poor in spirit,[f] for the kingdom of heaven belongs[g] to them.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.[h]
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger[i] and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children[j] of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
11 “Blessed are you when people[k] insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely[l] on account of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.
Salt and Light
13 “You are the salt[m] of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor,[n] how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people! 14 You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 People[o] do not light a lamp and put it under a basket[p] but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.
Fulfillment of the Law and Prophets
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them.[q] 18 I[r] tell you the truth,[s] until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter[t] will pass from the law until everything takes place. 19 So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others[u] to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law[v] and the Pharisees,[w] you will never enter the kingdom of heaven!
Anger and Murder
21 “You have heard that it was said to an older generation,[x] ‘Do not murder,’[y] and ‘whoever murders will be subjected to judgment.’[z] 22 But I say to you that anyone who is angry with a brother[aa] will be subjected to judgment. And whoever insults[ab] a brother will be brought before[ac] the council,[ad] and whoever says ‘Fool’[ae] will be sent[af] to fiery hell.[ag] 23 So then, if you bring your gift to the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother and then come and present your gift. 25 Reach agreement[ah] quickly with your accuser while on the way to court,[ai] or he[aj] may hand you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the warden, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 I tell you the truth,[ak] you will never get out of there until you have paid the last penny![al]
Psalm 5[a]
For the music director, to be accompanied by wind instruments;[b] a psalm of David.
5 Listen to what I say,[c] Lord!
Carefully consider my complaint![d]
2 Pay attention to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for I am praying to you!
3 Lord, in the morning[e] you will hear[f] me;[g]
in the morning I will present my case to you[h] and then wait expectantly for an answer.[i]
4 Certainly[j] you are not a God who approves of evil;[k]
evil people[l] cannot dwell with you.[m]
5 Arrogant people cannot stand in your presence;[n]
you hate[o] all who behave wickedly.[p]
6 You destroy[q] liars;[r]
the Lord despises[s] violent and deceitful people.[t]
7 But as for me,[u] because of your great faithfulness I will enter your house;[v]
I will bow down toward your holy temple as I worship you.[w]
8 Lord, lead me in your righteousness[x]
because of those who wait to ambush me,[y]
remove the obstacles in the way in which you are guiding me.[z]
9 For[aa] they do not speak the truth;[ab]
their stomachs are like the place of destruction,[ac]
their throats like an open grave,[ad]
their tongues like a steep slope leading into it.[ae]
10 Condemn them,[af] O God!
May their own schemes be their downfall.[ag]
Drive them away[ah] because of their many acts of insurrection,[ai]
for they have rebelled against you.
11 But may all who take shelter[aj] in you be happy.[ak]
May they continually[al] shout for joy.[am]
Shelter them[an] so that those who are loyal to you[ao] may rejoice.[ap]
12 Certainly[aq] you reward[ar] the godly,[as] Lord.
Like a shield you protect[at] them[au] in your good favor.[av]
24 However,[a] because[b] I called but you refused to listen,[c]
because[d] I stretched out my hand[e] but no one was paying attention,[f]
25 and you neglected[g] all my advice,
and did not comply[h] with my rebuke,
26 so[i] I myself will laugh[j] when disaster strikes you,[k]
I will mock when what you dread[l] comes,
27 when what you dread[m] comes like a whirlwind,[n]
and disaster strikes you[o] like a devastating storm,[p]
when distressing trouble[q] comes on you.
28 Then they will call to me, but I will not answer;
they will diligently seek[r] me, but they will not find me.
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