Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.

So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh.

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,

Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

But the Lord said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.

When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him,

He also said, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem.

May God extend Japheth’s territory; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”

As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth.

Abram in Egypt

Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.

But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together.

Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom.

Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”

The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.

The Three Visitors

The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.

He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by.

Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree.

He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?” He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”

Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”