Genesis 1-20

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

Six Days of Creation and the Sabbath

1 ^[a]In the beginning God created^[b] the heavens and the earth. ²The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit^[c] of God was moving over the face of the waters.

³And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

⁶And God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. ⁸And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

⁹And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. ¹¹And God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth.” And it was so. ¹²The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ¹³And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

¹⁴And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, ¹⁵and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also. ¹⁷And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth, ¹⁸to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

²⁰And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens.” ²¹So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²²And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

²⁴And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. ²⁵And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” ²⁷So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. ²⁸And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” ²⁹And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. ³⁰And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. ³¹And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. ²And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. ³So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation.

⁴These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

Another Account of the Creation

^[d]In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, ⁵when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; ⁶but a mist^[e] went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground— ⁷then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. ⁸And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. ⁹And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. ¹¹The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Hav′ilah, where there is gold; ¹²and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. ¹³The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴And the name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphra′tes.

¹⁵The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. ¹⁶And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

¹⁸Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” ¹⁹So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. ²⁰The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper fit for him. ²¹So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; ²²and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. ²³Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,^[f]
because she was taken out of Man.”^[g]

²⁴Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh. ²⁵And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.

The First Sin and Its Punishment

3 Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” ²And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; ³but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” ⁴But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. ⁵For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. ⁷Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.

⁸And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰And he said, “I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” ¹¹He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹²The man said, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” ¹³Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.” ¹⁴The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
    cursed are you above all cattle,
    and above all wild animals;
upon your belly you shall go,
    and dust you shall eat
    all the days of your life.
¹⁵I will put enmity between you and the woman,
    and between your seed and her seed;
he shall bruise your head,^[h]
    and you shall bruise his heel.”

¹⁶To the woman he said,

“I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children,
yet your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.”

¹⁷And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife,
    and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
    ‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
    in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
¹⁸thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you;
    and you shall eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹In the sweat of your face
    you shall eat bread
till you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return.”

²⁰The man called his wife’s name Eve,^[i] because she was the mother of all living. ²¹And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them.

²²Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever”— ²³therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Cain Murders Abel

4 ^[j]Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten^[k] a man with the help of the Lord.” ²And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. ³In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, ⁴and Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, ⁵but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. ⁶The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? ⁷If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

⁸Cain said to Abel his brother, “Let us go out to the field.”^[l] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. ⁹Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. ¹¹And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹²When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” ¹³Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. ¹⁴Behold, thou hast driven me this day away from the ground; and from thy face I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will slay me.” ¹⁵Then the Lord said to him, “Not so!^[m] If any one slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him. ¹⁶Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod,^[n] east of Eden.

Beginnings of Civilization

¹⁷Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. ¹⁸To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad was the father of Mehu′ja-el, and Mehu′ja-el the father of Methu′sha-el, and Methu′sha-el the father of Lamech. ¹⁹And Lamech took two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. ²⁰Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have cattle. ²¹His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. ²²Zillah bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Na′amah.

²³Lamech said to his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
    you wives of Lamech, hearken to what I say:
I have slain a man for wounding me,
    a young man for striking me.
²⁴If Cain is avenged sevenfold,
    truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

²⁵And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another child instead of Abel, for Cain slew him.” ²⁶To Seth^[o] also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time men began to call upon the name of the Lord.

Adam’s Descendants to Noah and His Sons

5 This is the book of the generations^[p] of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. ²Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. ³When Adam had lived a hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. ⁴The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years; and he had other sons and daughters. ⁵Thus all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.

⁶When Seth had lived a hundred and five years, he became the father of Enosh. ⁷Seth lived after the birth of Enosh eight hundred and seven years, and had other sons and daughters. ⁸Thus all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died.

⁹When Enosh had lived ninety years, he became the father of Kenan. ¹⁰Enosh lived after the birth of Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years, and had other sons and daughters. ¹¹Thus all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died.

¹²When Kenan had lived seventy years, he became the father of Mahal′alel. ¹³Kenan lived after the birth of Mahal′alel eight hundred and forty years, and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁴Thus all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.

¹⁵When Mahal′alel had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Jared. ¹⁶Mahal′alel lived after the birth of Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁷Thus all the days of Mahal′alel were eight hundred and ninety-five years; and he died.

¹⁸When Jared had lived a hundred and sixty-two years he became the father of Enoch. ¹⁹Jared lived after the birth of Enoch eight hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. ²⁰Thus all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died.

²¹When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Methu′selah. ²²Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methu′selah three hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. ²³Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. ²⁴Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

²⁵When Methu′selah had lived a hundred and eighty-seven years, he became the father of Lamech. ²⁶Methu′selah lived after the birth of Lamech seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had other sons and daughters. ²⁷Thus all the days of Methu′selah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died.

²⁸When Lamech had lived a hundred and eighty-two years, he became the father of a son, ²⁹and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground which the Lord has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the toil of our hands.” ³⁰Lamech lived after the birth of Noah five hundred and ninety-five years, and had other sons and daughters. ³¹Thus all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died.

³²After Noah was five hundred years old, Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The Wickedness of Mankind

6 When men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, ²the sons of God^[q] saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took to wife such of them as they chose. ³Then the Lord said, “My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.” ⁴The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.

⁵The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. ⁷So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah Pleases God

⁹These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God. ¹⁰And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹^[r]Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹²And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. ¹³And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh; for the earth is filled with violence through them; behold, I will destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. ¹⁵This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. ¹⁶Make a roof^[s] for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and set the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks. ¹⁷For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall die. ¹⁸But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. ²⁰Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you, to keep them alive. ²¹Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them.” ²²Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

The Great Flood

7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. ²Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate; ³and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their kind alive upon the face of all the earth. ⁴For in seven days I will send rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” ⁵And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

⁶Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. ⁷And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark, to escape the waters of the flood. ⁸Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, ⁹two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

¹¹In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. ¹²And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. ¹³On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, ¹⁴they and every beast according to its kind, and all the cattle according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, every bird of every sort. ¹⁵They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. ¹⁶And they that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.

¹⁷The flood continued forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. ¹⁸The waters prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark floated on the face of the waters. ¹⁹And the waters prevailed so mightily upon the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered; ²⁰the waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. ²¹And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, birds, cattle, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm upon the earth, and every man; ²²everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. ²³He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the air; they were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark. ²⁴And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.

The Flood Subsides

8 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided; ²the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, ³and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters had abated; ⁴and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ar′arat. ⁵And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

⁶At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made, ⁷and sent forth a raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. ⁸Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground; ⁹but the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put forth his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. ¹⁰He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; ¹¹and the dove came back to him in the evening, and lo, in her mouth a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. ¹²Then he waited another seven days, and sent forth the dove; and she did not return to him any more.

¹³In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. ¹⁴In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. ¹⁵Then God said to Noah, ¹⁶“Go forth from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁷Bring forth with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply upon the earth.” ¹⁸So Noah went forth, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. ¹⁹And every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves upon the earth, went forth by families out of the ark.

God’s Promise to Noah

²⁰Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹And when the Lord smelled the pleasing odor, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done. ²²While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

The Covenant With Noah

9 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. ²The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the air, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered. ³Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. ⁴Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. ⁵For your lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning; of every beast I will require it and of man; of every man’s brother I will require the life of man. ⁶Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image. ⁷And you, be fruitful and multiply, bring forth abundantly on the earth and multiply in it.”

⁸Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ⁹“Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you, ¹⁰and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.^[t] ¹¹I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” ¹²And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: ¹³I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, ¹⁵I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶When the bow is in the clouds, I will look upon it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.” ¹⁷God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.”

Noah and His Sons

¹⁸The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. ¹⁹These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole earth was peopled.

²⁰Noah was the first tiller of the soil. He planted a vineyard; ²¹and he drank of the wine, and became drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent. ²²And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. ²³Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. ²⁴When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, ²⁵he said,

“Cursed be Canaan;
a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers.”

²⁶He also said,

“Blessed by the Lord my God be Shem;^[u]
    and let Canaan be his slave.
²⁷God enlarge Japheth,
    and let him dwell in the tents of Shem;
    and let Canaan be his slave.”

²⁸After the flood Noah lived three hundred and fifty years. ²⁹All the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.

Nations Descended from Noah

10 These are the generations^[v] of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth; sons were born to them after the flood.

²The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. ³The sons of Gomer: Ash′kenaz, Riphath, and Togar′mah. ⁴The sons of Javan: Eli′shah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Do′danim. ⁵From these the coastland peoples spread. These are the sons of Japheth^[w] in their lands, each with his own language, by their families, in their nations.

⁶The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. ⁷The sons of Cush: Seba, Hav′ilah, Sabtah, Ra′amah, and Sab′teca. The sons of Ra′amah: Sheba and Dedan. ⁸Cush became the father of Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man. ⁹He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.” ¹⁰The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, and Accad, all of them in the land of Shinar. ¹¹From that land he went into Assyria, and built Nin′eveh, Reho′both-Ir, Calah, and ¹²Resen between Nin′eveh and Calah; that is the great city. ¹³Egypt became the father of Ludim, An′amim, Leha′bim, Naph-tu′him, ¹⁴Pathru′sim, Caslu′him (whence came the Philistines), and Caph′torim.

¹⁵Canaan became the father of Sidon his first-born, and Heth, ¹⁶and the Jeb′usites, the Amorites, the Gir′gashites, ¹⁷the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, ¹⁸the Ar′vadites, the Zem′arites, and the Ha′mathites. Afterward the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. ¹⁹And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon, in the direction of Gerar, as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomor′rah, Admah, and Zeboi′im, as far as Lasha. ²⁰These are the sons of Ham, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

²¹To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. ²²The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpach′shad, Lud, and Aram. ²³The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. ²⁴Arpach′shad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber. ²⁵To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg,^[x] for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan. ²⁶Joktan became the father of Almo′dad, Sheleph, Hazarma′veth, Jerah, ²⁷Hador′am, Uzal, Diklah, ²⁸Obal, Abim′a-el, Sheba, ²⁹Ophir, Hav′ilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. ³⁰The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar to the hill country of the east. ³¹These are the sons of Shem, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

³²These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations; and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.

The Tower of Babel

11 ^[y]Now the whole earth had one language and few words. ²And as men migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. ³And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. ⁴Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” ⁵And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built. ⁶And 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. ⁷Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. ⁹Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused^[z] the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Descendants of Shem

¹⁰These are the descendants of Shem. When Shem was a hundred years old, he became the father of Arpach′shad two years after the flood; ¹¹and Shem lived after the birth of Arpach′shad five hundred years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹²When Arpach′shad had lived thirty-five years, he became the father of Shelah; ¹³and Arpach′shad lived after the birth of Shelah four hundred and three years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁴When Shelah had lived thirty years, he became the father of Eber; ¹⁵and Shelah lived after the birth of Eber four hundred and three years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁶When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he became the father of Peleg; ¹⁷and Eber lived after the birth of Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁸When Peleg had lived thirty years, he became the father of Re′u; ¹⁹and Peleg lived after the birth of Re′u two hundred and nine years, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁰When Re′u had lived thirty-two years, he became the father of Serug; ²¹and Re′u lived after the birth of Serug two hundred and seven years, and had other sons and daughters.

²²When Serug had lived thirty years, he became the father of Nahor; ²³and Serug lived after the birth of Nahor two hundred years, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁴When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he became the father of Terah; ²⁵and Nahor lived after the birth of Terah a hundred and nineteen years, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁶When Terah had lived seventy years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Descendants of Terah

²⁷Now these are the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot. ²⁸Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chal′deans. ²⁹And Abram and Nahor took wives; the name of Abram’s wife was Sar′ai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. ³⁰Now Sar′ai was barren; she had no child.

³¹Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sar′ai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chalde′ans to go into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there. ³²The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.

The Call of Abram

12 ^[aa]Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ²And 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. ³I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.”^[ab]

⁴So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵And Abram took Sar′ai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions which they had gathered, and the persons that they had gotten in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, ⁶Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak^[ac] of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸Thence he removed to the mountain on the east of 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 on the name of the Lord. ⁹And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

¹⁰Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sar′ai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful to behold; ¹²and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; then they will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared on your account.” ¹⁴When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, he-asses, menservants, maidservants, she-asses, and camels.

¹⁷But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sar′ai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸So Pharaoh called Abram, and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her, and be gone.” ²⁰And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him; and they set him on the way, 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, into the Negeb.

²Now Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. ³And 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, ⁴to the place where he had made an altar at the first; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. ⁵And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, ⁶so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, ⁷and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle. At that time the Canaanites and the Per′izzites dwelt in the land.

⁸Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen; for we are kinsmen. ⁹Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” ¹⁰And Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw that the Jordan valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zo′ar; this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomor′rah. ¹¹So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan valley, and Lot journeyed east; thus they separated from each other. ¹²Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, while Lot dwelt among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. ¹³Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.

¹⁴The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; ¹⁵for all the land which you see I will give to you and to your descendants for ever. ¹⁶I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your descendants also can be counted. ¹⁷Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” ¹⁸So Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt by the oaks^[ad] of Mamre, which are at Hebron; and there he built an altar to the Lord.

Lot’s Captivity and Rescue

14 In the days of Am′raphel king of Shinar, Ar′ioch king of Ella′sar, Ched-or-lao′mer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goi′im, ²these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomor′rah, Shinab king of Admah, Sheme′ber king of Zeboi′im, and the king of Bela (that is, Zo′ar). ³And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). ⁴Twelve years they had served Ched-or-lao′mer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵In the fourteenth year Ched-or-lao′mer and the kings who were with him came and subdued the Reph′aim in Ash′teroth-karna′im, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Sha′veh-kiriatha′im, ⁶and the Horites in their Mount Se′ir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness; ⁷then they turned back and came to En-mish′pat (that is, Kadesh), and subdued all the country of the Amal′ekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Haz′azon-ta′mar. ⁸Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomor′rah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboi′im, and the king of Bela (that is, Zo′ar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim ⁹with Ched-or-lao′mer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goi′im, Am′raphel king of Shinar, and Ar′ioch king of Ella′sar, four kings against five. ¹⁰Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits; and as the kings of Sodom and Gomor′rah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the mountain. ¹¹So the enemy took all the goods of Sodom and Gomor′rah, and all their provisions, and went their way; ¹²they also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

¹³Then one who had escaped came, and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks^[ae] of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner; these were allies of Abram. ¹⁴When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. ¹⁵And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. ¹⁶Then he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his goods, and the women and the people.

Abram Blessed by Melchizedek

¹⁷After his return from the defeat of Ched-or-lao′mer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). ¹⁸And Melchiz′edek^[af] king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. ¹⁹And he blessed him and said,

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
maker of heaven and earth;
²⁰and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”

And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. ²¹And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” ²²But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the Lord God Most High, maker of heaven and earth, ²³that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ ²⁴I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me; let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”

God’s Covenant with Abram

15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”^[ag] ²But Abram said, “O Lord God, what wilt thou give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Elie′zer of Damascus?” ³And Abram said, “Behold, thou hast given me no offspring; and a slave born in my house will be my heir.” ⁴And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; your own son shall be your heir.” ⁵And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” ⁶And he believed the Lord; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness.

⁷And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chalde′ans, to give you this land to possess.” ⁸But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” ⁹He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰And he brought him all these, cut them in two, and laid each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. ¹¹And when birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

¹²As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram; and lo, a dread and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know of a surety that your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years; ¹⁴but I will bring judgment on the nation which they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. ¹⁶And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

¹⁷When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. ¹⁸On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphra′tes, ¹⁹the land of the Ken′ites, the Ken′izzites, the Kad′monites, ²⁰the Hittites, the Per′izzites, the Reph′aim, ²¹the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Gir′gashites and the Jeb′usites.”

The Birth of Ishmael

16 Now Sar′ai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar; ²and Sar′ai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my maid; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sar′ai. ³So, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, Sar′ai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. ⁴And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived;^[ah] and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. ⁵And Sar′ai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my maid to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” ⁶But Abram said to Sar′ai, “Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sar′ai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

⁷The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸And he said, “Hagar, maid of Sar′ai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sar′ai.” ⁹The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her.” ¹⁰The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will so greatly multiply your descendants that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” ¹¹And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are with child, and shall bear a son; you shall call his name Ish′mael;^[ai] because the Lord has given heed to your affliction. ¹²He shall be a wild ass of a man, his hand against every man and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” ¹³So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “Thou art a God of seeing”; for she said, “Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him?”^[aj] ¹⁴Therefore the well was called Beer-la′hai-roi;^[ak] it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵And Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ish′mael. ¹⁶Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ish′mael to Abram.

The Sign of the Covenant

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty;^[al] walk before me, and be blameless. ²And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” ³Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, ⁴“Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵No longer shall your name be Abram,^[am] but your name shall be Abraham;^[an] for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. ⁷And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. ⁸And I will give to you, and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

⁹And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹²He that is eight days old among you shall be circumcised; every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house, or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, ¹³both he that is born in your house and he that is bought with your money, shall be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

¹⁵And God said to Abraham, “As for Sar′ai your wife, you shall not call her name Sar′ai, but Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her; I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” ¹⁷Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” ¹⁸And Abraham said to God, “O that Ish′mael might live in thy sight!” ¹⁹God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac.^[ao] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasing covenant for his descendants after him. ²⁰As for Ish′mael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him and make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. ²¹But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year.”

²²When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. ²³Then Abraham took Ish′mael his son and all the slaves born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. ²⁴Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵And Ish′mael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶That very day Abraham and his son Ish′mael were circumcised; ²⁷and all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

A Son Promised to Abraham and Sarah

18 And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks^[ap] of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. ²He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth, ³and said, “My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. ⁴Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, ⁵while I fetch a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” ⁶And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures^[aq] of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.” ⁷And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. ⁸Then he took curds, and milk, and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

⁹They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” ¹⁰The Lord said, “I will surely return to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. ¹¹Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. ¹²So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” ¹³The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ ¹⁴Is anything too hard^[ar] for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, in the spring, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁵But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

Judgment Pronounced on Sodom

¹⁶Then the men set out from there, and they looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to set them on their way. ¹⁷The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, ¹⁸seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him?^[as] ¹⁹No, for I have chosen^[at] him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice; so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” ²⁰Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomor′rah is great and their sin is very grave, ²¹I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know.”

²²So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom; but Abraham still stood before the Lord. ²³Then Abraham drew near, and said, “Wilt thou indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt thou then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵Far be it from thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from thee! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” ²⁶And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” ²⁷Abraham answered, “Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. ²⁸Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Wilt thou destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” ²⁹Again he spoke to him, and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” ³⁰Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” ³¹He said, “Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” ³²Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” ³³And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

The Depravity of Sodom

19 ^[au]The two angels came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed himself with his face to the earth, ²and said, “My lords, turn aside, I pray you, to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the street.” ³But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. ⁴But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house; ⁵and they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” ⁶Lot went out of the door to the men, shut the door after him, ⁷and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. ⁸Behold, I have two daughters who have not known man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please; only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” ⁹But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he would play the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door. ¹⁰But the men put forth their hands and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. ¹¹And they struck with blindness the men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves groping for the door.

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

¹²Then the men said to Lot, “Have you any one else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or any one you have in the city, bring them out of the place; ¹³for we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” ¹⁴So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up, get out of this place; for the Lord is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.

¹⁵When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” ¹⁶But he lingered; so the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him forth and set him outside the city. ¹⁷And when they had brought them forth, they^[av] said, “Flee for your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley; flee to the hills, lest you be consumed.” ¹⁸And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords; ¹⁹behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life; but I cannot flee to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me, and I die. ²⁰Behold, yonder city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!” ²¹He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. ²²Make haste, escape there; for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zo′ar.^[aw] ²³The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zo′ar.

²⁴Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomor′rah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; ²⁵and he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. ²⁶But Lot’s wife behind him looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. ²⁷And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord; ²⁸and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomor′rah and toward all the land of the valley, and beheld, and lo, smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.

²⁹So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.

The Shameful Origin of Moab and Ammon

³⁰Now Lot went up out of Zo′ar, and dwelt in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to dwell in Zo′ar; so he dwelt in a cave with his two daughters. ³¹And the first-born said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth. ³²Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring through our father.” ³³So they made their father drink wine that night; and the first-born went in, and lay with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. ³⁴And on the next day, the first-born said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring through our father.” ³⁵So they made their father drink wine that night also; and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. ³⁶Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. ³⁷The first-born bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. ³⁸The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites to this day.

Abraham and Sarah at Gerar

20 From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. ²And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abim′elech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. ³But God came to Abim′elech in a dream by night, and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is a man’s wife.” ⁴Now Abim′elech had not approached her; so he said, “Lord, wilt thou slay an innocent people?

Footnotes

1.1—2.4a The aim of this narrative is not to present a scientific picture but to teach religious truth, especially the dependence of all creation on God and its consecration to him through the homage rendered by man, who is the climax of creation. Hence its strong liturgical character and the concluding emphasis on the sabbath. It serves as a prologue to the whole of the Old Testament.
Genesis 1:1 Or When God began to create
Genesis 1:2 Or wind
2.4b ff This account of the state of the world at the beginning, which introduces the story of the first sin, comes from a different and earlier source and is composed in a very different style. There is nothing in these early chapters that commits us to any particular scientific view of the origins of the world or man, or that would exclude the evolution hypothesis.
Genesis 2:6 Or flood
Genesis 2:23 Heb ishshah
Genesis 2:23 Heb ish
3.15 he shall bruise your head: i.e., the seed of the woman, that is, mankind descended from Eve, will eventually gain the victory over the powers of evil. This victory will, of course, be gained through the work of the Messiah who is par excellence the seed of the woman. The Latin Vulgate has the reading ipsa conteret, “she shall bruise.” Some Old Latin manuscripts have this reading and it occurs also in St. Augustine, De Genesi contra Manichaeos, II, which is earlier than St. Jerome’s translation. It could be due originally to a copyist’s mistake, which was then seen to contain a genuine meaning—namely, that Mary, too, would have her share in the victory, inasmuch as she was mother of the Savior.
Genesis 3:20 The name in Hebrew resembles the word for living
4.1 The story of Cain and Abel has the purpose of showing the effects of sin within society, the fratricide of Cain leading to the vengeance of Lamech and so to the Flood. We are, however, no longer in the first age of humanity, as can be seen from verses 14, 17, etc.
Genesis 4:1 Heb qanah, get
Genesis 4:8 Sam Gk Syr Compare Vg: Heb lacks Let us go out to the field
Genesis 4:15 Gk Syr Vg: Heb Therefore
Genesis 4:16 That is Wandering
4.26 Seth takes the place of the murdered Abel and is the ancestor of Noah. In Ex 3.14 and 6.2-3 we find another account of the origins of Yahwism.
5.1 generations: It should be noted that these genealogies are selective and schematic, and the numbers, as often in the Old Testament, are symbolic.
6.2 sons of God could mean simply “divine beings,” as elsewhere in the Old Testament. The writer, however, may be using an old story or myth to point out the progressive degradation of mankind before the Flood and to warn against the evil effects of intermarriage either of the descendants of Seth with the Kenites or, more probably, of the Israelites with the native populations of Canaan.
6.11 Here begins the Flood narrative formed of two almost parallel accounts. This fact explains the existence of repetitions and discrepancies. It is, in places, remarkably similar to other Flood stories from the ancient Near East.
Genesis 6:16 Or window
Genesis 9:10 Gk: Heb repeats every beast of the earth
Genesis 9:26 Or Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem
10.1 generations: This “table of the nations” makes use of old material to show how all the nations of the world as then known have descended from the generation that survived the Flood. It was from this world that Abraham was called to be the father of the chosen people.
Genesis 10:5 Compare verses 20, 31. Heb lacks These are the sons of Japheth
Genesis 10:25 That is Division
11.1-9 The tower of Babel (= Babylon) is taken as a symbol of political power, empire-building, and the civilization that opposes God’s plan. The tower was probably a ziggurat, i.e., Babylonian temple.
Genesis 11:9 Compare Heb balal, confuse
12.1-3 With Abraham’s call, sacred history in the strict sense begins. The promise theme runs through the whole patriarchal history, e.g., 18.18; 28.14.
Genesis 12:3 Or in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed
Genesis 12:6 Or terebinth
Genesis 13:18 Or terebinths
Genesis 14:13 Or terebinths
14.18 Melchizedek was later taken as a Messianic figure (Ps 110.4) and interpreted in the New Testament as foreshadowing Christ, whose priesthood (including the offering of bread and wine) exceeds that of the Old Testament; cf. Heb. 7.1-7.
15.1 The Vulgate has “I am thy protector, and thy reward exceeding great.” There was, however, at this stage, no idea of a reward in a future life.
16.1-4 The practice suggested by Sarai, involving as it did polygamy, was in accord with moral standards at that time and is referred to in legal codes of the period.
Genesis 16:11 That is God hears
Genesis 16:13 Cn: Heb have I even here seen after him who sees me?
Genesis 16:14 That is the well of one who sees and lives
Genesis 17:1 Heb El Shaddai
Genesis 17:5 That is exalted father
Genesis 17:5 Here taken to mean father of a multitude
Genesis 17:19 That is he laughs
Genesis 18:1 Or terebinths
Genesis 18:6 Heb seahs
Genesis 18:14 Or wonderful
Genesis 18:18 Or in him all the nations of the earth shall be blessed
Genesis 18:19 Heb known
19.1 The Sodom episode, so often referred to in the Old and New Testaments, expresses the abhorrence of the true Israelite for unnatural sin and the violation of the sacred duty of hospitality, cf. Judg 19.11-30.
Genesis 19:17 Gk Syr Vg: Heb he
Genesis 19:22 That is Little

Genesis 1-34

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition

1 In the beginning God created heaven, and earth.

²And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters.

³And God said: Be light made. And light was made.

⁴And God saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light from the darkness.

⁵And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night; and there was evening and morning one day.

⁶And God said: Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters: and let it divide the waters from the waters.

⁷And God made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament, from those that were above the firmament, and it was so.

⁸And God called the firmament, Heaven; and the evening and morning were the second day.

⁹God also said: Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered together into one place: and let the dry land appear. And it was so done.

¹⁰And God called the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

¹¹And he said: Let the earth bring forth the green herb, and such as may seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may have seed in itself upon the earth. And it was so done.

¹²And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yieldeth seed according to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit, having seed each one according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

¹³And the evening and the morning were the third day.

¹⁴And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years:

¹⁵To shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the earth. And it was so done.

¹⁶And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day; and a lesser light to rule the night: and the stars.

¹⁷And he set them in the firmament of heaven to shine upon the earth.

¹⁸And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

¹⁹And the evening and morning were the fourth day.

²⁰God also said: Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven.

²¹And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature, which the waters brought forth, according to their kinds, and every winged fowl according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²²And he blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea: and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.

²³And the evening and morning were the fifth day.

²⁴And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, according to their kinds. And it was so done.

²⁵And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle, and every thing that creepeth on the earth after its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.

²⁷And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.

²⁸And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth.

²⁹And God said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed upon the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your meat:

³⁰And to all beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they may have to feed upon. And it was so done.

³¹And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good. And the evening and morning were the sixth day.

2 So the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the furniture of them.

²And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.

³And he blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

⁴These are the generations of the heaven and the earth, when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the heaven and the earth:

⁵And every plant of the field before it sprung up in the earth, and every herb of the ground before it grew: for the Lord God had not rained upon the earth; and there was not a man to till the earth.

⁶But a spring rose out of the earth, watering all the surface of the earth.

⁷And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

⁸And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning: wherein he placed man whom he had formed.

⁹And the Lord God brought forth of the ground all manner of trees, fair to behold, and pleasant to eat of: the tree of life also in the midst of paradise: and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰And a river went out of the place of pleasure to water paradise, which from thence is divided into four heads.

¹¹The name of the one is Phison: that is it which compasseth all the land of Hevilath, where gold groweth.

¹²And the gold of that land is very good: there is found bdellium, and the onyx stone.

¹³And the name of the second river is Gehon: the same is it that compasseth all the land of Ethiopia.

¹⁴And the name of the third river is Tigris: the same passeth along by the Assyrians. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

¹⁵And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it, and to keep it.

¹⁶And he commanded him, saying: Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat:

¹⁷But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death.

¹⁸And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone: let us make him a help like unto himself.

¹⁹And the Lord God having formed out of the ground all the beasts of the earth, and all the fowls of the air, brought them to Adam to see what he would call them: for whatsoever Adam called any living creature the same is its name.

²⁰And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the fowls of the air, and all the cattle of the field: but for Adam there was not found a helper like himself.

²¹Then the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam: and when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and filled up flesh for it.

²²And the Lord God built the rib which he took from Adam into a woman: and brought her to Adam.

²³And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.

²⁴Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh.

²⁵And they were both naked: to wit, Adam and his wife: and were not ashamed.

3 Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?

²And the woman answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees that are in paradise we do eat:

³But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die.

⁴And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death.

⁵For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil.

⁶And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband who did eat.

⁷And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons.

⁸And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise.

⁹And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where art thou?

¹⁰And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.

¹¹And he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?

¹²And Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

¹³And the Lord God said to the woman: Why hast thou done this? And she answered: The serpent deceived me, and I did eat.

¹⁴And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.

¹⁵I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.

¹⁶To the woman also he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt be under thy husband's power, and he shall have dominion over thee.

¹⁷And to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work; with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life.

¹⁸Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herbs of the earth.

¹⁹In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth, out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.

²⁰And Adam called the name of his wife Eve: because she was the mother of all the living.

²¹And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife, garments of skins, and clothed them.

²²And he said: Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil: now, therefore, lest perhaps he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.

²³And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to till the earth from which he was taken.

²⁴And he cast out Adam; and placed before the paradise of pleasure Cherubims, and a flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

4 And Adam knew Eve his wife: who conceived and brought forth Cain, saying: I have gotten a man through God.

²And again she brought forth his brother Abel. And Abel was a shepherd, and Cain a husbandman.

³And it came to pass after many days, that Cain offered, of the fruits of the earth, gifts to the Lord.

⁴Abel also offered of the firstlings of his flock, and of their fat: and the Lord had respect to Abel, and to his offerings.

⁵But to Cain and his offerings he had no respect: and Cain was exceedingly angry, and his countenance fell.

⁶And the Lord said to him: Why art thou angry? and why is thy countenance fallen?

⁷If thou do well, shalt thou not receive? but if ill, shall not sin forthwith be present at the door? but the lust thereof shall be under thee, and thou shalt have dominion over it.

⁸And Cain said to Abel his brother: Let us go forth abroad. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and slew him.

⁹And the Lord said to Cain: Where is thy brother Abel? And he answered, I know not: am I my brother's keeper?

¹⁰And he said to him: What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the earth.

¹¹Now, therefore, cursed shalt thou be upon the earth, which hath opened her mouth and received the blood of thy brother at thy hand.

¹²When thou shalt till it, it shall not yield to thee its fruit: a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be upon the earth.

¹³And Cain said to the Lord: My iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon.

¹⁴Behold thou dost cast me out this day from the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from thy face, and I shall be a vagabond and a fugitive on the earth: every one, therefore, that findeth me, shall kill me.

¹⁵And the Lord said to him: No, it shall not be so: but whosoever shall kill Cain, shall be punished sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, that whosoever found him should not kill him.

¹⁶And Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and dwelt as a fugitive on the earth, at the east side of Eden.

¹⁷And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and brought forth Henoch: and he built a city, and called the name thereof by the name of his son Henoch.

¹⁸And Henoch begot Irad, and Irad begot Maviael, and Maviael begot Mathusael, and Mathusael begot Lamech:

¹⁹Who took two wives: the name of the one was Ada, and the name of the other Sella.

²⁰And Ada brought forth Jabel: who was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of herdsmen.

²¹And his brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of them that play upon the harp and the organs.

²²Sella also brought forth Tubalcain, who was a hammerer and artificer in every work of brass and iron. And the sister of Tubalcain was Noema.

²³And Lamech said to his wives Ada and Sella: Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech: for I have slain a man to the wounding of myself, and a stripling to my own bruising.

²⁴Sevenfold vengeance shall be taken for Cain: but for Lamech seventy times sevenfold.

²⁵Adam also knew his wife again: and she brought forth a son, and called his name Seth, saying: God hath given me another seed, for Abel whom Cain slew.

²⁶But to Seth also was born a son, whom he called Enos; this man began to call upon the name of the Lord.

5 This is the book of the generation of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him to the likeness of God.

²He created them male and female; and blessed them: and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

³And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot a son to his own image and likeness, and called his name Seth.

⁴And the days of Adam, after he begot Seth, were eight hundred years: and he begot sons and daughters.

⁵And all the time that Adam lived came to nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.

⁶Seth also lived a hundred and five years, and begot Enos.

⁷And Seth lived after he begot Enos, eight hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.

⁸And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.

⁹And Enos lived ninety years, and begot Cainan.

¹⁰After whose birth he lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and begot sons and daughters.

¹¹And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years, and he died.

¹²And Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Malaleel.

¹³And Cainan lived after he begot Malaleel, eight hundred and forty years, and begot sons and daughters.

¹⁴And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.

¹⁵And Malaleel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared.

¹⁶And Malaleel lived after he begot Jared, eight hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.

¹⁷And all the days of Malaleel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.

¹⁸And Jared lived a hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Henoch.

¹⁹And Jared lived after he begot Henoch, eight hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

²⁰And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died.

²¹And Henoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Mathusala.

²²And Henoch walked with God: and lived after he begot Mathusala, three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

²³And all the days of Henoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.

²⁴And he walked with God, and was seen no more: because God took him.

²⁵And Mathusala lived a hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech.

²⁶And Mathusala lived after he begot Lamech, seven hundred and eighty-two years, and begot sons and daughters.

²⁷And all the days of Mathusala were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died.

²⁸And Lamech lived a hundred and eighty-two years, and begot a son.

²⁹And he called his name Noe, saying: This same shall comfort us from the works and labours of our hands on the earth, which the Lord hath cursed.

³⁰And Lamech lived after he begot Noe, five hundred and ninety-five years, and begot sons and daughters.

³¹And all the days of Lamech came to seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died. And Noe, when he was five hundred years old, begot Sem, Cham, and Japheth.

6 And after that men began to be multiplied upon the earth, and daughters were born to them,

²The sons of God seeing the daughters of men, that they were fair, took to themselves wives of all which they chose.

³And God said: My spirit shall not remain in man for ever, because he is flesh, and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

⁴Now giants were upon the earth in those days. For after the sons of God went in to the daughters of men, and they brought forth children, these are the mighty men of old, men of renown.

⁵And God seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the earth, and that all the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all times,

⁶It repented him that he had made man on the earth. And being touched inwardly with sorrow of heart,

⁷He said: I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth, from man even to beasts, from the creeping thing even to the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them.

⁸But Noe found grace before the Lord.

⁹These are the generations of Noe: Noe was a just and perfect man in his generations, he walked with God.

¹⁰And he begot three sons, Sem, Cham, and Japheth.

¹¹And the earth was corrupted before God, and was filled with iniquity.

¹²And when God had seen that the earth was corrupted (for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth,)

¹³He said to Noe: The end of all flesh is come before me, the earth is filled with iniquity through them, and I will destroy them with the earth.

¹⁴Make thee an ark of timber planks: thou shalt make little rooms in the ark, and thou shalt pitch it within and without.

¹⁵And thus shalt thou make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits: the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

¹⁶Thou shalt make a window in the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish the top of it: and the door of the ark thou shalt set in the side: with lower, middle chambers, and third stories shalt thou make it.

¹⁷Behold I will bring the waters of a great flood upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, under heaven. All things that are in the earth shall be consumed.

¹⁸And I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt enter into the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and the wives of thy sons with thee.

¹⁹And of every living creature of all flesh, thou shalt bring two of a sort into the ark, that they may live with thee: of the male sex, and the female.

²⁰Of fowls according to their kind, and of beasts in their kind, and of every thing that creepeth on the earth according to its kind; two of every sort shall go in with thee, that they may live.

²¹Thou shalt take unto thee of all food that may be eaten, and thou shalt lay it up with thee: and it shall be food for thee and them.

²²And Noe did all things which God commanded him.

7 And the Lord said to him: Go in thou and all thy house into the ark: for thee I have seen just before me in this generation.

²Of all clean beasts take seven and seven, the male and the female.

³But of the beasts that are unclean two and two, the male and the female. Of the fowls also of the air seven and seven, the male and the female: that seed may be saved upon the face of the whole earth.

⁴For yet a while, and after seven days, I will rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will destroy every substance that I have made, from the face of the earth.

⁵And Noe did all things which the Lord had commanded him.

⁶And he was six hundred years old, when the waters of the flood overflowed the earth.

⁷And Noe went in and his sons, his wife and the wives of his sons with him into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

⁸And of beasts clean and unclean, and of fowls, and of every thing that moveth upon the earth,

⁹Two and two went in to Noe into the ark, male and female, as the Lord had commanded Noe.

¹⁰And after the seven days were passed, the waters of the flood overflowed the earth.

¹¹In the six hundredth year of the life of Noe, in the second month, in the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the flood gates of heaven were opened:

¹²And the rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

¹³In the selfsame day Noe, and Sem, and Cham, and Japheth his sons: his wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark:

¹⁴They and every beast according to its kind, and all the cattle in their kind, and every thing that moveth upon the earth according to its kind, and every fowl according to its kind, all birds, and all that fly,

¹⁵Went in to Noe into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein was the breath of life.

¹⁶And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in on the outside.

¹⁷And the flood was forty days upon the earth, and the waters increased, and lifted up the ark on high from the earth.

¹⁸For they overflowed exceedingly: and filled all on the face of the earth: and the ark was carried upon the waters.

¹⁹And the waters prevailed beyond measure upon the earth: and all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.

²⁰The water was fifteen cubits higher than the mountains which it covered.

²¹And all flesh was destroyed that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beasts, and of all creeping things that creep upon the earth: and all men.

²²And all things wherein there is the breath of life on the earth, died.

²³And he destroyed all the substance that was upon the earth, from man even to beast, and the creeping things and fowls of the air: and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noe only remained, and they that were with him in the ark.

²⁴And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.

8 And God remembered Noe, and all the living creatures, and all the cattle which were with him in the ark, and brought a wind upon the earth, and the waters were abated.

²The fountains also of the deep, and the flood gates of heaven were shut up, and the rain from heaven was restrained.

³And the waters returned from off the earth going and coming: and they began to be abated after a hundred and fifty days.

⁴And the ark rested in the seventh month, the seven and twentieth day of the month, upon the mountains of Armenia.

⁵And the waters were going and decreasing until the tenth month: for in the tenth month, the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.

⁶And after that forty days were passed, Noe, opening the window of the ark which he had made, sent forth a raven:

⁷Which went forth and did not return, till the waters were dried up upon the earth.

⁸He sent forth also a dove after him, to see if the waters had now ceased upon the face of the earth.

⁹But she, not finding where her foot might rest, returned to him into the ark: for the waters were upon the whole earth: and he put forth his hand, and caught her, and brought her into the ark.

¹⁰And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove out of the ark.

¹¹And she came to him in the evening, carrying a bough of an olive tree, with green leaves, in her mouth. Noe therefore understood that the waters were ceased upon the earth.

¹²And he stayed yet other seven days: and he sent forth the dove, which returned not any more unto him.

¹³Therefore in the six hundredth and first year, the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were lessened upon the earth, and Noe opening the covering of the ark, looked, and saw that the face of the earth was dried.

¹⁴In the second month, the seven and twentieth day of the month, the earth was dried.

¹⁵And God spoke to Noe, saying:

¹⁶Go out of the ark, thou and thy wife, thy sons, and the wives of thy sons with thee.

¹⁷All living things that are with thee of all flesh, as well in fowls as in beasts, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, bring out with thee, and go ye upon the earth: increase and multiply upon it.

¹⁸So Noe went out, he and his sons: his wife, and the wives of his sons with him.

¹⁹And all living things, and cattle, and creeping things that creep upon the earth, according to their kinds, went out of the ark.

²⁰And Noe built an altar unto the Lord: and taking of all cattle and fowls that were clean, offered holocausts upon the altar.

²¹And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and said: I will no more curse the earth for the sake of man: for the imagination and thought of man's heart are prone to evil from his youth: therefore I will no more destroy every living soul as I have done.

²²All the days of the earth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, night and day, shall not cease.

9 And God blessed Noe and his sons. And he said to them: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth.

²And let the fear and dread of you be upon all the beasts of the earth, and upon all the fowls of the air, and all that move upon the earth: all the fishes of the sea are delivered into your hand.

³And every thing that moveth and liveth shall be meat for you: even as the green herbs have I delivered them all to you:

⁴Saving that flesh with blood you shall not eat.

⁵For I will require the blood of your lives at the hand of every beast, and at the hand of man, at the hand of every man, and of his brother, will I require the life of man.

⁶Whosoever shall shed man's blood, his blood shall be shed: for man was made to the image of God.

⁷But increase you and multiply, and go upon the earth, and fill it.

⁸Thus also said God to Noe, and to his sons with him,

⁹Behold I will establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you:

¹⁰And with every living soul that is with you, as well in all birds as in cattle and beasts of the earth, that are come forth out of the ark, and in all the beasts of the earth.

¹¹I will establish my covenant with you, and all flesh shall be no more destroyed with the waters of a flood, neither shall there be from henceforth a flood to waste the earth.

¹²And God said: This is the sign of the covenant which I give between me and you, and to every living soul that is with you, for perpetual generations.

¹³I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be the sign of a covenant between me, and between the earth.

¹⁴And when I shall cover the sky with clouds, my bow shall appear in the clouds:

¹⁵And I will remember my covenant with you, and with every living soul that beareth flesh: and there shall no more be waters of a flood to destroy all flesh.

¹⁶And the bow shall be in the clouds, and I shall see it, and shall remember the everlasting covenant, that was made between God and every living soul of all flesh which is upon the earth.

¹⁷And God said to Noe: This shall be the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh upon the earth.

¹⁸And the sons of Noe who came out of the ark, were Sem, Cham, and Japheth: and Cham is the father of Chanaan.

¹⁹These three are the sons of Noe: and from these was all mankind spread over the whole earth.

²⁰And Noe, a husbandman, began to till the ground, and planted a vineyard.

²¹And drinking of the wine was made drunk, and was uncovered in his tent.

²²Which when Cham the father of Chanaan had seen, to wit, that his father's nakedness was uncovered, he told it to his two brethren without.

²³But Sem and Japheth put a cloak upon their shoulders, and going backward, covered the nakedness of their father: and their faces were turned away, and they saw not their father's nakedness.

²⁴And Noe awaking from the wine, when he had learned what his younger son had done to him,

²⁵He said: Cursed be Chanaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

²⁶And he said: Blessed be the Lord God of Sem, be Chanaan his servant.

²⁷May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Sem, and Chanaan be his servant.

²⁸And Noe lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years:

²⁹And all his days were in the whole nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

10 These are the generations of the sons of Noe: Sem, Cham, and Japheth: and unto them sons were born after the flood.

²The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Thubal, and Mosoch, and Thiras.

³And the sons of Gomer: Ascenez and Riphath and Thogorma.

⁴And the sons of Javan: Elisa and Tharsis, Cetthim and Dodanim.

⁵By these were divided the islands of the Gentiles in their lands, every one according to his tongue and their families in their nations.

⁶And the sons of Cham: Chus, and Mesram, and Phuth, and Chanaan.

⁷And the sons of Chus: Saba, and Hevila, and Sabatha, and Regma, and Sabatacha. The sons of Regma: Saba and Dadan.

⁸Now Chus begot Nemrod: he began to be mighty on the earth.

⁹And he was a stout hunter before the Lord. Hence came a proverb: Even as Nemrod the stout hunter before the Lord.

¹⁰And the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon, and Arach, and Achad, and Chalanne in the land of Sennaar.

¹¹Out of that land came forth Assur, and built Ninive, and the streets of the city, and Chale.

¹²Resen also between Ninive and Chale: this is the great city.

¹³And Mesraim begot Ludim, and Anamim, and Laabim, Nepthuim,

¹⁴And Phetrusim, and Chasluim; of whom came forth the Philistines, and the Capthorim.

¹⁵And Chanaan begot Sidon, his firstborn, the Hethite,

¹⁶And the Jebusite, and the Amorrhite, and the Gergesite,

¹⁷The Hevite and the Aracite: the Sinite,

¹⁸And the Aradian, the Samarite, and the Hamathite: and afterwards the families of the Chanaanites were spread abroad.

¹⁹And the limits of Chanaan were from Sidon as one comes to Gerara even to Gaza, until thou enter Sodom and Gomorrha, and Adama, and Seboim even to Lesa.

²⁰These are the children of Cham in their kindreds, and tongues, and generations, and lands, and nations.

²¹Of Sem also, the father of all the children of Heber, the elder brother of Japheth, sons were born.

²²The sons of Sem: Elam and Assur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.

²³The sons of Aram: Us and Hull, and Gether, and Mess.

²⁴But Arphaxad begot Sale, of whom was born Heber.

²⁵And to Heber were born two sons: the name of the one was Phaleg, because in his days the earth was divided: and his brother's name Jectan.

²⁶Which Jectan begot Elmodad, and Saleph, and Asarmoth, Jare,

²⁷And Aduram, and Uzal, and Decla,

²⁸And Ebal, and Abimael, Saba,

²⁹And Ophir, and Hevila, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Jectan.

³⁰And their dwelling was from Messa as we go on as far as Sephar, a mountain in the east.

³¹These are the children of Sem according to their kindreds and tongues, and countries in their nations.

³²These are the families of Noe, according to their peoples and nations. By these were the nations divided on the earth after the flood.

11 And the earth was of one tongue, and of the same speech.

²And when they removed from the east, they found a plain in the land of Sennaar, and dwelt in it.

³And each one said to his neighbour: Come, let us make brick, and bake them with fire. And they had brick instead of stones, and slime instead of mortar.

⁴And they said: Come, let us make a city and a tower, the top whereof may reach to heaven: and let us make our name famous before we be scattered abroad into all lands.

⁵And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of Adam were building.

⁶And he said: Behold, it is one people, and all have one tongue: and they have begun to do this, neither will they leave off from their designs, till they accomplish them in deed.

⁷Come ye, therefore, let us go down, and there confound their tongue, that they may not understand one another's speech.

⁸And so the Lord scattered them from that place into all lands, and they ceased to build the city.

⁹And therefore the name thereof was called Babel, because there the language of the whole earth was confounded: and from thence the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of all countries.

¹⁰These are the generations of Sem: Sem was a hundred years old when he begot Arphaxad, two years after the flood.

¹¹And Sem lived after he begot Arphaxad, five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

¹²And Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Sale.

¹³And Arphaxad lived after he begot Sale, three hundred and three years; and begot sons and daughters.

¹⁴Sale also lived thirty years, and begot Heber.

¹⁵And Sale lived after he begot Heber, four hundred and three years; and begot sons and daughters.

¹⁶And Heber lived thirty-four years, and begot Phaleg.

¹⁷And Heber lived after he begot Phaleg, four hundred and thirty years: and begot sons and daughters.

¹⁸Phaleg also lived thirty years, and begot Reu.

¹⁹And Phaleg lived after he begot Reu, two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters.

²⁰And Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Sarug.

²¹And Reu lived after he begot Sarug, two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.

²²And Sarug lived thirty years, and begot Nachor.

²³And Sarug lived after he begot Nachor, two hundred years: and begot sons and daughters.

²⁴And Nachor lived nine and twenty years, and begot Thare.

²⁵And Nachor lived after he begot Thare, a hundred and nineteen years: and begot sons and daughters.

²⁶And Thare lived seventy years, and begot Abram, and Nachor, and Aran.

²⁷And these are the generations of Thare: Thare begot Abram, Nachor, and Aran. And Aran begot Lot.

²⁸And Aran died before Thare his father, in the land of his nativity in Ur of the Chaldees.

²⁹And Abram and Nachor married wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai: and the name of Nachor's wife, Melcha, the daughter of Aran, father of Melcha, and father of Jescha.

³⁰And Sarai was barren, and had no children.

³¹And Thare took Abram, his son, and Lot the son of Aran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, the wife of Abram his son, and brought them out of Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Chanaan: and they came as far as Haran, and dwelt there.

³²And the days of Thare were two hundred and five years, and he died in Haran.

12 And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father's house, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.

²And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed.

³I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and IN THEE shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed:

⁴So Abram went out as the Lord had commanded him, and Lot went with him: Abram was seventy-five years old when he went forth from Haran.

⁵And he took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all the substance which they had gathered, and the souls which they had gotten in Haran: and they went out to go into the land of Chanaan. And when they were come into it,

⁶Abram passed through the country into the place of Sichem, as far as the noble vale: now the Chanaanite was at that time in the land.

⁷And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him: To thy seed will I give this land. And he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

⁸And passing on from thence to a mountain, that was on the east side of Bethel, he there pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east; he built there also an altar to the Lord, and called upon his name.

⁹And Abram went forward, going, and proceeding on to the south.

¹⁰And there came a famine in the country; and Abram went down into Egypt, to sojourn there: for the famine was very grievous in the land.

¹¹And when he was near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife: I know that thou art a beautiful woman:

¹²And that when the Egyptians shall see thee, they will say: She is his wife: and they will kill me, and keep thee.

¹³Say, therefore, I pray thee, that thou art my sister: that I may be well used for thee, and that my soul may live for thy sake.

¹⁴And when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman that she was very beautiful.

¹⁵And the princes told Pharao, and praised her before him: and the woman was taken into the house of Pharao.

¹⁶And they used Abram well for her sake. And he had sheep and oxen, and he asses, and menservants and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.

¹⁷But the Lord scourged Pharao and his house with most grievous stripes for Sarai, Abram's wife.

¹⁸And Pharao called Abram, and said to him: What is this that thou hast done to me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?

¹⁹For what cause didst thou say, she was thy sister, that I might take her to my wife? Now, therefore, there is thy wife, take her, and go thy way.

²⁰And Pharao gave his men orders concerning Abram: and they led him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

13 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

²And he was very rich in possession of gold and silver.

³And he returned by the way that he came, from the south to Bethel, to the place where before he had pitched his tent between Bethel and Hai:

⁴In the place of the altar which he had made before; and there he called upon the name of the Lord.

⁵But Lot also, who was with Abram, had flocks of sheep, and herds of beasts, and tents.

⁶Neither was the land able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, and they could not dwell together.

⁷Whereupon also there arose a strife between the herdsmen of Abram and of Lot. And at that time the Chanaanite and the Pherezite dwelled in that country.

⁸Abram therefore said to Lot: Let there be no quarrel, I beseech thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen: for we are brethren.

⁹Behold the whole land is before thee: depart from me I pray thee: if thou wilt go to the left hand, I will take the right: if thou choose the right hand, I will pass to the left.

¹⁰And Lot, lifting up his eyes, saw all the country about the Jordan, which was watered throughout, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, as the paradise of the Lord, and like Egypt as one comes to Segor.

¹¹And Lot chose to himself the country about the Jordan, and he departed from the east: and they were separated one brother from the other.

¹²Abram dwelt in the land of Chanaan; and Lot abode in the towns that were about the Jordan, and dwelt in Sodom.

¹³And the men of Sodom were very wicked, and sinners before the face of the Lord, beyond measure.

¹⁴And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him: Lift up thy eyes, and look from the place wherein thou now art, to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west.

¹⁵All the land which thou seest, I will give to thee, and to thy seed for ever.

¹⁶And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: if any man be able to number the dust of the earth, he shall be able to number thy seed also.

¹⁷Arise and walk through the land in the length, and in the breadth thereof: for I will give it to thee.

¹⁸So Abram removing his tent came and dwelt by the vale of Mambre, which is in Hebron: and he built there an altar to the Lord.

14 And it came to pass at that time, that Amraphel king of Sennaar, and Arioch king of Pontus, and Chodorlahomor king of the Elamites, and Thadal king of nations,

²Made war against Bara king of Sodom, and against Bersa king of Gomorrha, and against Sennaab king of Adama, and against Semeber king of Seboim, and against the king of Bala, which is Segor.

³All these came together into the woodland vale, which now is the salt sea.

⁴For they had served Chodorlahomor twelve years, and in the thirteenth year they revolted from him.

⁵And in the fourteenth year came Chodorlahomor, and the kings that were with him: and they smote the Raphaim in Astarothcarnaim, and the Zuzim with them, and the Emim in Save of Cariathaim.

⁶And the Chorreans in the mountains of Seir, even to the plains of Pharan, which is in the wilderness.

⁷And they returned, and came to the fountain of Misphat, the same is Cades: and they smote all the country of the Amalecites, and the Amorrhean that dwelt in Asasonthamar.

⁸And the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha, and the king of Adama, and the king of Seboim, and the king of Bala, which is Segor, went out: and they set themselves against them in battle array in the woodland vale:

⁹To wit, against Chodorlahomor king of the Elamites, and Thadal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Sennaar, and Arioch king of Pontus: four kings against five.

¹⁰Now the woodland vale had many pits of slime. And the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha turned their backs and were overthrown there: and they that remained fled to the mountain.

¹¹And they took all the substance of the Sodomites, and Gomorrhites, and all their victuals, and went their way:

¹²And Lot also, the son of Abram's brother, who dwelt in Sodom, and his substance.

¹³And behold one that had escaped told Abram the Hebrew, who dwelt in the vale of Mambre the Amorrhite, the brother of Escol, and the brother of Aner: for these had made league with Abram.

¹⁴Which when Abram had heard, to wit, that his brother Lot was taken, he numbered of the servants born in his house, three hundred and eighteen well appointed: and pursued them to Dan.

¹⁵And dividing his company, he rushed upon them in the night: and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hoba, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

¹⁶And he brought back all the substance, and Lot his brother, with his substance, the women also and the people.

¹⁷And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after he returned from the slaughter of Chodorlahomor, and of the kings that were with him in the vale of Save, which is the king's vale.

¹⁸But Melchisedech the king of Salem, bringing forth bread and wine, for he was the priest of the most high God,

¹⁹Blessed him, and said: Blessed be Abram by the most high God, who created heaven and earth.

²⁰And blessed be the most high God, by whose protection the enemies are in thy hands. And he gave him the tithes of all.

²¹And the king of Sodom said to Abram: Give me the persons, and the rest take to thyself.

²²And he answered him: I lift up my hand to the Lord God the most high, the possessor of heaven and earth,

²³That from the very woof thread unto the shoe latchet, I will not take of any things that are thine, lest thou say I have enriched Abram:

²⁴Except such things as the young men have eaten, and the shares of the men that came with me, Aner, Escol, and Mambre: these shall take their shares.

15 Now when these things were done, the word of the Lord came to Abram by a vision, saying: Fear not, Abram, I am thy protector, and thy reward exceeding great.

²And Abram said: Lord God, what wilt thou give me? I shall go without children: and the son of the steward of my house is this Damascus Eliezer.

³And Abram added: But to me thou hast not given seed: and lo my servant, born in my house, shall be my heir.

⁴And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: He shall not be thy heir: but he that shall come out of thy bowels, him shalt thou have for thy heir.

⁵And he brought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to heaven and number the stars, if thou canst. And he said to him: So shall thy seed be.

⁶Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.

⁷And he said to him: I am the Lord who brought thee out from Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land, and that thou mightest possess it.

⁸But he said: Lord God, whereby may I know that I shall possess it?

⁹And the Lord answered, and said: Take me a cow of three years old, and a she goat of three years, and a ram of three years, a turtle also, and a pigeon.

¹⁰And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid the two pieces of each one against the other; but the birds he divided not.

¹¹And the fowls came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

¹²And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great and darksome horror seized upon him.

¹³And it was said unto him: Know thou beforehand that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own, and they shall bring them under bondage, and afflict them four hundred years.

¹⁴But I will judge the nation which they shall serve, and after this they shall come out with great substance.

¹⁵And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried in a good old age.

¹⁶But in the fourth generation they shall return hither: for as yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full until this present time.

¹⁷And when the sun was set, there arose a dark mist, and there appeared a smoking furnace and a lamp of fire passing between those divisions.

¹⁸That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: To thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt even to the great river Euphrates.

¹⁹The Cineans and Cenezites, the Cedmonites,

²⁰And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also,

²¹And the Amorrhites, and the Chanaanites, and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.

16 Now Sarai the wife of Abram, had brought forth no children; but having a handmaid, an Egyptian, named Agar,

²She said to her husband: Behold, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: go in unto my handmaid, it may be I may have children of her at least. And when he agreed to her request,

³She took Agar the Egyptian her handmaid, ten years after they first dwelt in the land of Chanaan, and gave her to her husband to wife.

⁴And he went in to her. But she, perceiving that she was with child, despised her mistress.

⁵And Sarai said to Abram: Thou dost unjustly with me: I gave my handmaid into thy bosom, and she perceiving herself to be with child, despiseth me. The Lord judge between me and thee.

⁶And Abram made answer, and said to her: Behold thy handmaid is in thy own hand, use her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai afflicted her, she ran away.

⁷And the angel of the Lord having found her, by a fountain of water in the wilderness, which is in the way to Sur in the desert,

⁸He said to her: Agar, handmaid of Sarai, whence comest thou? and whither goest thou? And she answered: I flee from the face of Sarai, my mistress.

⁹And the angel of the Lord said to her: Return to thy mistress, and humble thyself under her hand.

¹⁰And again he said: I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, and it shall not be numbered for multitude.

¹¹And again: Behold, said he, thou art with child, and thou shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Ismael, because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.

¹²He shall be a wild man: his hand will be against all men, and all men's hands against him: and he shall pitch his tents over against all his brethren.

¹³And she called the name of the Lord that spoke unto her: Thou the God who hast seen me. For she said: Verily here have I seen the hinder parts of him that seeth me.

¹⁴Therefore she called that well, The well of him that liveth and seeth me. The same is between Cades and Barad.

¹⁵And Agar brought forth a son to Abram: who called his name Ismael.

¹⁶Abram was fourscore and six years old when Agar brought him forth Ismael.

17 And after he began to be ninety and nine years old, the Lord appeared to him: and said unto him: I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and be perfect.

²And I will make my covenant between me and thee: and I will multiply thee exceedingly.

³Abram fell flat on his face.

⁴And God said to him: I AM, and my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

⁵Neither shall thy name be called any more Abram: but thou shalt be called Abraham: because I have made thee a father of many nations.

⁶And I will make thee increase, exceedingly, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

⁷And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and between thy seed after thee in their generations, by a perpetual covenant: to be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee.

⁸And I will give to thee, and to thy seed, the land of thy sojournment, all the land of Chanaan for a perpetual possession, and I will be their God.

⁹Again God said to Abraham: And thou therefore shalt keep my covenant, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

¹⁰This is my covenant which you shall observe, between me and you, and thy seed after thee: All the male kind of you shall be circumcised:

¹¹And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, that it may be for a sign of the covenant between me and you.

¹²An infant of eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations: he that is born in the house, as well as the bought servant shall be circumcised, and whosoever is not of your stock:

¹³And my covenant shall be in your flesh for a perpetual covenant.

¹⁴The male, whose flesh of his foreskin shall not be circumcised, that soul shall be destroyed out of his people: because he hath broken my covenant.

¹⁵God said also to Abraham: Sarai thy wife thou shalt not call Sarai, but Sara.

¹⁶And I will bless her, and of her I will give thee a son, whom I will bless, and he shall become nations, and kings of people shall spring from him.

¹⁷Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, saying in his heart: Shall a son, thinkest thou, be born to him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sara that is ninety years old bring forth?

¹⁸And he said to God: O that Ismael may live before thee.

¹⁹And God said to Abraham: Sara thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him for a perpetual covenant, and with his seed after him.

²⁰And as for Ismael I have also heard thee. Behold, I will bless him, and increase, and multiply him exceedingly: he shall beget twelve chiefs, and I will make him a great nation.

²¹But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sara shall bring forth to thee at this time in the next year.

²²And when he had left off speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.

²³And Abraham took Ismael his son, and all that were born in his house: and all whom he had bought, every male among the men of his house: and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin forthwith the very same day, as God had commanded him.

²⁴Abraham was ninety and nine years old, when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin.

²⁵And Ismael his son was full thirteen years old at the time of his circumcision.

²⁶The selfsame day was Abraham circumcised and Ismael his son.

²⁷And all the men of his house, as well they that were born in his house, as the bought servants and strangers were circumcised with him.

18 And the Lord appeared to him in the vale of Mambre as he was sitting at the door of his tent, in the very heat of the day.

²And when he had lifted up his eyes, there appeared to him three men standing near him: and as soon as he saw them he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and adored down to the ground.

³And he said: Lord, if I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away from thy servant:

⁴But I will fetch a little water, and wash ye your feet, and rest ye under the tree.

⁵And I will set a morsel of bread, and strengthen ye your heart, afterwards you shall pass on: for therefore are you come aside to your servant. And they said: Do as thou hast spoken.

⁶Abraham made haste into the tent to Sara, and said to her: Make haste, temper together three measures of flour, and make cakes upon the hearth.

⁷And he himself ran to the herd, and took from thence a calf very tender and very good, and gave it to a young man: who made haste and boiled it.

⁸He took also butter and milk, and the calf which he had boiled, and set before them: but he stood by them under the tree.

⁹And when they had eaten, they said to him: Where is Sara thy wife? He answered: Lo, she is in the tent.

¹⁰And he said to him: I will return and come to thee at this time, life accompanying and Sara thy wife shall have a son. Which when Sara heard, she laughed behind the door of the tent.

¹¹Now they were both old, and far advanced in years, and it had ceased to be with Sara after the manner of women.

¹²And she laughed secretly, saying: After I am grown old and my lord is an old man, shall I give myself to pleasure?

¹³And the Lord said to Abraham: Why did Sara laugh, saying: Shall I who am an old woman bear a child indeed?

¹⁴Is there any thing hard to God? According to appointment I will return to thee at this same time, life accompanying, and Sara shall have a son.

¹⁵Sara denied, saying: I did not laugh: for she was afraid. But the Lord said, Nay: but thou didst laugh:

¹⁶And when the men rose up from thence, they turned their eyes towards Sodom: and Abraham walked with them, bringing them on the way.

¹⁷And the Lord said: Can I hide from Abraham what I am about to do:

¹⁸Seeing he shall become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth shall be blessed?

¹⁹For I know that he will command his children, and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord, and do judgment and justice: that for Abraham's sake the Lord may bring to effect all the things he hath spoken unto him.

²⁰And the Lord said: The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha is multiplied, and their sin is become exceedingly grievous.

²¹I will go down and see whether they have done according to the cry that is come to me: or whether it be not so, that I may know.

²²And they turned themselves from thence, and went their way to Sodom: but Abraham as yet stood before the Lord.

²³And drawing nigh he said: Wilt thou destroy the just with the wicked?

²⁴If there be fifty just men in the city, shall they perish withal? and wilt thou not spare that place for the sake of the fifty just, if they be therein?

²⁵Far be it from thee to do this thing, and to slay the just with the wicked, and for the just to be in like case as the wicked, this is not beseeming thee: thou who judgest all the earth, wilt not make this judgment.

²⁶And the Lord said to him: If I find in Sodom fifty just within the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.

²⁷And Abraham answered, and said: Seeing I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes.

²⁸What if there be five less than fifty just persons? wilt thou for five and forty destroy the whole city? And he said: I will not destroy it, if I find five and forty.

²⁹And again he said to him: But if forty be found there, what wilt thou do? He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of forty.

³⁰Lord, saith he, be not angry, I beseech thee, if I speak: What if thirty shall be found there? He answered: I will not do it, if I find thirty there.

³¹Seeing, saith he, I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord. What if twenty be found there? He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.

³²I beseech thee, saith he, be not angry, Lord, if I speak yet once more: What if ten should be found there? And he said: I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.

³³And the Lord departed, after he had left speaking to Abraham: and Abraham returned to his place.

19 And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of the city. And seeing them, he rose up and went to meet them: and worshipped prostrate to the ground,

²And said: I beseech you, my lords, turn in to the house of your servant, and lodge there: wash your feet, and in the morning you shall go on your way. And they said: No, but we will abide in the street.

³He pressed them very much to turn in unto him: and when they were come into his house, he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread and they ate:

⁴But before they went to bed, the men of the city beset the house both young and old, all the people together.

⁵And they called Lot, and said to him: Where are the men that came in to thee at night? bring them out hither that we may know them:

⁶Lot went out to them, and shut the door after him, and said:

⁷Do not so, I beseech you, my brethren, do not commit this evil.

⁸I have two daughters who as yet have not known man: I will bring them out to you, and abuse you them as it shall please you, so that you do no evil to these men, because they are come in under the shadow of my roof.

⁹But they said: Get thee back thither. And again: Thou camest in, said they, as a, stranger, was it to be a judge? therefore we will afflict thee more than them. And they pressed very violently upon Lot: and they were even at the point of breaking open the doors.

¹⁰And behold the men put out their hand, and drew in Lot unto them, and shut the door:

¹¹And them that were without, they struck with blindness from the least to the greatest, so that they could not find the door.

¹²And they said to Lot: Hast thou here any of thine? son in law, or sons, or daughters, all that are thine bring them out of this city:

¹³For we will destroy this place, because their cry is grown loud before the Lord, who hath sent us to destroy them.

¹⁴So Lot went out, and spoke to his sons in law that were to have his daughters, and said: Arise: get you out of this place, because the Lord will destroy this city. And he seemed to them to speak as it were in jest.

¹⁵And when it was morning, the angels pressed him, saying: Arise, take thy wife, and the two daughters which thou hast: lest thou also perish in the wickedness of the city.

¹⁶And as he lingered, they took his hand, and the hand of his wife, and of his two daughters, because the Lord spared him.

¹⁷And they brought him forth, and set him without the city: and there they spoke to him, saying: Save thy life: look not back, neither stay thou in all the country about: but save thyself in the mountain, lest thou be also consumed.

¹⁸And Lot said to them: I beseech thee my Lord,

¹⁹Because thy servant hath found grace before thee, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewn to me, in saving my life, and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil seize me, and I die:

²⁰There is this city here at hand, to which I may flee, it is a little one, and I shall be saved in it: is it not a little one, and my soul shall live?

²¹And he said to him: Behold also in this, I have heard thy prayers, not to destroy the city for which thou hast spoken.

²²Make haste and be saved there, because I cannot do any thing till thou go in thither. Therefore the name of that city was called Segor.

²³The sun was risen upon the earth, and Lot entered into Segor.

²⁴And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrha brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.

²⁵And he destroyed these cities, and all the country about, all the inhabitants of the cities, and all things that spring from the earth.

²⁶And his wife looking behind her, was turned into a statue of salt.

²⁷And Abraham got up early in the morning and in the place where he had stood before with the Lord,

²⁸He looked towards Sodom and Gomorrha, and the whole land of that country: and he saw the ashes rise up from the earth as the smoke of a furnace.

²⁹Now when God destroyed the cities of that country, remembering Abraham, he delivered Lot out of the destruction of the cities wherein he had dwelt.

³⁰And Lot went up out of Segor, and abode in the mountain, and his two daughters with him, (for he was afraid to stay in Segor,) and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters with him.

³¹And the elder said to the younger Our father is old, and there is no man left on the earth, to come in unto us after the manner of the whole earth.

³²Come, let us make him drunk with wine, and let us lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

³³And they made their father drink wine that night: and the elder went in and lay with her father: but he perceived not neither when his daughter lay down, nor when she rose up.

³⁴And the next day the elder said to the younger: Behold I lay last night with my father, let us make him drink wine also to night, and thou shalt lie with him, that we may save seed of our father.

³⁵They made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in, and lay with him: and neither then did he perceive when she lay down, nor when she rose up.

³⁶So the two daughters of Lot were with child by their father.

³⁷And the elder bore a son, and she called his name Moab: he is the father of the Moabites unto this day.

³⁸The younger also bore a son, and she called his name Ammon, that is, the son of my people: he is the father of the Ammonites unto this day.

20 Abraham removed from thence to the south country, and dwelt between Cades and Sur, and sojourned in Gerara.

²And he said of Sara his wife: She is my sister. So Abimelech the king of Gerara sent, and took her.

³And God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and he said to him: Lo thou shalt die for the woman thou hast taken: for she hath a husband.

⁴Now Abimelech had not touched her, and he said: Lord, wilt thou slay a nation, that is ignorant and just?

⁵Did not he say to me: She is my sister: and she say, He is my brother? in the simplicity of my heart, and cleanness of my hands have I done this.

⁶And God said to him: And I know that thou didst it with a sincere heart: and therefore I withheld thee from sinning against me, and I suffered thee not to touch her.

⁷Now therefore restore the man his wife, for he is a prophet: and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: but if thou wilt not restore her, know that thou shalt surely die, thou and all that are thine.

⁸And Abimelech forthwith rising up in the night, called all his servants: and spoke all these words in their hearing, and all the men were exceedingly afraid.

⁹And Abimelech called also for Abraham, and said to him: What hast thou done to us? what have we offended thee in, that thou hast brought upon me and upon my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done to us what thou oughtest not to do.

¹⁰And again he expostulated with him, and said, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this?

¹¹Abraham answered: I thought with myself, saying: Perhaps there is not the fear of God in this place: and they will kill me for the sake of my wife:

¹²Howbeit, otherwise also she is truly my sister, the daughter of my father, and not the daughter of my mother, and I took her to wife.

¹³And after God brought me out of my father's house, I said to her: Thou shalt do me this kindness: In every place, to which we shall come, thou shalt say that I am thy brother.

¹⁴And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and servants and handmaids, and gave to Abraham: and restored to him Sara, his wife.

¹⁵And said: The land is before you, dwell wheresoever it shall please thee.

¹⁶And to Sara he said: Behold I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: this shall serve thee for a covering of thy eyes to all that are with thee, and whithersoever thou shalt go: and remember thou wast taken.

¹⁷And when Abraham prayed, God healed Abimelech and his wife, and his handmaids, and they bore children:

¹⁸For the Lord had closed up every womb of the house of Abimelech on account of Sara, Abraham's wife.

21 And the Lord visited Sara, as he had promised: and fulfilled what he had spoken.

²And she conceived and bore a son in her old age, at the time that God had foretold her.

³And Abraham called the name of his son, whom Sara bore him, Isaac.

⁴And he circumcised him the eighth day, as God had commanded him,

⁵When he was a hundred years old: for at this age of his father was Isaac born.

⁶And Sara said: God hath made a laughter for me: whosoever shall hear of it will laugh with me.

⁷And again she said: Who would believe that Abraham should hear that Sara gave suck to a son, whom she bore to him in his old age.

⁸And the child grew and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast on the day of his weaning.

⁹And when Sara had seen the son of Agar the Egyptian playing with Isaac her son, she said to Abraham:

¹⁰Cast out this bondwoman, and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.

¹¹Abraham took this grievously for his son.

¹²And God said to him: Let it not seem grievous to thee for the boy, and for thy bondwoman: in all that Sara hath said to thee, hearken to her voice: for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

¹³But I will make the son also of the bondwoman a great nation, because he is thy seed.

¹⁴So Abraham rose up in the morning, and taking bread and a bottle of water, put it upon her shoulder, and delivered the boy, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Bersabee.

¹⁵And when the water in the bottle was spent, she cast the boy under one of the trees that were there.

¹⁶And she went her way, and sat over against him a great way off as far as a bow can carry, for she said: I will not see the boy die: and sitting over against, she lifted up her voice and wept.

¹⁷And God heard the voice of the boy: and an angel of God called to Agar from heaven, saying: What art thou doing, Agar? fear not: for God hath heard the voice of the boy, from the place wherein he is.

¹⁸Arise, take up the boy, and hold him by the hand: for I will make him a great nation.

¹⁹And God opened her eyes: and she saw a well of water, and went and filled the bottle, and gave the boy to drink.

²⁰And God was with him: and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became a young man, an archer.

²¹And he dwelt in the wilderness of Pharan, and his mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.

²²At the same time Abimelech, and Phicol the general of his army said to Abraham: God is with thee in all that thou dost.

²³Swear therefore by God, that thou wilt not hurt me, nor my posterity, nor my stock: but according to the kindness that I have done to thee, thou shalt do to me, and to the land wherein thou hast lived a stranger.

²⁴And Abraham said: I will swear.

²⁵And he reproved Abimelech for a well of water, which his servants had taken away by force.

²⁶And Abimelech answered: I knew not who did this thing: and thou didst not tell me, and I heard not of it till to day.

²⁷And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech: and both of them made a league.

²⁸And Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs of the flock.

²⁹And Abimelech said to him: What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set apart?

³⁰But he said: Thou shalt take seven ewe lambs at my hand: that they may be a testimony for me, that I dug this well.

³¹Therefore that place was called Bersabee: because there both of them did swear.

³²And they made a league for the well of oath.

³³And Abimelech, and Phicol the general of his army arose and returned to the land of the Palestines. But Abraham planted a grove in Bersabee, and there called upon the name of the Lord God eternal.

³⁴And he was a sojourner in the land of the Palestines many days.

22 After these things, God tempted Abraham, and said to him: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.

²He said to him: Take thy only begotten son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of vision: and there thou shalt offer him for an holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will shew thee.

³So Abraham rising up in the night, saddled his ass: and took with him two young men, and Isaac his son: and when he had cut wood for the holocaust he went his way to the place which God had commanded him.

⁴And on the third day, lifting up his eyes, he saw the place afar off.

⁵And he said to his young men: Stay you here with the ass: I and the boy will go with speed as far as yonder, and after we have worshipped, will return to you.

⁶And he took the wood for the holocaust, and laid it upon Isaac his son: and he himself carried in his hands fire and a sword. And as they two went on together,

⁷Isaac said to his father: My father. And he answered: What wilt thou, son? Behold, saith he, fire and wood: where is the victim for the holocaust?

⁸And Abraham said: God will provide himself a victim for an holocaust, my son. So they went on together.

⁹And they came to the place which God had shewn him, where he built an altar, and laid the wood in order upon it: and when he had bound Isaac his son, he laid him on the altar upon the pile of wood.

¹⁰And he put forth his hand and took the sword, to sacrifice his son.

¹¹And behold an angel of the Lord from heaven called to him, saying: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.

¹²And he said to him: Lay not thy hand upon the boy, neither do thou any thing to him: now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake.

¹³Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw behind his back a ram amongst the briers sticking fast by the horns, which he took and offered for a holocaust instead of his son.

¹⁴And he called the name of that place, The Lord seeth. Whereupon even to this day it is said: In the mountain the Lord will see.

¹⁵And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, saying:

¹⁶By my own self have I sworn, saith the Lord: because thou hast done this thing, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake:

¹⁷I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea shore: thy seed shall possess the gates of their enemies.

¹⁸And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.

¹⁹Abraham returned to his young men, and they went to Bersabee together, and he dwelt there.

²⁰After these things, it was told Abraham that Melcha also had borne children to Nachor his brother.

²¹Hus the firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Camuel the father of the Syrians,

²²And Cased, and Azau, and Pheldas, and Jedlaph,

²³And Bathuel, of whom was born Rebecca: These eight did Melcha bear to Nachor Abraham's brother.

²⁴And his concubine, named Roma, bore Tabee, and Gaham, and Tahas, and Maacha.

23 And Sara lived a hundred and twenty-seven years.

²And she died in the city of Arbee which is Hebron, in the land of Chanaan: and Abraham came to mourn and weep for her.

³And after he rose up from the funeral obsequies, he spoke to the children of Heth, saying:

⁴I am a stranger and sojourner among you: give me the right of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead.

⁵The children of Heth answered, saying:

⁶My Lord, hear us, thou art a prince of God among us: bury thy dead in our principal sepulchres: and no man shall have power to hinder thee from burying thy dead in his sepulchre.

⁷Abraham rose up, and bowed down to the people of the land, to wit the children of Heth:

⁸And said to them: If it please your soul that I should bury my dead, hear me, and intercede for me to Ephron the son of Seor.

⁹That he may give me the double cave, which he hath in the end of his field: for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me before you, for a possession of a buryingplace.

¹⁰Now Ephron dwelt in the midst of the children of Heth. And Ephron made answer to Abraham in the hearing of all that went in at the gate of the city, saying:

¹¹Let it not be so, my lord, but do thou rather hearken to what I say: The field I deliver to thee, and the cave that is therein, in the presence of the children of my people, bury thy dead.

¹²Abraham bowed down before the people of the land,

¹³And he spoke to Ephron, in the presence of the people: I beseech thee to hear me: I will give money for the field: take it, and so I will bury my dead in it.

¹⁴And Ephron answered:

¹⁵My lord, hear me. The ground which thou desirest, is worth four hundred sicles of silver: this is the price between me and thee: but what is this? bury thy dead.

¹⁶And when Abraham had heard this, he weighed out the money that Ephron had asked, in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred sicles of silver of common current money.

¹⁷And the field that before was Ephron's, wherein was the double cave, looking towards Mambre, both it and the cave, and all the trees thereof in all its limits round about,

¹⁸Was made sure to Abraham for a possession, in the sight of the children of Heth, and of all that went in at the gate of his city.

¹⁹And so Abraham buried Sara his wife, in a double cave of the field, that looked towards Mambre, this is Hebron in the land of Chanaan.

²⁰And the field was made sure to Abraham, and the cave that was in it, for a possession to bury in, by the children of Heth.

24 Now Abraham was old; and advanced in age: and the Lord had blessed him in all things.

²And he said to the elder servant of his house, who was ruler over all he had: Put thy hand under my thigh,

³That I may make thee swear by the Lord the God of heaven and earth, that thou take not a wife for my son, of the daughters of the Chanaanites, among whom I dwell:

⁴But that thou go to my own country and kindred, and take a wife from thence for my son Isaac.

⁵The servant answered: If the woman will not come with me into this land, must I bring thy son back again to the place, from whence thou camest out?

⁶And Abraham said: Beware thou never bring my son back again thither.

⁷The Lord God of heaven, who took me out of my father's house, and out of my native country, who spoke to me, and swore to me, saying: To thy seed will I give this land: he will send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take from thence a wife for my son.

⁸But if the woman will not follow thee, thou shalt not be bound by the oath; only bring not my son back thither again.

⁹The servant therefore put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his lord, and swore to him upon this word.

¹⁰And he took ten camels of his master's herd, and departed, carrying something of all his goods with him, and he set forward and went on to Mesopotamia to the city of Nachor.

¹¹And when he had made the camels lie down without the town near a well of water in the evening, at the time when women are wont to come out to draw water, he said:

¹²O Lord the God of my master Abraham, meet me to day, I beseech thee, and shew kindness to my master Abraham.

¹³Behold I stand nigh the spring of water, and the daughters of the inhabitants of this city will come out to draw water.

¹⁴Now, therefore, the maid to whom I shall say: Let down thy pitcher that I may drink: and she shall answer, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let it be the same whom thou hast provided for thy servant Isaac: and by this I shall understand, that thou hast shewn kindness to my master.

¹⁵He had not yet ended these words within himself, and behold Rebecca came out, the daughter of Bathuel, son of Melcha, wife to Nachor the brother of Abraham, having a pitcher on her shoulder:

¹⁶An exceeding comely maid, and a most beautiful virgin, and not known to man: and she went down to the spring, and filled her pitcher and was coming back.

¹⁷And the servant ran to meet her, and said: Give me a little water to drink of thy pitcher.

¹⁸And she answered: Drink, my lord. And quickly she let down the pitcher upon her arm, and gave him drink.

¹⁹And when he had drunk, she said: I will draw water for thy camels also, till they all drink.

²⁰And pouring out the pitcher into the troughs, she ran back to the well to draw water: and having drawn she gave to all the camels.

²¹But he musing beheld her with silence, desirous to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

²²And after that the camels had drunk, the man took out golden earrings, weighing two sicles: and as many bracelets of ten sicles weight.

²³And he said to her: Whose daughter art thou? tell me: is there any place in thy father's house to lodge?

²⁴And she answered: I am the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Melcha, whom she bore to Nachor.

²⁵And she said moreover to him: We have good store of both straw and hay, and a large place to lodge in.

²⁶The man bowed himself down, and adored the Lord,

²⁷Saying: Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not taken away his mercy and truth from my master, and hath brought me the straight way into the house of my master's brother.

²⁸Then the maid ran, and told in her mother's house, all that she had heard.

²⁹And Rebecca had a brother named Laban, who went out in haste to the man, to the well.

³⁰And when he had seen the earrings and bracelets in his sister's hands, and had heard all that she related, saying: Thus and thus the man spoke to me: he came to the man who stood by the camels, and near to the spring of water,

³¹And said to him: Come in, thou blessed of the Lord: why standest thou without? I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.

³²And he brought him in into his lodging: and he unharnessed the camels and gave straw and hay, and water to wash his feet, and the feet of the men that were come with him.

³³And bread was set before him. But he said: I will not eat, till I tell my message. He answered him: Speak.

³⁴And he said: I am the servant of Abraham:

³⁵And the Lord hath blessed my master wonderfully, and he is become great: and he hath given him sheep and oxen, silver and gold, menservants and womenservants, camels and asses.

³⁶And Sara my master's wife hath borne my master a son in her old age, and he hath given him all that he had.

³⁷And my master made me swear, saying: Thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the Chanaanites, in whose land I dwell:

³⁸But thou shalt go to my father's house, and shalt take a wife of my own kindred for my son:

³⁹But I answered my master: What if the woman will not come with me?

⁴⁰The Lord, said he, in whose sight I walk, will send his angel with thee, and will direct thy way: and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my own kindred, and of my father's house.

⁴¹But thou shalt be clear from my curse, when thou shalt come to my kindred, if they will not give thee one.

⁴²And I came to day to the well of water, and said: O Lord God of my master Abraham, if thou hast prospered my way, wherein I now walk,

⁴³Behold I stand by the well of water, and the virgin, that shall come out to draw water, who shall hear me say: Give me a little water to drink of thy pitcher:

⁴⁴And shall say to me: Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman, whom the Lord hath prepared for my master's son.

⁴⁵And whilst I pondered these things secretly with myself, Rebecca appeared coming with a pitcher, which she carried on her shoulder: and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her: Give me a little to drink.

⁴⁶And she speedily let down the pitcher from her shoulder, and said to me: Both drink thou, and to thy camels I will give drink. I drank, and she watered the camels.

⁴⁷And I asked her, and said: Whose daughter art thou? And she answered: I am the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Nachor, whom Melcha bore to him. So I put earrings on her to adorn her face, and I put bracelets on her hands.

⁴⁸And falling down I adored the Lord, blessing the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath brought me the straight way to take the daughter of my master's brother for his son.

⁴⁹Wherefore if you do according to mercy and truth with my master, tell me: but if it please you otherwise, tell me that also, that I may go to the right hand, or to the left.

⁵⁰And Laban and Bathuel answered: The word hath proceeded from the Lord, we cannot speak any other thing to thee but his pleasure.

⁵¹Behold Rebecca is before thee, take her and go thy way, and let her be the wife of thy master's son, as the Lord hath spoken.

⁵²Which when Abraham's servant heard, falling down to the ground he adored the Lord.

⁵³And bringing forth vessels of silver and gold, and garments, he gave them to Rebecca for a present. He offered gifts also to her brothers, and to her mother.

⁵⁴And a banquet was made, and they ate and drank together, and lodged there. And in the morning, the servant arose, and said: Let me depart, that I may go to my master.

⁵⁵And her brother and mother answered: Let the maid stay at least ten days with us, and afterwards she shall depart.

⁵⁶Stay me not, said he, because the Lord hath prospered my way: send me away, that I may go to my master.

⁵⁷And they said: Let us call the maid, and ask her will.

⁵⁸And they called her, and when she was come, they asked: Wilt thou go with this man? She said: I will go.

⁵⁹So they sent her away, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his company,

⁶⁰Wishing prosperity to their sister, and saying: Thou art our sister, mayst thou increase to thousands of thousands, and may thy seed possess the gates of their enemies.

⁶¹So Rebecca and her maids, being set upon camels, followed the man: who with speed returned to his master.

⁶²At the same time Isaac was walking along the way to the well which is called Of the living and the seeing: for he dwelt in the south country.

⁶³And he was gone forth to meditate in the field, the day being now well spent: and when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw camels coming afar off.

⁶⁴Rebecca also, when she saw Isaac, lighted off the camel,

⁶⁵And said to the servant: Who is that man who cometh towards us along the field? And he said to her: That man is my master. But she quickly took her cloak, and covered herself.

⁶⁶And the servant told Isaac all that he had done.

⁶⁷Who brought her into the tent of Sara his mother, and took her to wife: and he loved her so much, that it moderated the sorrow which was occasioned by his mother's death.

25 And Abraham married another wife, named Cetura:

²Who bore him Zamran, and Jecsan, and Madan, and Madian, and Jesboc, and Sue.

³Jecsan also begot Saba and Dadan. The children of Dadan were Assurim, and Latusim, and Loomin.

⁴But of Madian was born Epha, and Opher, and Henoch, and Abida, and Eldaa: all these were the children of Cetura.

⁵And Abraham gave all his possessions to Isaac.

⁶And to the children of the concubines he gave gifts, and separated them from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, to the east country.

⁷And the days of Abraham's life were a hundred and seventy-five years.

⁸And decaying he died in a good old age, and having lived a long time, and being full of days: and was gathered to his people.

⁹And Isaac and Ismael his sons buried him in the double cave, which was situated in the field of Ephron the son of Seor the Hethite, over against Mambre;

¹⁰Which he had bought of the children of Heth: there was he buried, and Sara his wife.

¹¹And after his death, God blessed Isaac his son, who dwelt by the well named Of the living and seeing.

¹²These are the generations of Ismael the son of Abraham, whom Agar the Egyptian, Sara's servant, bore unto him:

¹³And these are the names of his children according to their calling and generations. The firstborn of Ismael was Nabajoth, then Cedar, and Adbeel, and Mabsam.

¹⁴And Masma, and Duma, and Massa,

¹⁵Hadar, and Thema, and Jethur, and Naphis, and Cedma.

¹⁶These are the sons of Ismael: and these are their names by their castles and towns, twelve princes of their tribes.

¹⁷And the years of Ismael's life were a hundred and thirty-seven, and decaying he died, and was gathered unto his people.

¹⁸And he dwelt from Hevila as far as Sur, which looketh towards Egypt, to them that go towards the Assyrians. He died in the presence of all his brethren.

¹⁹These also are the generations of Isaac the son of Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac:

²⁰Who when he was forty years old, took to wife Rebecca the daughter of Bathuel the Syrian of Mesopotamia, sister to Laban.

²¹And Isaac besought the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and he heard him, and made Rebecca to conceive.

²²But the children struggled in her womb: and she said: If it were to be so with me, what need was there to conceive? And she went to consult the Lord.

²³And he answering said: Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be divided out of thy womb, and one people shall overcome the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.

²⁴And when her time was come to be delivered, behold twins were found in her womb.

²⁵He that came forth first was red, and hairy like a skin: and his name was called Esau. Immediately the other coming forth, held his brother's foot in his hand, and therefore he was called Jacob.

²⁶Isaac was threescore years old when the children were born unto him.

²⁷And when they were grown up, Esau became a skillful hunter, and a husbandman, but Jacob a plain man dwelt in tents.

²⁸Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his hunting: and Rebecca loved Jacob.

²⁹And Jacob boiled pottage: to whom Esau, coming faint out of the field,

³⁰Said: Give me of this red pottage, for I am exceeding faint. For which reason his name was called Edom.

³¹And Jacob said to him: Sell me thy first birthright.

³²He answered: Lo I die, what will the first birthright avail me?

³³Jacob said: Swear therefore to me. Esau swore to him, and sold his first birthright.

³⁴And so taking bread and the pottage of lentils, he ate, and drank, and went his way; making little account of having sold his first birthright.

26 And when a famine came in the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Palestines to Gerara.

²And the Lord appeared to him and said: Go not down into Egypt, but stay in the land that I shall tell thee.

³And sojourn in it, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for to thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries, to fulfill the oath which I swore to Abraham thy father.

⁴And I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven: and I will give to thy posterity all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.

⁵Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and commandments, and observed my ceremonies and laws.

⁶So Isaac abode in Gerara.

⁷And when he was asked by the men of that place, concerning his wife, he answered: She is my sister; for he was afraid to confess that she was his wife, thinking lest perhaps they would kill him because of her beauty.

⁸And when very many days were passed, and he abode there, Abimelech king of the Palestines looking out through a window, saw him playing with Rebecca his wife.

⁹And calling for him, he said: It is evident she is thy wife: why didst thou feign her to be thy sister? He answered: I feared lest I should die for her sake.

¹⁰And Abimelech said: Why hast thou deceived us? Some man of the people might have lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us a great sin. And he commanded all the people, saying:

¹¹He that shall touch this man's wife, shall surely be put to death.

¹²And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found that same year a hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.

¹³And the man was enriched, and he went on prospering and increasing, till he became exceeding great:

¹⁴And he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very great family. Wherefore the Palestines envying him,

¹⁵Stopped up at that time all the wells, that the servants of his father Abraham had digged, filling them up with earth:

¹⁶Insomuch that Abimelech himself said to Isaac: Depart from us, for thou art become much mightier than we.

¹⁷So he departed and came to the torrent of Gerara, to dwell there:

¹⁸And he digged again other wells, which the servants of his father Abraham had digged, and which, after his death, the Palestines had of old stopped up: and he called them by the same names by which his father before had called them.

¹⁹And they digged in the torrent, and found living water.

²⁰But there also the herdsmen of Gerara strove against the herdsmen of Isaac, saying: It is our water. Wherefore he called the name of the well, on occasion of that which had happened, Calumny.

²¹And they digged also another; and for that they quarrelled likewise, and he called the name of it, Enmity.

²²Going forward from thence, he digged another well, for which they contended not: therefore he called the name thereof, Latitude, saying: Now hath the Lord given us room, and made us to increase upon the earth.

²³And he went up from that place to Bersabee,

²⁴Where the Lord appeared to him that same night, saying: I am the God of Abraham thy father; do not fear, for I am with thee: I will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.

²⁵And he built there an altar: and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent: and commanded his servants to dig a well.

²⁶To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and Phicol chief captain of his soldiers came from Gerara,

²⁷Isaac said to them: Why are ye come to me, a man whom you hate, and have thrust out from you?

²⁸And they answered: We saw that the Lord is with thee, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a covenant,

²⁹That thou do us no harm, as we on our part have touched nothing of thine, nor have done any thing to hurt thee: but with peace have sent thee away increased with the blessing of the Lord.

³⁰And he made them a feast, and after they had eaten and drunk:

³¹Arising in the morning, they swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away peaceably to their own home.

³²And behold the same day the servants of Isaac came, telling him of a well which they had digged, and saying: We have found water.

³³Whereupon he called it Abundance: and the name of the city was called Bersabee, even to this day.

³⁴And Esau being forty years old, married wives, Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hethite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon of the same place.

³⁵And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebecca.

27 Now Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see: and he called Esau, his elder son, and said to him: My son? And he answered: Here I am.

²And his father said to him: Thou seest that I am old, and know not the day of my death.

³Take thy arms, thy quiver, and bow, and go abroad: and when thou hast taken some thing by hunting,

⁴Make me savoury meat thereof, as thou knowest I like, and bring it, that I may eat: and my soul may bless thee before I die.

⁵And when Rebecca had heard this, and he was gone into the field to fulfill his father's commandment,

⁶She said to her son Jacob: I heard thy father talking with Esau thy brother, and saying to him:

⁷Bring me of thy hunting, and make me meats that I may eat, and bless thee in the sight of the Lord, before I die.

⁸Now, therefore, my son, follow my counsel:

⁹And go thy way to the flock, bring me two kids of the best, that I may make of them meat for thy father, such as he gladly eateth:

¹⁰Which when thou hast brought in, and he hath eaten, he may bless thee before he die.

¹¹And he answered her: Thou knowest that Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am smooth.

¹²If my father shall feel me, and perceive it, I fear lest he will think I would have mocked him, and I shall bring upon me a curse instead of a blessing.

¹³And his mother said to him: Upon me be this curse, my son: only hear thou my voice, and go, fetch me the things which I have said.

¹⁴He went, and brought, and gave them to his mother. She dressed meats, such as she knew his father liked.

¹⁵And she put on him very good garments of Esau, which she had at home with her:

¹⁶And the little skins of the kids she put about his hands, and covered the bare of his neck.

¹⁷And she gave him the savoury meat, and delivered him bread that she had baked.

¹⁸Which when he had carried in, he said: My father? But he answered: I hear. Who art thou, my son?

¹⁹And Jacob said: I am Esau thy firstborn: I have done as thou didst command me: arise, sit, and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

²⁰And Isaac said to his son: How couldst thou find it so quickly, my son? He answered: It was the will of God, that what I sought came quickly in my way.

²¹And Isaac said: Come hither, that I may feel thee, my son, and may prove whether thou be my son Esau, or not.

²²He came near to his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac said: The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob; but the hands are the hands of Esau.

²³And he knew him not, because his hairy hands made him like to the elder. Then blessing him,

²⁴He said: Art thou my son Esau? He answered: I am.

²⁵Then he said: Bring me the meats of thy hunting, my son, that my soul may bless thee. And when they were brought, and he had eaten, he offered him wine also, which after he had drunk,

²⁶He said to him: Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son.

²⁷He came near, and kissed him. And immediately as he smelled the fragrant smell of his garments, blessing him, he said: Behold the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord hath blessed.

²⁸God give thee the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine.

²⁹And let peoples serve thee, and tribes worship thee: be thou lord of thy brethren, and let thy mother's children bow down before thee. Cursed be he that curseth thee: and let him that blesseth thee be filled with blessings.

³⁰Isaac had scarce ended his words, when Jacob being now gone out abroad, Esau came,

³¹And brought in to his father meats made of what he had taken in hunting, saying: Arise, my father, and eat of thy son's venison; that thy soul may bless me.

³²And Isaac said to him: Why! who art thou? He answered: I am thy firstborn son Esau.

³³Isaac was struck with fear, and astonished exceedingly: and wondering beyond what can be believed, said Who is he then that even now brought me venison that he had taken, and I ate of all before thou camest? and I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed.

³⁴Esau having heard his father's words, roared out with a great cry: and being in a great consternation, said: Bless me also, my father.

³⁵And he said: Thy brother came deceitfully and got thy blessing.

³⁶But he said again: Rightly is his name called Jacob; for he hath supplanted me lo this second time: my first birthright he took away before, and now this second time he hath stolen away my blessing. And again he said to his father: Hast thou not reserved me also a blessing?

³⁷Isaac answered: I have appointed him thy lord, and have made all his brethren his servants: I have established him with corn and wine, and after this, what shall I do more for thee, my son?

³⁸And Esau said to him: Hast thou only one blessing, father? I beseech thee bless me also. And when he wept with a loud cry,

³⁹Isaac being moved, said to him: In the fat of the earth, and in the dew of heaven from above,

⁴⁰Shall thy blessing be. Thou shalt live by the sword and shalt serve thy brother: and the time shall come, when thou shalt shake off and loose his yoke from thy neck.

⁴¹Esau therefore always hated Jacob for the blessing wherewith his father had blessed him: and he said in his heart: The days will come of the mourning of my father, and I will kill my brother Jacob.

⁴²These things were told to Rebecca: and she sent and called Jacob her son, and said to him: Behold Esau thy brother threateneth to kill thee.

⁴³Now therefore, my son, hear my voice: arise and flee to Laban my brother to Haran:

⁴⁴And thou shalt dwell with him a few days, till the wrath of thy brother be assuaged,

⁴⁵And his indignation cease, and he forget the things thou hast done to him: afterwards I will send, and bring thee from thence hither. Why shall I be deprived of both my sons in one day?

⁴⁶And Rebecca said to Isaac: I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the stock of this land, I choose not to live.

28 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, saying: Take not a wife of the stock of Chanaan:

²But go, and take a journey to Mesopotamia of Syria, to the house of Bathuel thy mother's father, and take thee a wife thence of the daughters of Laban thy uncle.

³And God almighty bless thee, and make thee to increase, and multiply thee: that thou mayst be a multitude of people.

⁴And give the blessings of Abraham to thee, and to thy seed after thee: that thou mayst possess the land of thy sojournment, which he promised to thy grandfather.

⁵And when Isaac had sent him away, he took his journey and went to Mesopotamia of Syria to Laban the son of Bathuel the Syrian, brother to Rebecca his mother.

⁶And Esau seeing that his father had blessed Jacob, and had sent him into Mesopotamia of Syria, to marry a wife thence; and that after the blessing he had charged him, saying: Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Chanaan:

⁷And that Jacob obeying his parents was gone into Syria:

⁸Experiencing also that his father was not well pleased with the daughters of Chanaan:

⁹He went to Ismael, and took to wife, besides them he had before, Maheleth the daughter of Ismael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nabajoth.

¹⁰But Jacob being departed from Bersabee, went on to Haran.

¹¹And when he was come to a certain place, and would rest in it after sunset, he took of the stones that lay there, and putting under his head, slept in the same place.

¹²And he saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven: the angels also of God ascending and descending by it;

¹³And the Lord leaning upon the ladder, saying to him: I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land, wherein thou sleepest, I will give to thee and to thy seed.

¹⁴And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth: thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and IN THEE and thy seed all the tribes of the earth SHALL BE BLESSED.

¹⁵And I will be thy keeper whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land: neither will I leave thee, till I shall have accomplished all that I have said.

¹⁶And when Jacob awaked out of sleep, he said: Indeed the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.

¹⁷And trembling he said: How terrible is this place! this is no other but the house of God, and the gate of heaven.

¹⁸And Jacob, arising in the morning, took the stone, which he had laid under his head, and set it up for a title, pouring oil upon the top of it.

¹⁹And he called the name of the city Bethel, which before was called Luza.

²⁰And he made a vow, saying: If God shall be with me, and shall keep me in the way by which I walk, and shall give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,

²¹And I shall return prosperously to my father's house: the Lord shall be my God:

²²And this stone, which I have set up for a title, shall be called the house of God: and of all things that thou shalt give to me, I will offer tithes to thee.

29 Then Jacob went on in his journey, and came into the east country.

²And he saw a well in the field, and three flocks of sheep lying by it: for the beasts were watered out of it, and the mouth thereof was closed with a great stone.

³And the custom was, when all the sheep were gathered together to roll away the stone, and after the sheep were watered, to put it on the mouth of the well again.

⁴And he said to the shepherds: Brethren, whence are you? They answered: Of Haran.

⁵And he asked them, saying: Know you Laban the son of Nachor? They said: We know him.

⁶He said: Is he in health? He is in health, say they: and behold Rachel his daughter cometh with his flock.

⁷And Jacob said: There is yet much day remaining, neither is it time to bring the flocks into the folds again: first give the sheep drink, and so lead them back to feed.

⁸They answered: We cannot, till all the cattle be gathered together, and we remove the stone from the well's mouth, that we may water the flocks.

⁹They were yet speaking, and behold Rachel came with her father's sheep: for she fed the flock.

¹⁰And when Jacob saw her, and knew her to be his cousin-german, and that they were the sheep of Laban, his uncle: he removed the stone wherewith the well was closed.

¹¹And having watered the flock, he kissed her: and lifting up his voice, wept.

¹²And he told her that he was her father's brother, and the son of Rebecca: but she went in haste and told her father.

¹³Who, when he heard that Jacob his sister's son was come, ran forth to meet him; and embracing him, and heartily kissing him, brought him into his house. And when he had heard the causes of his journey,

¹⁴He answered: Thou art my bone and my flesh. And after the days of one month were expired,

¹⁵He said to him: Because thou art my brother, shalt thou serve me without wages? Tell me what wages thou wilt have.

¹⁶Now he had two daughters, the name of the elder was Lia: and the younger was called Rachel.

¹⁷But Lia was blear eyed: Rachel was well favoured, and of a beautiful countenance.

¹⁸And Jacob being in love with her, said: I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.

¹⁹Laban answered: It is better that I give her to thee than to another man; stay with me.

²⁰So Jacob served seven years for Rachel: and they seemed but a few days, because of the greatness of his love.

²¹And he said to Laban: Give me my wife; for now the time is fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.

²²And he, having invited a great number of his friends to the feast, made the marriage.

²³And at night he brought in Lia his daughter to him,

²⁴Giving his daughter a handmaid, named Zelpha. Now when Jacob had gone in to her according to custom when morning was come he saw it was Lia:

²⁵And he said to his father in law: What is it that thou didst mean to do? did not I serve thee for Rachel? why hast thou deceived me?

²⁶Laban answered: It is not the custom in this place, to give the younger in marriage first.

²⁷Make up the week of days of this match: and I will give thee her also, for the service that thou shalt render me other seven years.

²⁸He yielded to his pleasure: and after the week was past, he married Rachel:

²⁹To whom her father gave Bala for her servant.

³⁰And having at length obtained the marriage he wished for, he preferred the love of the latter before the former, and served with him other seven years.

³¹And the Lord seeing that he despised Lia, opened her womb, but her sister remained barren.

³²And she conceived and bore a son, and called his name Ruben, saying: The Lord saw my affliction: now my husband will love me.

³³And again she conceived and bore a son, and said: Because the Lord heard that I was despised, he hath given this also to me: and she called his name Simeon.

³⁴And she conceived the third time, and bore another son: and said: Now also my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons: and therefore she called his name Levi.

³⁵The fourth time she conceived and bore a son, and said: now will I praise the Lord: and for this she called him Juda. And she left bearing.

30 And Rachel, seeing herself without children, envied her sister, and said to her husband: Give me children, otherwise I shall die.

²And Jacob being angry with her, answered: Am I as God, who hath deprived thee of the fruit of thy womb?

³But she said: I have here my servant Bala: go in unto her, that she may bear upon my knees, and I may have children by her.

⁴And she gave him Bala in marriage: who,

⁵When her husband had gone in unto her, conceived and bore a son.

⁶And Rachel said: The Lord hath judged for me, and hath heard my voice, giving me a son, and therefore she called his name Dan.

⁷And again Bala conceived and bore another,

⁸For whom Rachel said: God hath compared me with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called him Nephtali.

⁹Lia, perceiving that she had left off bearing, gave Zelpha her handmaid to her husband.

¹⁰And when she had conceived and brought forth a son,

¹¹She said: Happily. And therefore called his name Gad.

¹²Zelpha also bore another.

¹³And Lia said: This is for my happiness: for women will call me blessed. Therefore she called him Aser.

¹⁴And Ruben, going out in the time of the wheat harvest into the field, found mandrakes: which he brought to his mother Lia. And Rachel said: Give me part of thy son's mandrakes.

¹⁵She answered: Dost thou think it a small matter, that thou hast taken my husband from me, unless thou take also my son's mandrakes? Rachel said: He shall sleep with thee this night, for thy son's mandrakes.

¹⁶And when Jacob returned at even from the field, Lia went out to meet him, and said: Thou shalt come in unto me, because I have hired thee for my son's mandrakes. And he slept with her that night.

¹⁷And God heard her prayers: and she conceived and bore the fifth son,

¹⁸And said: God hath given me a reward, because I gave my handmaid to my husband. And she called his name Issachar.

¹⁹And Lia conceived again, and bore the sixth son,

²⁰And said: God hath endowed me with a good dowry: this turn also my husband will be with me, because I have borne him six sons: and therefore she called his name Zabulon.

²¹After whom she bore a daughter, named Dina.

²²The Lord also remembering Rachel, heard her, and opened her womb.

²³And she conceived, and bore a son, saying: God hath taken away my reproach.

²⁴And she called his name Joseph, saying: The Lord give me also another son.

²⁵And when Joseph was born, Jacob said to his father in law: Send me away that I may return into my country, and to my land.

²⁶Give me my wives, and my children, for whom I have served thee, that I may depart: thou knowest the service that I have rendered thee.

²⁷Laban said to him: Let me find favour in thy sight: I have learned by experience, that God hath blessed me for thy sake.

²⁸Appoint thy wages which I shall give thee.

²⁹But he answered: Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how great thy possession hath been in my hands.

³⁰Thou hadst but little before I came to thee, and now thou art become rich: and the Lord hath blessed thee at my coming. It is reasonable therefore that I should now provide also for my own house.

³¹And Laban said: What shall I give thee? But he said: I require nothing: but if thou wilt do what I demand, I will feed, and keep thy sheep again.

³²Go round through all thy flocks, and separate all the sheep of divers colours, and speckled: and all that is brown and spotted, and of divers colours, as well among the sheep, as among the goats, shall be my wages.

³³And my justice shall answer for me to morrow before thee when the time of the bargain shall come: and all that is not of divers colours, and spotted, and brown, as well among the sheep as among the goats, shall accuse me of theft.

³⁴And Laban said: I like well what thou demandest.

³⁵And he separated the same day the she goats, and the sheep, and the he goats, and the rams of divers colours, and spotted: and all the flock of one colour, that is, of white and black fleece, he delivered into the hands of his sons.

³⁶And he set the space of three days' journey betwixt himself and his son in law, who fed the rest of his flock.

³⁷And Jacob took green rods of poplar, and of almond, and of plane trees, and pilled them in part: so when the bark was taken off, in the parts that were pilled, there appeared whiteness: but the parts that were whole remained green: and by this means the colour was divers.

³⁸And he put them in the troughs, where the water was poured out: that when the flocks should come to drink, they might have the rods before their eyes, and in the sight of them might conceive.

³⁹And it came to pass that in the very heat of coition, the sheep beheld the rods, and brought forth spotted, and of divers colours, and speckled.

⁴⁰And Jacob separated the flock, and put the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the rams: and all the white and the black were Laban's: and the rest were Jacob's, when the flocks were separated one from the other.

⁴¹So when the ewes went first to ram, Jacob put the rods in the troughs of water before the eyes of the rams, and of the ewes, that they might conceive while they were looking upon them:

⁴²But when the latter coming was, and the last conceiving, he did not put them. And those that were lateward, became Laban's: and they of the first time, Jacob's.

⁴³And the man was enriched exceedingly, and he had many flocks, maid servants and men servants, camels and asses.

31 But after that he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying: Jacob hath taken away all that was our father's, and being enriched by his substance is become great:

²And perceiving also that Laban's countenance was not towards him as yesterday and the other day,

³Especially the Lord saying to him: Return into the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred, and I will be with thee.

⁴He sent, and called Rachel and Lia into the field, where he fed the flocks,

⁵And said to them: I see your father's countenance is not towards me as yesterday and the other day: but the God of my father hath been with me.

⁶And you know that I have served your father to the uttermost of my power.

⁷Yea, your father also hath overreached me, and hath changed my wages ten times: and yet God hath not suffered him to hurt me.

⁸If at any time he said: The speckled shall be thy wages: all the sheep brought forth speckled: but when he said on the contrary: Thou shalt take all the white ones for thy wages: all the flocks brought forth white ones.

⁹And God hath taken your father's substance, and given it to me.

¹⁰For after that time came of the ewes conceiving, I lifted up my eyes, and saw in my sleep that the males which leaped upon the females were of divers colours, and spotted, and speckled.

¹¹And the angel of God said to me in my sleep: Jacob? And I answered: Here I am.

¹²And he said: Lift up thy eyes, and see that all the males leaping upon the females, are of divers colours, spotted, and speckled. For I have seen all that Laban hath done to thee.

¹³I am the God of Bethel, where thou didst anoint the stone, and make a vow to me. Now therefore arise, and go out of this land, and return into thy native country.

¹⁴And Rachel and Lia answered: Have we any thing left among the goods and inheritance of our father's house?

¹⁵Hath he not counted us as strangers and sold us, and eaten up the price of us?

¹⁶But God hath taken our father's riches, and delivered them to us, and to our children: wherefore do all that God hath commanded thee.

¹⁷Then Jacob rose up, and having set his children and wives upon camels, went his way.

¹⁸And he took all his substance, and flocks, and whatsoever he had gotten in Mesopotamia, and went forward to Isaac his father to the land of Chanaan.

¹⁹At that time Laban was gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole away her father's idols.

²⁰And Jacob would not confess to his father in law that he was flying away.

²¹And when he was gone, together with all that belonged to him, and having passed the river, was going on towards mount Galaad,

²²It was told Laban on the third day that Jacob fled.

²³And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days; and overtook him in the mount of Galaad.

²⁴And he saw in a dream God saying to him: Take heed thou speak not any thing harshly against Jacob.

²⁵Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain: and when he with his brethren had overtaken him, he pitched his tent in the same mount of Galaad.

²⁶And he said to Jacob: Why hast thou done thus, to carry away, without my knowledge, my daughters, as captives taken with the sword.

²⁷Why wouldst thou run away privately and not acquaint me, that I might have brought thee on the way with joy, and with songs, and with timbrels, and with harps?

²⁸Thou hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and daughters: thou hast done foolishly: and now, indeed,

²⁹It is in my power to return thee evil: but the God of your father said to me yesterday: Take heed thou speak not any thing harshly against Jacob.

³⁰Suppose thou didst desire to go to thy friends, and hadst a longing after thy father's house: why hast thou stolen away my gods?

³¹Jacob answered: That I departed unknown to thee, it was for fear lest thou wouldst take away thy daughters by force.

³²But whereas thou chargest me with theft: with whomsoever thou shalt find thy gods, let him be slain before our brethren. Search, and if thou find any of thy things with me, take them away. Now when he said this, he knew not that Rachel had stolen the idols.

³³So Laban went into the tent of Jacob, and of Lia, and of both the handmaids, and found them not. And when he was entered into Rachel's tent,

³⁴She in haste hid the idols under the camel's furniture, and sat upon them: and when he had searched all the tent, and found nothing,

³⁵She said: Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise up before thee, because it has now happened to me, according to the custom of women, So his careful search was in vain.

³⁶And Jacob being angry, said in a chiding manner: For what fault of mine, and for what offence on my part hast thou so hotly pursued me,

³⁷And searched all my household stuff? What hast thou found of all the substance of thy house? lay it here before my brethren, and thy brethren, and let them judge between me and thee.

³⁸Have I therefore been with thee twenty years? thy ewes and goats were not barren, the rams of thy flocks I did not eat:

³⁹Neither did I shew thee that which the beast had torn, I made good all the damage: whatsoever was lost by theft, thou didst exact it of me:

⁴⁰Day and night was I parched with heat, and with frost, and sleep departed from my eyes.

⁴¹And in this manner have I served thee in thy house twenty years, fourteen for thy daughters, and six for thy flocks: thou hast changed also my wages ten times.

⁴²Unless the God of my father Abraham, and the fear of Isaac had stood by me, peradventure now thou hadst sent me away naked: God beheld my affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesterday.

⁴³Laban answered him: The daughters are mine and the children, and thy flocks, and all things that thou seest are mine: what can I do to my children, and grandchildren?

⁴⁴Come therefore, let us enter into a league: that it may be for a testimony between me and thee.

⁴⁵And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a title:

⁴⁶And he said to his brethren: Bring hither stones. And they gathering stones together, made a heap, and they ate upon it.

⁴⁷And Laban called it The witness heap: and Jacob, The hillock of testimony: each of them according to the propriety of his language.

⁴⁸And Laban said: This heap shall be a witness between me and thee this day, and therefore the name thereof was called Galaad, that is, The witness heap.

⁴⁹The Lord behold and judge between us when we shall be gone one from the other.

⁵⁰If thou afflict my daughters, and if thou bring in other wives over them: none is witness of our speech but God, who is present and beholdeth.

⁵¹And he said again to Jacob: Behold, this heap, and the stone which I have set up between me and thee,

⁵²Shall be a witness: this heap, I say, and the stone, be they for a testimony, if either I shall pass beyond it going towards thee, or thou shalt pass beyond it, thinking harm to me.

⁵³The God of Abraham, and the God of Nachor, the God of their father, judge between us. And Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac.

⁵⁴And after he had offered sacrifices in the mountain, he called his brethren to eat bread. And when they had eaten, they lodged there:

⁵⁵But Laban arose in the night, and kissed his sons, and daughters, and blessed them: and returned to his place.

32 Jacob also went on the journey he had begun: and the angels of God met him.

²And when he saw them, he said: These are the camps of God, and he called the name of that place Mahanaim, that is, Camps.

³And he sent messengers before him to Esau his brother to the land of Seir to the country of Edom:

⁴And he commanded them, saying: Thus shall ye speak to my lord Esau: Thus saith thy brother Jacob: I have sojourned with Laban, and have been with him until this day.

⁵I have oxen, and asses, and sheep, and menservants, and womenservants: and now I send a message to my lord, that I may find favour in thy sight.

⁶And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying: We came to Esau thy brother, and behold he cometh with speed to meet thee with four hundred men.

⁷Then Jacob was greatly afraid; and in his fear divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the sheep, and the oxen, and the camels, into two companies,

⁸Saying: If Esau come to one company and destroy it, the other company that is left shall escape.

⁹And Jacob said: O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who saidst to me: Return to thy land and to the place of thy birth, and I will do well for thee,

¹⁰I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of thy truth which thou hast fulfilled to thy servant. With my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I return with two companies.

¹¹Deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am greatly afraid of him: lest perhaps he come, and kill the mother with the children.

¹²Thou didst say that thou wouldst do well by me, and multiply my seed like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

¹³And when he had slept there that night, he set apart, of the things which he had, presents for his brother Esau.

¹⁴Two hundred she goats, twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,

¹⁵Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and twenty bulls, twenty she asses, and ten of their foals.

¹⁶And he sent them by the hands of his servants, every drove by itself, and he said to his servants: Go before me, and let there be a space between drove and drove.

¹⁷And he commanded the first, saying: If thou meet my brother Esau, and he ask thee: Whose art thou? or whither goest thou? or whose are these before thee?

¹⁸Thou shalt answer: Thy servant Jacob's: he hath sent them as a present to my lord Esau: and he cometh after us.

¹⁹In like manner he commanded the second and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying: Speak ye the same words to Esau, when ye find him.

²⁰And ye shall add: Thy servant Jacob himself also followeth after us: for he said: I will appease him with the presents that go before, and afterwards I will see him, perhaps he will be gracious to me.

²¹So the presents went before him, but himself lodged that night in the camp.

²²And rising early he took his two wives, and his two handmaids, with his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of Jaboc.

²³And when all things were brought over that belonged to him,

²⁴He remained alone: and behold a man wrestled with him till morning.

²⁵And when he saw that he could not overcome him, he touched the sinew of his thigh, and forthwith it shrank.

²⁶And he said to him: Let me go, for it is break of day. He answered: I will not let thee go except thou bless me.

²⁷And he said: What is thy name? He answered: Jacob.

²⁸But he said: Thy name shall not be called Jacob, but Israel: for if thou hast been strong against God, how much more shalt thou prevail against men?

²⁹Jacob asked him, Tell me by what name art thou called? He answered: Why dost thou ask my name? And he blessed him in the same place.

³⁰And Jacob called the name of the place Phanuel, saying: I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved.

³¹And immediately the sun rose upon him, after he was past Phanuel; but he halted on his foot.

³²Therefore the children of Israel, unto this day, eat not the sinew, that shrank in Jacob's thigh: because he touched the sinew of his thigh and it shrank.

33 And Jacob lifting up his eyes, saw Esau coming, and with him four hundred men: and he divided the children of Lia, and of Rachel, and of the two handmaids:

²And he put both the handmaids and their children foremost: and Lia and her children in the second place: and Rachel and Joseph last.

³And he went forward and bowed down with his face to the ground seven times until his brother came near.

⁴Then Esau ran to meet his brother, and embraced him: and clasping him fast about the neck, and kissing him, wept.

⁵And lifting up his eyes, he saw the women and their children, and said: What mean these? And do they belong to thee? He answered: They are the children which God hath given to me thy servant.

⁶Then the handmaids and their children came near, and bowed themselves.

⁷Lia also with her children came near, and bowed down in like manner, and last of all Joseph and Rachel bowed down.

⁸And Esau said: What are the droves that I met? He answered: That I might find favour before my lord.

⁹But he said: I have plenty, my brother, keep what is thine for thyself.

¹⁰And Jacob said: Do not so I beseech thee, but if I have found favour in thy eyes, receive a little present at my hands: for I have seen thy face, as if I should have seen the countenance of God: be gracious to me,

¹¹And take the blessing, which I have brought thee, and which God hath given me, who giveth all things. He took it with much ado at his brother's earnest pressing him,

¹²And said: Let us go on together, and I will accompany thee in thy journey.

¹³And Jacob said: My lord, thou knowest that I have with me tender children, and sheep, and kine with young: which if I should cause to be overdriven, in one day all the flocks will die.

¹⁴May it please my lord to go before his servant: and I will follow softly after him, as I shall see my children to be able, until I come to my lord in Seir.

¹⁵Esau answered: I beseech thee, that some of the people at least, who are with me, may stay to accompany thee in the way. And he said: There is no necessity: I want nothing else but only to find favour, my lord, in thy sight.

¹⁶So Esau returned, that day, the way that he came, to Seir.

¹⁷And Jacob came to Socoth: where having built a house, and pitched tents, he called the name of the place Socoth, that is, Tents.

¹⁸And he passed over to Salem, a city of the Sichemites, which is in the land of Chanaan, after he returned from Mesopotamia of Syria: and he dwelt by the town:

¹⁹And he bought that part of the field, in which he pitched his tents, of the children of Hemor, the father of Sichem for a hundred lambs.

²⁰And raising an altar there, he invoked upon it the most mighty God of Israel.

34 And Dina the daughter of Lia went out to see the women of that country.

²And when Sichem the son of Hemor the Hevite, the prince of that land, saw her, he was in love with her: and took her away, and lay with her, ravishing the virgin.

³And his soul was fast knit unto her, and whereas she was sad, he comforted her with sweet words.

⁴And going to Hemor his father, he said: Get me this damsel to wife.

⁵But when Jacob had heard this, his sons being absent, and employed in feeding the cattle, he held his peace till they came back.

⁶And when Hemor the father of Sichem was come out to speak to Jacob,

⁷Behold his sons came from the field: and hearing what had passed, they were exceeding angry, because he had done a foul thing in Israel, and committed an unlawful act, in ravishing Jacob's daughter,

⁸And Hemor spoke to them: The soul of my son Sichem has a longing for your daughter: give her him to wife:

⁹And let us contract marriages one with another: give us your daughters and take you our daughters,

¹⁰And dwell with us: the land is at your command, till, trade, and possess it.

¹¹Sichem also said to her father and to her brethren: Let me find favour in your sight: and whatsoever you shall appoint I will give.

¹²Raise the dowry, and ask gifts, and I will gladly give what you shall demand: only give me this damsel to wife.

¹³The sons of Jacob answered Sichem and his father deceitfully, being enraged at the deflowering of their sister:

¹⁴We cannot do what you demand, nor give our sister to one that is uncircumcised, which with us is unlawful and abominable.

¹⁵But in this we may be allied with you, if you will be like us, and all the male sex among you be circumcised:

¹⁶Then will we mutually give and take your daughters, and ours: and we will dwell with you, and will be one people:

¹⁷But if you will not be circumcised, we will take our daughter and depart:

¹⁸Their offer pleased Hemor, and Sichem his son:

¹⁹And the young man made no delay, but forthwith fulfilled what was required, for he loved the damsel exceedingly, and he was the greatest man in all his father's house.

²⁰And going into the gate of the city they spoke to the people:

Genesis 1-34

New King James Version

The History of Creation^(A)

1 In the ^(B)beginning ^(C)God created the heavens and the earth. ²The earth was ^(D)without form, and void; and darkness ^[a]was on the face of the deep. ^(E)And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

³^(F)Then God said, ^(G)“Let there be ^(H)light”; and there was light. ⁴And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. ⁵God called the light Day, and the ^(I)darkness He called Night. ^[b]So the evening and the morning were the first day.

⁶Then God said, ^(J)“Let there be a ^[c]firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” ⁷Thus God made the firmament, ^(K)and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were ^(L)above the firmament; and it was so. ⁸And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

⁹Then God said, ^(M)“Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and ^(N)let the dry land appear”; and it was so. ¹⁰And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

¹¹Then God said, “Let the earth ^(O)bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the ^(P)fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. ¹²And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ¹³So the evening and the morning were the third day.

¹⁴Then God said, “Let there be ^(Q)lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and ^(R)seasons, and for days and years; ¹⁵and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. ¹⁶Then God made two great ^[d]lights: the ^(S)greater light to rule the day, and the ^(T)lesser light to rule the night. He made ^(U)the stars also. ¹⁷God set them in the firmament of the ^(V)heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸and to ^(W)rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

²⁰Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living ^[e]creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the ^[f]firmament of the heavens.” ²¹So ^(X)God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²²And God blessed them, saying, ^(Y)“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

²⁴Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. ²⁵And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶Then God said, ^(Z)“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; ^(AA)let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over ^[g]all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷So God created man ^(AB)in His own image; in the image of God He created him; ^(AC)male and female He created them. ²⁸Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ^(AD)“Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and ^(AE)subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that ^[h]moves on the earth.”

²⁹And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; ^(AF)to you it shall be for food. ³⁰Also, to ^(AG)every beast of the earth, to every ^(AH)bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is ^[i]life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. ³¹Then ^(AI)God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

The Garden of Eden

2 Thus the heavens and the earth, and ^(AJ)all the host of them, were finished. ²^(AK)And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. ³Then God ^(AL)blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

⁴^(AM)This is the ^[j]history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, ⁵before any ^(AN)plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not ^(AO)caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man ^(AP)to till the ground; ⁶but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.

⁷And the Lord God formed man of the ^(AQ)dust of the ground, and ^(AR)breathed into his ^(AS)nostrils the breath of life; and ^(AT)man became a living being.

Life in God’s Garden

⁸The Lord God planted ^(AU)a garden ^(AV)eastward in ^(AW)Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. ⁹And out of the ground the Lord God made ^(AX)every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. ^(AY)The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and ^(AZ)evil.

¹⁰Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. ¹¹The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts ^(BA)the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹²And the gold of that land is good. ^(BB)Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. ¹³The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴The name of the third river is ^(BC)Hiddekel;^[k] it is the one which goes toward the east of ^[l]Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵Then the Lord God took ^[m]the man and put him in the garden of Eden to ^[n]tend and keep it. ¹⁶And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ^(BD)you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it ^(BE)you^[o] shall surely ^(BF)die.”

¹⁸And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; ^(BG)I will make him a helper comparable to him.” ¹⁹^(BH)Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and ^(BI)brought them to ^[p]Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. ²⁰So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.

²¹And the Lord God caused a ^(BJ)deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. ²²Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He ^[q]made into a woman, ^(BK)and He ^(BL)brought her to the man.

²³And Adam said:

“This is now ^(BM)bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called ^[r]Woman,
Because she was ^(BN)taken out of ^[s]Man.”

²⁴^(BO)Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and ^(BP)be^[t] joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

²⁵^(BQ)And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ^(BR)ashamed.

The Temptation and Fall of Man^(BS)

3 Now ^(BT)the serpent was ^(BU)more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

²And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the ^(BV)fruit of the trees of the garden; ³but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you ^(BW)touch it, lest you die.’ ”

⁴^(BX)Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶So when the woman ^(BY)saw that the tree was good for food, that it was ^[u]pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit ^(BZ)and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷Then the eyes of both of them were opened, ^(CA)and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves ^[v]coverings.

⁸And they heard ^(CB)the ^[w]sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the ^[x]cool of the day, and Adam and his wife ^(CC)hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

⁹Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, ^(CD)and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

¹¹And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

¹²Then the man said, ^(CE)“The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

¹³And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, ^(CF)“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴So the Lord God said to the serpent:

“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And ^(CG)you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.
¹⁵And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between ^(CH)your seed and ^(CI)her Seed;
^(CJ)He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”

¹⁶To the woman He said:

“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
^(CK)In pain you shall bring forth children;
^(CL)Your desire shall be ^[y]for your husband,
And he shall ^(CM)rule over you.”

¹⁷Then to Adam He said, ^(CN)“Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree ^(CO)of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:

^(CP)“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
^(CQ)In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
¹⁸Both thorns and thistles it shall ^[z]bring forth for you,
And ^(CR)you shall eat the herb of the field.
¹⁹^(CS)In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
^(CT)For dust you are,
And ^(CU)to dust you shall return.”

²⁰And Adam called his wife’s name ^(CV)Eve,^[aa] because she was the mother of all living.

²¹Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.

²²Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— ²³therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden ^(CW)to till the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴So ^(CX)He drove out the man; and He placed ^(CY)cherubim ^(CZ)at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of ^(DA)life.

Cain Murders Abel^(DB)

4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore ^[ab]Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” ²Then she bore again, this time his brother ^[ac]Abel. Now ^(DC)Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ³And ^[ad]in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit ^(DD)of the ground to the Lord. ⁴Abel also brought of ^(DE)the firstborn of his flock and of ^(DF)their fat. And the Lord ^(DG)respected Abel and his offering, ⁵but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

⁶So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is ^[ae]for you, but you should rule over it.”

⁸Now Cain ^[af]talked with Abel his ^[ag]brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and ^(DH)killed him.

⁹Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”

He said, ^(DI)“I do not know. Am I ^(DJ)my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood ^(DK)cries out to Me from the ground. ¹¹So now ^(DL)you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹²When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”

¹³And Cain said to the Lord, “My ^[ah]punishment is greater than I can bear! ¹⁴Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; ^(DM)I shall be ^(DN)hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that ^(DO)anyone who finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵And the Lord said to him, ^[ai]“Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him ^(DP)sevenfold.” And the Lord set a ^(DQ)mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.

The Family of Cain

¹⁶Then Cain ^(DR)went out from the ^(DS)presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of ^[aj]Nod on the east of Eden. ¹⁷And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, ^(DT)and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch. ¹⁸To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.

¹⁹Then Lamech took for himself ^(DU)two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. ²⁰And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. ²¹His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and ^[ak]flute. ²²And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

²³Then Lamech said to his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech!
For I have ^[al]killed a man for wounding me,
Even a young man ^[am]for hurting me.
²⁴^(DV)If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,
Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

A New Son

²⁵And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and ^(DW)named him ^[an]Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” ²⁶And as for Seth, ^(DX)to him also a son was born; and he named him ^[ao]Enosh. Then men began ^(DY)to call on the name of the Lord.

The Family of Adam^(DZ)

5 This is the book of the ^(EA)genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in ^(EB)the likeness of God. ²He created them ^(EC)male and female, and ^(ED)blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. ³And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son ^(EE)in his own likeness, after his image, and ^(EF)named him Seth. ⁴After he begot Seth, ^(EG)the days of Adam were eight hundred years; ^(EH)and he had sons and daughters. ⁵So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; ^(EI)and he died.

⁶Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot ^(EJ)Enosh. ⁷After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters. ⁸So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died.

⁹Enosh lived ninety years, and begot ^[ap]Cainan. ¹⁰After he begot Cainan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters. ¹¹So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died.

¹²Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel. ¹³After he begot Mahalalel, Cainan lived eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters. ¹⁴So all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.

¹⁵Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared. ¹⁶After he begot Jared, Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters. ¹⁷So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years; and he died.

¹⁸Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot ^(EK)Enoch. ¹⁹After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters. ²⁰So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died.

²¹Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. ²²After he begot Methuselah, Enoch ^(EL)walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. ²³So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. ²⁴And ^(EM)Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God ^(EN)took him.

²⁵Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech. ²⁶After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had sons and daughters. ²⁷So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died.

²⁸Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son. ²⁹And he called his name ^(EO)Noah,^[aq] saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground ^(EP)which the Lord has cursed.” ³⁰After he begot Noah, Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters. ³¹So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died.

³²And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot ^(EQ)Shem, Ham, ^(ER)and Japheth.

The Wickedness and Judgment of Man

6 Now it came to pass, ^(ES)when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, ²that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they ^(ET)took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.

³And the Lord said, ^(EU)“My Spirit shall not ^(EV)strive^[ar] with man forever, ^(EW)for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” ⁴There were ^[as]giants on the earth in those ^(EX)days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

⁵Then ^[at]the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every ^(EY)intent^[au] of the thoughts of his heart was only evil ^[av]continually. ⁶And ^(EZ)the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and ^(FA)He was grieved in His ^(FB)heart. ⁷So the Lord said, “I will ^(FC)destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸But Noah ^(FD)found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah Pleases God

⁹This is the genealogy of Noah. ^(FE)Noah was a just man, ^[aw]perfect in his generations. Noah ^(FF)walked with God. ¹⁰And Noah begot three sons: ^(FG)Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹The earth also was corrupt ^(FH)before God, and the earth was ^(FI)filled with violence. ¹²So God ^(FJ)looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for ^(FK)all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

The Ark Prepared^(FL)

¹³And God said to Noah, ^(FM)“The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; ^(FN)and behold, ^(FO)I will destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make ^[ax]rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. ¹⁵And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred ^[ay]cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. ¹⁶You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. ¹⁷^(FP)And behold, I Myself am bringing ^(FQ)floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall ^(FR)die. ¹⁸But I will establish My ^(FS)covenant with you; and ^(FT)you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring ^(FU)two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. ²⁰Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind ^(FV)will come to you to keep them alive. ²¹And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.”

²²^(FW)Thus Noah did; ^(FX)according to all that ^(FY)God commanded him, so he did.

The Great Flood^(FZ)

7 Then the ^(GA)Lord said to Noah, ^(GB)“Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that ^(GC)you are righteous before Me in this generation. ²You shall take with you seven each of every ^(GD)clean animal, a male and his female; ^(GE)two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; ³also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep ^[az]the species alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴For after ^(GF)seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth ^(GG)forty days and forty nights, and I will ^[ba]destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.” ⁵^(GH)And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. ⁶Noah was ^(GI)six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth.

⁷^(GJ)So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. ⁸Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, ⁹two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth. ¹¹In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on ^(GK)that day all ^(GL)the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the ^(GM)windows of heaven were opened. ¹²^(GN)And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.

¹³On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark— ¹⁴^(GO)they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every ^(GP)sort. ¹⁵And they ^(GQ)went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. ¹⁶So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in ^(GR)as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.

¹⁷^(GS)Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. ¹⁸The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, ^(GT)and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. ¹⁹And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. ²⁰The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. ²¹^(GU)And all flesh died that moved on ^[bb]the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. ²²All in ^(GV)whose nostrils was the breath ^[bc]of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. ²³So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only ^(GW)Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. ²⁴^(GX)And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.

Noah’s Deliverance

8 Then God ^(GY)remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. ^(GZ)And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. ²^(HA)The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also ^(HB)stopped, and ^(HC)the rain from heaven was restrained. ³And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end ^(HD)of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased. ⁴Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. ⁵And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

⁶So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened ^(HE)the window of the ark which he had made. ⁷Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. ⁸He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground. ⁹But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself. ¹⁰And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. ¹¹Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. ¹²So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore.

¹³And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry. ¹⁴And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dried.

¹⁵Then God spoke to Noah, saying, ¹⁶“Go out of the ark, ^(HF)you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁷Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and ^(HG)be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” ¹⁸So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. ¹⁹Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark.

God’s Covenant with Creation

²⁰Then Noah built an ^(HH)altar to the Lord, and took of ^(HI)every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered ^(HJ)burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹And the Lord smelled ^(HK)a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again ^(HL)curse the ground for man’s sake, although the ^(HM)imagination^[bd] of man’s heart is evil from his youth; ^(HN)nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.

²²“While the earth ^(HO)remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And ^(HP)day and night
Shall not cease.”

God’s Promise to Noah

9 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: ^(HQ)“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. ²^(HR)And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. ³^(HS)Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you ^(HT)all things, even as the ^(HU)green herbs. ⁴^(HV)But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. ⁵Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; ^(HW)from the hand of every beast I will require it, and ^(HX)from the hand of man. From the hand of every ^(HY)man’s brother I will require the life of man.

⁶“Whoever ^(HZ)sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
^(IA)For in the image of God
He made man.
⁷And as for you, ^(IB)be fruitful and multiply;
Bring forth abundantly in the earth
And multiply in it.”

⁸Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: ⁹“And as for Me, ^(IC)behold, I establish ^(ID)My covenant with you and with your ^[be]descendants after you, ¹⁰^(IE)and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. ¹¹Thus ^(IF)I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

¹²And God said: ^(IG)“This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: ¹³I set ^(IH)My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. ¹⁴It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; ¹⁵and ^(II)I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember ^(IJ)the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” ¹⁷And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Noah and His Sons

¹⁸Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. ^(IK)And Ham was the father of Canaan. ¹⁹^(IL)These three were the sons of Noah, ^(IM)and from these the whole earth was populated.

²⁰And Noah began to be ^(IN)a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. ²¹Then he drank of the wine ^(IO)and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. ²²And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. ²³^(IP)But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were ^[bf]turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.

²⁴So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. ²⁵Then he said:

^(IQ)“Cursed be Canaan;
A ^(IR)servant of servants
He shall be to his brethren.”

²⁶And he said:

^(IS)“Blessed be the Lord,
The God of Shem,
And may Canaan be his servant.
²⁷May God ^(IT)enlarge Japheth,
^(IU)And may he dwell in the tents of Shem;
And may Canaan be his servant.”

²⁸And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. ²⁹So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.

Nations Descended from Noah^(IV)

10 Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. ^(IW)And sons were born to them after the flood.

²^(IX)The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. ³The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, ^[bg]Riphath, and Togarmah. ⁴The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and ^[bh]Dodanim. ⁵From these ^(IY)the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.

⁶^(IZ)The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, ^[bi]Put, and Canaan. ⁷The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.

⁸Cush begot ^(JA)Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. ⁹He was a mighty ^(JB)hunter ^(JC)before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.” ¹⁰^(JD)And the beginning of his kingdom was ^(JE)Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. ¹¹From that land he went ^(JF)to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, ¹²and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).

¹³Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, ¹⁴Pathrusim, and Casluhim ^(JG)(from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim).

¹⁵Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and ^(JH)Heth; ¹⁶^(JI)the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; ¹⁷the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; ¹⁸the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed. ¹⁹^(JJ)And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. ²⁰These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations.

²¹And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, ^[bj]the brother of Japheth the elder. ²²The ^(JK)sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, ^(JL)Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. ²³The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and ^[bk]Mash. ²⁴^[bl]Arphaxad begot ^(JM)Salah, and Salah begot Eber. ²⁵^(JN)To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was ^[bm]Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. ²⁶Joktan begot Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²⁷Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ²⁸^[bn]Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ²⁹Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. ³⁰And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. ³¹These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations.

³²^(JO)These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; ^(JP)and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.

The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole earth had one language and one ^[bo]speech. ²And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land ^(JQ)of Shinar, and they dwelt there. ³Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and ^[bp]bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. ⁴And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower ^(JR)whose top is in the heavens; let us make a ^(JS)name for ourselves, lest we ^(JT)be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

⁵^(JU)But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. ⁶And the Lord said, “Indeed ^(JV)the people are one and they all have ^(JW)one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they ^(JX)propose to do will be withheld from them. ⁷Come, ^(JY)let Us go down and there ^(JZ)confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸So ^(KA)the Lord scattered them abroad from there ^(KB)over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. ⁹Therefore its name is called ^[bq]Babel, ^(KC)because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Shem’s Descendants^(KD)

¹⁰^(KE)This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. ¹¹After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

¹²Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, ^(KF)and begot Salah. ¹³After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.

¹⁴Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. ¹⁵After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.

¹⁶^(KG)Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot ^(KH)Peleg. ¹⁷After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.

¹⁸Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. ¹⁹After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters.

²⁰Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot ^(KI)Serug. ²¹After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.

²²Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. ²³After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

²⁴Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot ^(KJ)Terah. ²⁵After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters.

²⁶Now Terah lived seventy years, and ^(KK)begot ^[br]Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Terah’s Descendants

²⁷This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot ^(KL)Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. ²⁸And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was ^(KM)Sarai,^[bs] and the name of Nahor’s wife, ^(KN)Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. ³⁰But ^(KO)Sarai was barren; she had no child.

³¹And Terah ^(KP)took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from ^(KQ)Ur of the Chaldeans to go to ^(KR)the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. ³²So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

Promises to Abram^(KS)

12 Now the ^(KT)Lord had said to Abram:

“Get ^(KU)out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
²^(KV)I will make you a great nation;
^(KW)I will bless you
And make your name great;
^(KX)And you shall be a blessing.
³^(KY)I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in ^(KZ)you all the families of the earth shall be ^(LA)blessed.”

⁴So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and ^(LB)the ^[bt]people whom they had acquired ^(LC)in Haran, and they ^(LD)departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. ⁶Abram ^(LE)passed through the land to the place of Shechem, ^(LF)as far as ^[bu]the terebinth tree of Moreh. ^(LG)And the Canaanites were then in the land.

⁷^(LH)Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ^(LI)“To your ^[bv]descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an ^(LJ)altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and ^(LK)called on the name of the Lord. ⁹So Abram journeyed, ^(LL)going on still toward the ^[bw]South.

Abram in Egypt

¹⁰Now there was ^(LM)a famine in the land, and Abram ^(LN)went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was ^(LO)severe in the land. ¹¹And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are ^(LP)a woman of beautiful countenance. ¹²Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they ^(LQ)will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³^(LR)Please say you are my ^(LS)sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that ^[bx]I may live because of you.”

¹⁴So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. ¹⁵The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶He ^(LT)treated Abram well for her sake. He ^(LU)had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

¹⁷But the Lord ^(LV)plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸And Pharaoh called Abram and said, ^(LW)“What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.” ²⁰^(LX)So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.

Abram Inherits Canaan

13 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and ^(LY)Lot with him, ^(LZ)to the ^[by]South. ²^(MA)Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³And he went on his journey ^(MB)from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴to the ^(MC)place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram ^(MD)called on the name of the Lord.

⁵Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶Now ^(ME)the land was not able to ^[bz]support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. ⁷And there was ^(MF)strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. ^(MG)The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.

⁸So Abram said to Lot, ^(MH)“Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. ⁹^(MI)Is not the whole land before you? Please ^(MJ)separate from me. ^(MK)If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”

¹⁰And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all ^(ML)the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord ^(MM)destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) ^(MN)like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward ^(MO)Zoar. ¹¹Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. ¹²Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot ^(MP)dwelt in the cities of the plain and ^(MQ)pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. ¹³But the men of Sodom ^(MR)were exceedingly wicked and ^(MS)sinful against the Lord.

¹⁴And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot ^(MT)had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—^(MU)northward, southward, eastward, and westward; ¹⁵for all the land which you see ^(MV)I give to you and ^(MW)your ^[ca]descendants forever. ¹⁶And ^(MX)I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. ¹⁷Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”

¹⁸^(MY)Then Abram moved his tent, and went and ^(MZ)dwelt by ^[cb]the terebinth trees of Mamre, ^(NA)which are in Hebron, and built an ^(NB)altar there to the Lord.

Lot’s Captivity and Rescue

14 And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king ^(NC)of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of ^(ND)Elam, and Tidal king of ^[cc]nations, ²that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of ^(NE)Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, ^(NF)Zoar). ³All these joined together in the Valley of Siddim ^(NG)(that is, the Salt Sea). ⁴Twelve years ^(NH)they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

⁵In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him came and attacked ^(NI)the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, ^(NJ)the Zuzim in Ham, ^(NK)the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, ⁶^(NL)and the Horites in their mountain of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness. ⁷Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and attacked all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt ^(NM)in Hazezon Tamar.

⁸And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim ⁹against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of ^[cd]nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. ¹⁰Now the Valley of Siddim was full of ^(NN)asphalt pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; some fell there, and the remainder fled ^(NO)to the mountains. ¹¹Then they took ^(NP)all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. ¹²They also took Lot, Abram’s ^(NQ)brother’s son ^(NR)who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

¹³Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the ^(NS)Hebrew, for ^(NT)he dwelt by ^[ce]the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; ^(NU)and they were allies with Abram. ¹⁴Now ^(NV)when Abram heard that ^(NW)his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were ^(NX)born in his own house, and went in pursuit ^(NY)as far as Dan. ¹⁵He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants ^(NZ)attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is ^[cf]north of Damascus. ¹⁶So he ^(OA)brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people.

¹⁷And the king of Sodom ^(OB)went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the ^(OC)King’s Valley), ^(OD)after his return from the ^[cg]defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him.

Abram and Melchizedek^(OE)

¹⁸Then ^(OF)Melchizedek king of Salem brought out ^(OG)bread and wine; he was ^(OH)the priest of ^(OI)God Most High. ¹⁹And he blessed him and said:

^(OJ)“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
^(OK)Possessor of heaven and earth;
²⁰And ^(OL)blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”

And he ^(OM)gave him ^[ch]a tithe of all.

²¹Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the ^[ci]persons, and take the goods for yourself.”

²²But Abram ^(ON)said to the king of Sodom, “I ^(OO)have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, ^(OP)the Possessor of heaven and earth, ²³that ^(OQ)I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’— ²⁴except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”

God’s Covenant with Abram^(OR)

15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram ^(OS)in a vision, saying, ^(OT)“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your ^(OU)shield, ^[cj]your exceedingly ^(OV)great reward.”

²^(OW)But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, ^(OX)seeing I ^[ck]go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed ^(OY)one^[cl] born in my house is my heir!”

⁴And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who ^(OZ)will come from your own body shall be your heir.” ⁵Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and ^(PA)count the ^(PB)stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, ^(PC)“So shall your ^(PD)descendants be.”

⁶And he ^(PE)believed in the Lord, and He ^(PF)accounted it to him for righteousness.

⁷Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who ^(PG)brought you out of ^(PH)Ur of the Chaldeans, ^(PI)to give you this land to inherit it.”

⁸And he said, “Lord God, ^(PJ)how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

⁹So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰Then he brought all these to Him and ^(PK)cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut ^(PL)the birds in two. ¹¹And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

¹²Now when the sun was going down, ^(PM)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly ^(PN)that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and ^(PO)they will afflict them four hundred years. ¹⁴And also the nation whom they serve ^(PP)I will judge; afterward ^(PQ)they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵Now as for you, ^(PR)you shall ^[cm]go ^(PS)to your fathers in peace; ^(PT)you shall be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶But ^(PU)in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity ^(PV)of the Amorites ^(PW)is not yet complete.”

¹⁷And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that ^(PX)passed between those pieces. ¹⁸On the same day the Lord ^(PY)made a covenant with Abram, saying:

^(PZ)“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— ¹⁹the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Hagar and Ishmael

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, ^(QA)had borne him no children. And she had ^(QB)an Egyptian maidservant whose name was ^(QC)Hagar. ²^(QD)So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord ^(QE)has restrained me from bearing children. Please, ^(QF)go in to my maid; perhaps I shall ^[cn]obtain children by her.” And Abram ^(QG)heeded the voice of Sarai. ³Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram ^(QH)had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. ⁴So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became ^(QI)despised in her ^[co]eyes.

⁵Then Sarai said to Abram, ^[cp]“My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. ^(QJ)The Lord judge between you and me.”

⁶^(QK)So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, ^(QL)she fled from her presence.

⁷Now the ^(QM)Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, ^(QN)by the spring on the way to ^(QO)Shur. ⁸And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

⁹The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and ^(QP)submit yourself under her hand.” ¹⁰Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, ^(QQ)“I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” ¹¹And the Angel of the Lord said to her:

“Behold, you are with child,
^(QR)And you shall bear a son.
You shall call his name ^[cq]Ishmael,
Because the Lord has heard your affliction.
¹²^(QS)He shall be a wild man;
His hand shall be against every man,
And every man’s hand against him.
^(QT)And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”

¹³Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-^[cr]the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here ^[cs]seen Him ^(QU)who sees me?” ¹⁴Therefore the well was called ^(QV)Beer Lahai Roi;^[ct] observe, it is ^(QW)between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵So ^(QX)Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ¹⁶Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

The Sign of the Covenant^(QY)

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord ^(QZ)appeared to Abram and said to him, ^(RA)“I am ^[cu]Almighty God; ^(RB)walk before Me and be ^(RC)blameless. ²And I will make My ^(RD)covenant between Me and you, and ^(RE)will multiply you exceedingly.” ³Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: ⁴“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be ^(RF)a father of ^[cv]many nations. ⁵No longer shall ^(RG)your name be called ^[cw]Abram, but your name shall be ^[cx]Abraham; ^(RH)for I have made you a father of ^[cy]many nations. ⁶I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make ^(RI)nations of you, and ^(RJ)kings shall come from you. ⁷And I will ^(RK)establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, ^(RL)to be God to you and ^(RM)your descendants after you. ⁸Also ^(RN)I give to you and your descendants after you the land ^(RO)in^[cz] which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and ^(RP)I will be their God.”

⁹And God said to Abraham: “As for you, ^(RQ)you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: ^(RR)Every male child among you shall be circumcised; ¹¹and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be ^(RS)a sign of the covenant between Me and you. ¹²He who is eight days old among you ^(RT)shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. ¹³He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person ^(RU)shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

¹⁵Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but ^[da]Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶And I will bless her ^(RV)and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother ^(RW)of nations; ^(RX)kings of peoples shall be from her.”

¹⁷Then Abraham fell on his face ^(RY)and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” ¹⁸And Abraham ^(RZ)said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”

¹⁹Then God said: “No, ^(SA)Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My ^(SB)covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. ²⁰And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and ^(SC)will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget ^(SD)twelve princes, ^(SE)and I will make him a great nation. ²¹But My ^(SF)covenant I will establish with Isaac, ^(SG)whom Sarah shall bear to you at this ^(SH)set time next year.” ²²Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

²³So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day, as God had said to him. ²⁴Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶That very same day Abraham was circumcised, and his son Ishmael; ²⁷and ^(SI)all the men of his house, born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

The Son of Promise^(SJ)

18 Then the Lord appeared to him by ^[db]the ^(SK)terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. ²^(SL)So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; ^(SM)and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, ³and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. ⁴Please let ^(SN)a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. ⁵And ^(SO)I will bring a morsel of bread, that ^(SP)you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, ^(SQ)inasmuch as you have come to your servant.”

They said, “Do as you have said.”

⁶So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.” ⁷And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. ⁸So ^(SR)he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.

⁹Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?”

So he said, “Here, ^(SS)in the tent.”

¹⁰And He said, “I will certainly return to you ^(ST)according to the time of life, and behold, ^(SU)Sarah your wife shall have a son.”

(Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) ¹¹Now ^(SV)Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and ^[dc]Sarah ^(SW)had passed the age of childbearing. ¹²Therefore Sarah ^(SX)laughed within herself, saying, ^(SY)“After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my ^(SZ)lord being old also?”

¹³And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ ¹⁴^(TA)Is anything too hard for the Lord? ^(TB)At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”

¹⁵But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid.

And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

¹⁶Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them ^(TC)to send them on the way. ¹⁷And the Lord said, ^(TD)“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, ¹⁸since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be ^(TE)blessed in him? ¹⁹For I have known him, in order ^(TF)that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” ²⁰And the Lord said, “Because ^(TG)the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their ^(TH)sin is very grave, ²¹^(TI)I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, ^(TJ)I will know.”

²²Then the men turned away from there ^(TK)and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. ²³And Abraham ^(TL)came near and said, ^(TM)“Would You also ^(TN)destroy the ^(TO)righteous with the wicked? ²⁴Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? ²⁵Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so ^(TP)that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! ^(TQ)Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

²⁶So the Lord said, ^(TR)“If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”

²⁷Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am ^(TS)but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: ²⁸Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?”

So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.”

²⁹And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?”

So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.”

³⁰Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?”

So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

³¹And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?”

So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.”

³²Then he said, ^(TT)“Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?”

^(TU)And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” ³³So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

Sodom’s Depravity

19 Now ^(TV)the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and ^(TW)Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. ²And he said, “Here now, my lords, please ^(TX)turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and ^(TY)wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.”

And they said, ^(TZ)“No, but we will spend the night in the open square.”

³But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. ^(UA)Then he made them a feast, and baked ^(UB)unleavened bread, and they ate.

⁴Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. ⁵^(UC)And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? ^(UD)Bring them out to us that we ^(UE)may know them carnally.”

⁶So ^(UF)Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, ⁷and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! ⁸^(UG)See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, ^(UH)since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.”

⁹And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one ^(UI)came in to ^[dd]stay here, ^(UJ)and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. ¹⁰But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. ¹¹And they ^(UK)struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed^(UL)

¹²Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—^(UM)take them out of this place! ¹³For we will destroy this place, because the ^(UN)outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and ^(UO)the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, ^(UP)who had married his daughters, and said, ^(UQ)“Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!” ^(UR)But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.

¹⁵When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, ^(US)“Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” ¹⁶And while he lingered, the men ^(UT)took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the ^(UU)Lord being merciful to him, ^(UV)and they brought him out and set him outside the city. ¹⁷So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that ^[de]he said, ^(UW)“Escape for your life! ^(UX)Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape ^(UY)to the mountains, lest you be ^[df]destroyed.”

¹⁸Then Lot said to them, “Please, ^(UZ)no, my lords! ¹⁹Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. ²⁰See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.”

²¹And he said to him, “See, ^(VA)I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. ²²Hurry, escape there. For ^(VB)I cannot do anything until you arrive there.”

Therefore ^(VC)the name of the city was called ^[dg]Zoar.

²³The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. ²⁴Then the Lord rained ^(VD)brimstone and ^(VE)fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. ²⁵So He ^[dh]overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and ^(VF)what grew on the ground.

²⁶But his wife looked back behind him, and she became ^(VG)a pillar of salt.

²⁷And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where ^(VH)he had stood before the Lord. ²⁸Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, ^(VI)the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. ²⁹And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God ^(VJ)remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.

The Descendants of Lot

³⁰Then Lot went up out of Zoar and ^(VK)dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave. ³¹Now the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth ^(VL)to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth. ³²Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we ^(VM)may preserve the ^[di]lineage of our father.” ³³So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

³⁴It happened on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, “Indeed I lay with my father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve the ^[dj]lineage of our father.” ³⁵Then they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

³⁶Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. ³⁷The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; ^(VN)he is the father of the Moabites to this day. ³⁸And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; ^(VO)he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.

Abraham and Abimelech

20 And Abraham journeyed from ^(VP)there to the South, and dwelt between ^(VQ)Kadesh and Shur, and ^(VR)stayed in Gerar. ²Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, ^(VS)“She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and ^(VT)took Sarah.

³But ^(VU)God came to Abimelech ^(VV)in a dream by night, and said to him, ^(VW)“Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is ^[dk]a man’s wife.”

⁴But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, ^(VX)will You slay a righteous nation also? ⁵Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ ^(VY)In the ^[dl]integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”

⁶And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For ^(VZ)I also withheld you from sinning ^(WA)against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. ⁷Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; ^(WB)for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, ^(WC)know that you shall surely die, you ^(WD)and all who are yours.”

⁸So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid. ⁹And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I ^[dm]offended you, ^(WE)that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me ^(WF)that ought not to be done.” ¹⁰Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?”

¹¹And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely ^(WG)the fear of God is not in this place; and ^(WH)they will kill me on account of my wife. ¹²But indeed ^(WI)she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. ¹³And it came to pass, when ^(WJ)God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, ^(WK)say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”

¹⁴Then Abimelech ^(WL)took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. ¹⁵And Abimelech said, “See, ^(WM)my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” ¹⁶Then to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; ^(WN)indeed this ^[dn]vindicates you ^(WO)before all who are with you and before everybody.” Thus she was ^[do]rebuked.

¹⁷So Abraham ^(WP)prayed to God; and God ^(WQ)healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; ¹⁸for the Lord ^(WR)had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Isaac Is Born^(WS)

21 And the Lord ^(WT)visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah ^(WU)as He had spoken. ²For Sarah ^(WV)conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, ^(WW)at the set time of which God had spoken to him. ³And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—^(WX)Isaac.^[dp] ⁴Then Abraham ^(WY)circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, ^(WZ)as God had commanded him. ⁵Now ^(XA)Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶And Sarah said, ^(XB)“God has ^[dq]made me laugh, and all who hear ^(XC)will laugh with me.” ⁷She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? ^(XD)For I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Hagar and Ishmael Depart^(XE)

⁸So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.

⁹And Sarah saw the son of Hagar ^(XF)the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, ^(XG)scoffing.^[dr] ¹⁰Therefore she said to Abraham, ^(XH)“Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” ¹¹And the matter was very ^[ds]displeasing in Abraham’s sight ^(XI)because of his son.

¹²But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for ^(XJ)in Isaac your seed shall be called. ¹³Yet I will also make ^(XK)a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your ^[dt]seed.”

¹⁴So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and ^[du]a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and ^(XL)sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. ¹⁵And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. ¹⁶Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.

¹⁷And ^(XM)God heard the voice of the lad. Then the ^(XN)angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. ¹⁸Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for ^(XO)I will make him a great nation.”

¹⁹Then ^(XP)God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. ²⁰So God ^(XQ)was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, ^(XR)and became an archer. ²¹He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother ^(XS)took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

A Covenant with Abimelech

²²And it came to pass at that time that ^(XT)Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, ^(XU)“God is with you in all that you do. ²³Now therefore, ^(XV)swear^[dv] to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.”

²⁴And Abraham said, “I will swear.”

²⁵Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech’s servants ^(XW)had seized. ²⁶And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today.” ²⁷So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them ^(XX)made a ^[dw]covenant. ²⁸And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

²⁹Then Abimelech asked Abraham, ^(XY)“What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?”

³⁰And he said, “You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that ^(XZ)they may be my witness that I have dug this well.” ³¹Therefore he ^(YA)called that place ^[dx]Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.

³²Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. ³³Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and ^(YB)there called on the name of the Lord, ^(YC)the Everlasting God. ³⁴And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.

Abraham’s Faith Confirmed^(YD)

22 Now it came to pass after these things that ^(YE)God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

²Then He said, “Take now your son, ^(YF)your only son Isaac, whom you ^(YG)love, and go ^(YH)to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a ^(YI)burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

³So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. ⁵And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the ^[dy]lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will ^(YJ)come back to you.”

⁶So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and ^(YK)laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. ⁷But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”

And he said, “Here I am, my son.”

Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the ^[dz]lamb for a burnt offering?”

⁸And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the ^(YL)lamb for a ^(YM)burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.

⁹Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and ^(YN)laid him on the altar, upon the wood. ¹⁰And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

¹¹But the ^(YO)Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”

So he said, “Here I am.”

¹²And He said, ^(YP)“Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for ^(YQ)now I know that you fear God, since you have not ^(YR)withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

¹³Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴And Abraham called the name of the place, ^[ea]The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

¹⁵Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, ¹⁶and said: ^(YS)“By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— ¹⁷blessing I will ^(YT)bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants ^(YU)as the stars of the heaven ^(YV)and as the sand which is on the seashore; and ^(YW)your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. ¹⁸^(YX)In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, ^(YY)because you have obeyed My voice.” ¹⁹So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to ^(YZ)Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

The Family of Nahor

²⁰Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, “Indeed ^(ZA)Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: ²¹^(ZB)Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father ^(ZC)of Aram, ²²Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” ²³And ^(ZD)Bethuel begot ^[eb]Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. ²⁴His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah.

Sarah’s Death and Burial

23 Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. ²So Sarah died in ^(ZE)Kirjath Arba (that is, ^(ZF)Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

³Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of ^(ZG)Heth, saying, ⁴^(ZH)“I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. ^(ZI)Give me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”

⁵And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, ⁶“Hear us, my lord: You are ^(ZJ)a ^[ec]mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. None of us will withhold from you his burial place, that you may bury your dead.”

⁷Then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. ⁸And he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your wish that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and ^[ed]meet with Ephron the son of Zohar for me, ⁹that he may give me the cave of ^(ZK)Machpelah which he has, which is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me at the full price, as property for a burial place among you.”

¹⁰Now Ephron dwelt among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Heth, all who ^(ZL)entered at the gate of his city, saying, ¹¹^(ZM)“No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and the cave that is in it; I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead!”

¹²Then Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land; ¹³and he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If you will give it, please hear me. I will give you money for the field; take it from me and I will bury my dead there.”

¹⁴And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, ¹⁵“My lord, listen to me; the land is worth four hundred ^(ZN)shekels of silver. What is that between you and me? So bury your dead.” ¹⁶And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham ^(ZO)weighed out the silver for Ephron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants.

¹⁷So ^(ZP)the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within all the surrounding borders, were deeded ¹⁸to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.

¹⁹And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. ²⁰So the field and the cave that is in it ^(ZQ)were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property for a burial place.

A Bride for Isaac

24 Now Abraham ^(ZR)was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord ^(ZS)had blessed Abraham in all things. ²So Abraham said ^(ZT)to the oldest servant of his house, who ^(ZU)ruled over all that he had, “Please, ^(ZV)put your hand under my thigh, ³and I will make you ^(ZW)swear^[ee] by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that ^(ZX)you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; ⁴^(ZY)but you shall go ^(ZZ)to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁵And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?”

⁶But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there. ⁷The Lord God of heaven, who ^(AAA)took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ^(AAB)‘To your ^[ef]descendants I give this land,’ ^(AAC)He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. ⁸And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then ^(AAD)you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.” ⁹So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, ^(AAE)for all his master’s goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to ^(AAF)the city of Nahor. ¹¹And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time ^(AAG)when women go out to draw water. ¹²Then he ^(AAH)said, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, please ^(AAI)give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. ¹³Behold, here ^(AAJ)I stand by the well of water, and ^(AAK)the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And ^(AAL)by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”

¹⁵And it happened, ^(AAM)before he had finished speaking, that behold, ^(AAN)Rebekah,^[eg] who was born to Bethuel, son of ^(AAO)Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. ¹⁶Now the young woman ^(AAP)was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. ¹⁷And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.”

¹⁸^(AAQ)So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. ¹⁹And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” ²⁰Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. ²¹And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether ^(AAR)the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

²²So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden ^(AAS)nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold, ²³and said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father’s house for us ^[eh]to lodge?”

²⁴So she said to him, ^(AAT)“I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah’s son, whom she bore to Nahor.” ²⁵Moreover she said to him, “We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge.”

²⁶Then the man ^(AAU)bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord. ²⁷And he said, ^(AAV)“Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken ^(AAW)His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord ^(AAX)led me to the house of my master’s brethren.” ²⁸So the young woman ran and told her mother’s household these things.

²⁹Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was ^(AAY)Laban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well. ³⁰So it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, saying, “Thus the man spoke to me,” that he went to the man. And there he stood by the camels at the well. ³¹And he said, “Come in, ^(AAZ)O blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.”

³²Then the man came to the house. And he unloaded the camels, and ^(ABA)provided straw and feed for the camels, and water to ^(ABB)wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. ³³Food was set before him to eat, but he said, ^(ABC)“I will not eat until I have told about my errand.”

And he said, “Speak on.”

³⁴So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵The Lord ^(ABD)has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶And Sarah my master’s wife ^(ABE)bore a son to my master when she was old; and ^(ABF)to him he has given all that he has. ³⁷Now my master ^(ABG)made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell; ³⁸^(ABH)but you shall go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.’ ³⁹^(ABI)And I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ ⁴⁰^(ABJ)But he said to me, ‘The Lord, ^(ABK)before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and ^[ei]prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house. ⁴¹^(ABL)You will be clear from this oath when you arrive among my family; for if they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.’

⁴²“And this day I came to the well and said, ^(ABM)‘O Lord God of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go, ⁴³^(ABN)behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, “Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,” ⁴⁴and she says to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,”—let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’

⁴⁵^(ABO)“But before I had finished ^(ABP)speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah, coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ ⁴⁶And she made haste and let her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels a drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels a drink also. ⁴⁷Then I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. ⁴⁸^(ABQ)And I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to ^(ABR)take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son. ⁴⁹Now if you will ^(ABS)deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”

⁵⁰Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, ^(ABT)“The thing comes from the Lord; we cannot ^(ABU)speak to you either bad or good. ⁵¹^(ABV)Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as the Lord has spoken.”

⁵²And it came to pass, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, that ^(ABW)he worshiped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. ⁵³Then the servant brought out ^(ABX)jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave ^(ABY)precious things to her brother and to her mother.

⁵⁴And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed all night. Then they arose in the morning, and he said, ^(ABZ)“Send me away to my master.”

⁵⁵But her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten; after that she may go.”

⁵⁶And he said to them, “Do not ^[ej]hinder me, since the Lord has prospered my way; send me away so that I may go to my master.”

⁵⁷So they said, “We will call the young woman and ask her personally.” ⁵⁸Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?”

And she said, “I will go.”

⁵⁹So they sent away Rebekah their sister ^(ACA)and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰And they blessed Rebekah and said to her:

“Our sister, may you become
^(ACB)The mother of thousands of ten thousands;
^(ACC)And may your descendants possess
The gates of those who hate them.”

⁶¹Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

⁶²Now Isaac came from the way of ^(ACD)Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. ⁶³And Isaac went out ^(ACE)to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. ⁶⁴Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac ^(ACF)she dismounted from her camel; ⁶⁵for she had said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?”

The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took a veil and covered herself.

⁶⁶And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent; and he ^(ACG)took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac ^(ACH)was comforted after his mother’s death.

Abraham and Keturah^(ACI)

25 Abraham again took a wife, and her name was ^(ACJ)Keturah. ²And ^(ACK)she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. ⁴And the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.

⁵And ^(ACL)Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. ⁶But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he ^(ACM)sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to ^(ACN)the country of the east.

Abraham’s Death and Burial

⁷This is the sum of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years. ⁸Then Abraham breathed his last and ^(ACO)died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and ^(ACP)was gathered to his people. ⁹And ^(ACQ)his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of ^(ACR)Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, ¹⁰^(ACS)the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. ^(ACT)There Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife. ¹¹And it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac dwelt at ^(ACU)Beer Lahai Roi.

The Families of Ishmael and Isaac^(ACV)

¹²Now this is the ^(ACW)genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham. ¹³And ^(ACX)these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵^[ek]Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. ¹⁶These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and their ^[el]settlements, ^(ACY)twelve princes according to their nations. ¹⁷These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years; and ^(ACZ)he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. ¹⁸^(ADA)(They dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria.) He ^[em]died ^(ADB)in the presence of all his brethren.

¹⁹This is the ^(ADC)genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. ^(ADD)Abraham begot Isaac. ²⁰Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, ^(ADE)the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, ^(ADF)the sister of Laban the Syrian. ²¹Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; ^(ADG)and the Lord granted his plea, ^(ADH)and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²²But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” ^(ADI)So she went to inquire of the Lord.

²³And the Lord said to her:

^(ADJ)“Two nations are in your womb,
Two peoples shall be separated from your body;
One people shall be stronger than ^(ADK)the other,
^(ADL)And the older shall serve the younger.”

²⁴So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. ²⁵And the first came out red. He was ^(ADM)like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name ^[en]Esau. ²⁶Afterward his brother came out, and ^(ADN)his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so ^(ADO)his name was called ^[eo]Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

²⁷So the boys grew. And Esau was ^(ADP)a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was ^(ADQ)a ^[ep]mild man, ^(ADR)dwelling in tents. ²⁸And Isaac loved Esau because he ^(ADS)ate of his game, ^(ADT)but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Esau Sells His Birthright^(ADU)

²⁹Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. ³⁰And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called ^[eq]Edom.

³¹But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”

³²And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so ^(ADV)what is this birthright to me?”

³³Then Jacob said, ^[er]“Swear to me as of this day.”

So he swore to him, and ^(ADW)sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then ^(ADX)he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau ^(ADY)despised his birthright.

Isaac and Abimelech

26 There was a famine in the land, besides ^(ADZ)the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to ^(AEA)Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.

²Then the Lord appeared to him and said: ^(AEB)“Do not go down to Egypt; live in ^(AEC)the land of which I shall tell you. ³^(AED)Dwell in this land, and ^(AEE)I will be with you and ^(AEF)bless you; for to you and your descendants ^(AEG)I give all these lands, and I will perform ^(AEH)the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. ⁴And ^(AEI)I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; ^(AEJ)and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; ⁵^(AEK)because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

⁶So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. ⁷And the men of the place asked about his wife. And ^(AEL)he said, “She is my sister”; for ^(AEM)he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” because he thought, “lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is ^(AEN)beautiful to behold.” ⁸Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, ^[es]showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. ⁹Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?”

Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’ ”

¹⁰And Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and ^(AEO)you would have brought guilt on us.” ¹¹So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He who ^(AEP)touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

¹²Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year ^(AEQ)a hundredfold; and the Lord ^(AER)blessed him. ¹³The man ^(AES)began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; ¹⁴for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines ^(AET)envied him. ¹⁵Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells ^(AEU)which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. ¹⁶And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for ^(AEV)you are much mightier than we.”

¹⁷Then Isaac departed from there and ^[et]pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. ¹⁸And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. ^(AEW)He called them by the names which his father had called them.

¹⁹Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there. ²⁰But the herdsmen of Gerar ^(AEX)quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well ^[eu]Esek, because they quarreled with him. ²¹Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name ^[ev]Sitnah. ²²And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name ^[ew]Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall ^(AEY)be fruitful in the land.”

²³Then he went up from there to Beersheba. ²⁴And the Lord ^(AEZ)appeared to him the same night and said, ^(AFA)“I am the God of your father Abraham; ^(AFB)do not fear, for ^(AFC)I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.” ²⁵So he ^(AFD)built an altar there and ^(AFE)called on the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

²⁶Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, ^(AFF)and Phichol the commander of his army. ²⁷And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, ^(AFG)since you hate me and have ^(AFH)sent me away from you?”

²⁸But they said, “We have certainly seen that the Lord ^(AFI)is with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a ^[ex]covenant with you, ²⁹that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. ^(AFJ)You are now the blessed of the Lord.’ ”

³⁰^(AFK)So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹Then they arose early in the morning and ^(AFL)swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

³²It came to pass the same day that Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” ³³So he called it ^[ey]Shebah. ^(AFM)Therefore the name of the city is ^[ez]Beersheba to this day.

³⁴^(AFN)When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵And ^(AFO)they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.

Isaac Blesses Jacob

27 Now it came to pass, when Isaac was ^(AFP)old and ^(AFQ)his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.”

And he answered him, “Here I am.”

²Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I ^(AFR)do not know the day of my death. ³^(AFS)Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. ⁴And make me ^[fa]savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul ^(AFT)may bless you before I die.”

⁵Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it. ⁶So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ⁷‘Bring me game and make ^[fb]savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ ⁸Now therefore, my son, ^(AFU)obey my voice according to what I command you. ⁹Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make ^(AFV)savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. ¹⁰Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he ^(AFW)may bless you before his death.”

¹¹And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, ^(AFX)Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. ¹²Perhaps my father will ^(AFY)feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring ^(AFZ)a curse on myself and not a blessing.”

¹³But his mother said to him, ^(AGA)“Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.” ¹⁴And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother ^(AGB)made ^[fc]savory food, such as his father loved. ¹⁵Then Rebekah took ^(AGC)the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. ¹⁶And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

¹⁸So he went to his father and said, “My father.”

And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”

¹⁹Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, ^(AGD)that your soul may bless me.”

²⁰But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?”

And he said, “Because the Lord your God brought it to me.”

²¹Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I ^(AGE)may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” ²²So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³And he did not recognize him, because ^(AGF)his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.

²⁴Then he said, “Are you really my son Esau?”

He said, “I am.”

²⁵He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, so ^(AGG)that my soul may bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. ²⁶Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷And he came near and ^(AGH)kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said:

“Surely, ^(AGI)the smell of my son
Is like the smell of a field
Which the Lord has blessed.
²⁸Therefore may ^(AGJ)God give you
Of ^(AGK)the dew of heaven,
Of ^(AGL)the fatness of the earth,
And ^(AGM)plenty of grain and wine.
²⁹^(AGN)Let peoples serve you,
And nations bow down to you.
Be master over your brethren,
And ^(AGO)let your mother’s sons bow down to you.
^(AGP)Cursed be everyone who curses you,
And blessed be those who bless you!”

Esau’s Lost Hope^(AGQ)

³⁰Now it happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. ³¹He also had made ^[fd]savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father arise and ^(AGR)eat of his son’s game, that your soul may bless me.”

³²And his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”

So he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”

³³Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, “Who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him—^(AGS)and indeed he shall be blessed.”

³⁴When Esau heard the words of his father, ^(AGT)he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me—me also, O my father!”

³⁵But he said, “Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.”

³⁶And Esau said, ^(AGU)“Is he not rightly named ^[fe]Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

³⁷Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, ^(AGV)“Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with ^(AGW)grain and wine I have ^[ff]sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?”

³⁸And Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me—me also, O my father!” And Esau lifted up his voice ^(AGX)and wept.

³⁹Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:

“Behold, ^(AGY)your dwelling shall be of the ^[fg]fatness of the earth,
And of the dew of heaven from above.
⁴⁰By your sword you shall live,
And ^(AGZ)you shall serve your brother;
And ^(AHA)it shall come to pass, when you become restless,
That you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

Jacob Escapes from Esau

⁴¹So Esau ^(AHB)hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, ^(AHC)“The days of mourning for my father ^[fh]are at hand; ^(AHD)then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

⁴²And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Surely your brother Esau ^(AHE)comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. ⁴³Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban ^(AHF)in Haran. ⁴⁴And stay with him a ^(AHG)few days, until your brother’s fury turns away, ⁴⁵until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?”

⁴⁶And Rebekah said to Isaac, ^(AHH)“I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; ^(AHI)if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

Jacob Sent to His Uncle Laban

28 Then Isaac called Jacob and ^(AHJ)blessed him, and ^[fi]charged him, and said to him: ^(AHK)“You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. ²^(AHL)Arise, go to ^(AHM)Padan Aram, to the house of ^(AHN)Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of ^(AHO)Laban your mother’s brother.

³“May ^(AHP)God Almighty bless you,
And make you ^(AHQ)fruitful and multiply you,
That you may be an assembly of peoples;
⁴And give you ^(AHR)the blessing of Abraham,
To you and your descendants with you,
That you may inherit the land
^(AHS)In^[fj] which you are a stranger,
Which God gave to Abraham.”

⁵So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Esau Marries Mahalath

⁶Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” ⁷and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram. ⁸Also Esau saw ^(AHT)that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. ⁹So Esau went to Ishmael and ^(AHU)took ^(AHV)Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, ^(AHW)the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.

Jacob’s Vow at Bethel

¹⁰Now Jacob ^(AHX)went out from Beersheba and went toward ^(AHY)Haran. ¹¹So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. ¹²Then he ^(AHZ)dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there ^(AIA)the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

¹³^(AIB)And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: ^(AIC)“I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; ^(AID)the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. ¹⁴Also your ^(AIE)descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad ^(AIF)to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and ^(AIG)in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. ¹⁵Behold, ^(AIH)I am with you and will ^(AII)keep^[fk] you wherever you go, and will ^(AIJ)bring you back to this land; for ^(AIK)I will not leave you ^(AIL)until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

¹⁶Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in ^(AIM)this place, and I did not know it.” ¹⁷And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

¹⁸Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, ^(AIN)set it up as a pillar, ^(AIO)and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹And he called the name of ^(AIP)that place ^[fl]Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. ²⁰^(AIQ)Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If ^(AIR)God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me ^(AIS)bread to eat and clothing to put on, ²¹so that ^(AIT)I come back to my father’s house in peace, ^(AIU)then the Lord shall be my God. ²²And this stone which I have set as a pillar ^(AIV)shall be God’s house, ^(AIW)and of all that You give me I will surely give a ^[fm]tenth to You.”

Jacob Meets Rachel

29 So Jacob went on his journey ^(AIX)and came to the land of the people of the East. ²And he looked, and saw a ^(AIY)well in the field; and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks. A large stone was on the well’s mouth. ³Now all the flocks would be gathered there; and they would roll the stone from the well’s mouth, water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the well’s mouth.

⁴And Jacob said to them, “My brethren, where are you from?”

And they said, “We are from ^(AIZ)Haran.”

⁵Then he said to them, “Do you know ^(AJA)Laban the son of Nahor?”

And they said, “We know him.”

⁶So he said to them, ^(AJB)“Is he well?”

And they said, “He is well. And look, his daughter Rachel ^(AJC)is coming with the sheep.”

⁷Then he said, “Look, it is still ^[fn]high day; it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.”

⁸But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.”

⁹Now while he was still speaking with them, ^(AJD)Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near and ^(AJE)rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. ¹¹Then Jacob ^(AJF)kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. ¹²And Jacob told Rachel that he was ^(AJG)her father’s relative and that he was Rebekah’s son. ^(AJH)So she ran and told her father.

¹³Then it came to pass, when Laban heard the report about Jacob his sister’s son, that ^(AJI)he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. So he told Laban all these things. ¹⁴And Laban said to him, ^(AJJ)“Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him for a month.

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

¹⁵Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, ^(AJK)what should your wages be?” ¹⁶Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷Leah’s eyes were ^[fo]delicate, but Rachel was ^(AJL)beautiful of form and appearance.

¹⁸Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, ^(AJM)“I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”

¹⁹And Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.” ²⁰So Jacob ^(AJN)served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.

²¹Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may ^(AJO)go in to her.” ²²And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and ^(AJP)made a feast. ²³Now it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. ²⁴And Laban gave his maid ^(AJQ)Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. ²⁵So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you ^(AJR)deceived me?”

²⁶And Laban said, “It must not be done so in our ^[fp]country, to give the younger before the firstborn. ²⁷^(AJS)Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.”

²⁸Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also. ²⁹And Laban gave his maid ^(AJT)Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid. ³⁰Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also ^(AJU)loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban ^(AJV)still another seven years.

The Children of Jacob

³¹When the Lord ^(AJW)saw that Leah was ^[fq]unloved, He ^(AJX)opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. ³²So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name ^[fr]Reuben; for she said, “The Lord has surely ^(AJY)looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.” ³³Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am ^[fs]unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” And she called his name ^[ft]Simeon. ³⁴She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called ^[fu]Levi. ³⁵And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name ^(AJZ)Judah.^[fv] Then she stopped bearing.

Jacob’s Children

30 Now when Rachel saw that ^(AKA)she bore Jacob no children, Rachel ^(AKB)envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, ^(AKC)or else I die!”

²And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, ^(AKD)“Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”

³So she said, “Here is ^(AKE)my maid Bilhah; go in to her, ^(AKF)and she will bear a child on my knees, ^(AKG)that I also may ^[fw]have children by her.” ⁴Then she gave him Bilhah her maid ^(AKH)as wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶Then Rachel said, “God has ^(AKI)judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name ^[fx]Dan. ⁷And Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸Then Rachel said, “With ^[fy]great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed.” So she called his name ^[fz]Naphtali.

⁹When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and ^(AKJ)gave her to Jacob as wife. ¹⁰And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹Then Leah said, ^[ga]“A troop comes!” So she called his name ^[gb]Gad. ¹²And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³Then Leah said, “I am happy, for the daughters ^(AKK)will call me blessed.” So she called his name ^[gc]Asher.

¹⁴Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, ^(AKL)“Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵But she said to her, ^(AKM)“Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?”

And Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁶When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he lay with her that night.

¹⁷And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸Leah said, “God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband.” So she called his name ^[gd]Issachar. ¹⁹Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰And Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name ^[ge]Zebulun. ²¹Afterward she bore a ^(AKN)daughter, and called her name ^[gf]Dinah.

²²Then God ^(AKO)remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and ^(AKP)opened her womb. ²³And she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away ^(AKQ)my reproach.” ²⁴So she called his name ^[gg]Joseph, and said, ^(AKR)“The Lord shall add to me another son.”

Jacob’s Agreement with Laban

²⁵And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, ^(AKS)“Send me away, that I may go to ^(AKT)my own place and to my country. ²⁶Give me my wives and my children ^(AKU)for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you.”

²⁷And Laban said to him, “Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for ^(AKV)I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.” ²⁸Then he said, ^(AKW)“Name me your wages, and I will give it.”

²⁹So Jacob said to him, ^(AKX)“You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me. ³⁰For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the Lord has blessed you ^[gh]since my coming. And now, when shall I also ^(AKY)provide for my own house?”

³¹So he said, “What shall I give you?”

And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks: ³²Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and ^(AKZ)these shall be my wages. ³³So my ^(ALA)righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me.”

³⁴And Laban said, “Oh, that it were according to your word!” ³⁵So he removed that day the male goats that were ^(ALB)speckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons. ³⁶Then he put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷Now ^(ALC)Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods. ³⁸And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so that they should conceive when they came to drink. ³⁹So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted. ⁴⁰Then Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban’s flock.

⁴¹And it came to pass, whenever the stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. ⁴²But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s. ⁴³Thus the man ^(ALD)became exceedingly prosperous, and ^(ALE)had large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

Jacob Flees from Laban

31 Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has acquired all this ^(ALF)wealth.” ²And Jacob saw the ^(ALG)countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not ^(ALH)favorable toward him as before. ³Then the Lord said to Jacob, ^(ALI)“Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will ^(ALJ)be with you.”

⁴So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock, ⁵and said to them, ^(ALK)“I see your father’s ^[gi]countenance, that it is not favorable toward me as before; but the God of my father ^(ALL)has been with me. ⁶And ^(ALM)you know that with all my might I have served your father. ⁷Yet your father has deceived me and ^(ALN)changed my wages ^(ALO)ten times, but God ^(ALP)did not allow him to hurt me. ⁸If he said thus: ^(ALQ)‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: ‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked. ⁹So God has ^(ALR)taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.

¹⁰“And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted. ¹¹Then ^(ALS)the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’ ¹²And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for ^(ALT)I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. ¹³I am the God of Bethel, ^(ALU)where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now ^(ALV)arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’ ”

¹⁴Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, ^(ALW)“Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? ¹⁵Are we not considered strangers by him? For ^(ALX)he has sold us, and also completely consumed our money. ¹⁶For all these riches which God has taken from our father are really ours and our children’s; now then, whatever God has said to you, do it.”

¹⁷Then Jacob rose and set his sons and his wives on camels. ¹⁸And he carried away all his livestock and all his possessions which he had gained, his acquired livestock which he had gained in Padan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of ^(ALY)Canaan. ¹⁹Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the ^(ALZ)household^[gj] idols that were her father’s. ²⁰And Jacob stole away, unknown to Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. ²¹So he fled with all that he had. He arose and crossed the river, and ^(AMA)headed^[gk] toward the mountains of Gilead.

Laban Pursues Jacob

²²And Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled. ²³Then he took ^(AMB)his brethren with him and pursued him for seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the mountains of Gilead. ²⁴But God ^(AMC)had come to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said to him, “Be careful that you ^(AMD)speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.”

²⁵So Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains, and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountains of Gilead.

²⁶And Laban said to Jacob: “What have you done, that you have stolen away unknown to me, and ^(AME)carried away my daughters like captives taken with the sword? ²⁷Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp? ²⁸And you did not allow me ^(AMF)to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now ^(AMG)you have done foolishly in so doing. ²⁹It is in my power to do you harm, but the ^(AMH)God of your father spoke to me ^(AMI)last night, saying, ‘Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.’ ³⁰And now you have surely gone because you greatly long for your father’s house, but why did you ^(AMJ)steal my gods?”

³¹Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was ^(AMK)afraid, for I said, ‘Perhaps you would take your daughters from me by force.’ ³²With whomever you find your gods, ^(AML)do not let him live. In the presence of our brethren, identify what I have of yours and take it with you.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

³³And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the two maids’ tents, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. ³⁴Now Rachel had taken the ^[gl]household idols, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. And Laban ^[gm]searched all about the tent but did not find them. ³⁵And she said to her father, “Let it not displease my lord that I cannot ^(AMM)rise before you, for the manner of women is with me.” And he searched but did not find the ^[gn]household idols.

³⁶Then Jacob was angry and rebuked Laban, and Jacob answered and said to Laban: “What is my ^[go]trespass? What is my sin, that you have so hotly pursued me? ³⁷Although you have searched all my things, what part of your household things have you found? Set it here before my brethren and your brethren, that they may judge between us both! ³⁸These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock. ³⁹^(AMN)That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it. ^(AMO)You required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. ⁴⁰There I was! In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes. ⁴¹Thus I have been in your house twenty years; I ^(AMP)served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and ^(AMQ)you have changed my wages ten times. ⁴²^(AMR)Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and ^(AMS)the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. ^(AMT)God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and ^(AMU)rebuked you last night.”

Laban’s Covenant with Jacob

⁴³And Laban answered and said to Jacob, “These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and this flock is my flock; all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children whom they have borne? ⁴⁴Now therefore, come, ^(AMV)let us make a ^[gp]covenant, ^(AMW)you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me.”

⁴⁵So Jacob ^(AMX)took a stone and set it up as a pillar. ⁴⁶Then Jacob said to his brethren, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there on the heap. ⁴⁷Laban called it ^[gq]Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it ^[gr]Galeed. ⁴⁸And Laban said, ^(AMY)“This heap is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore its name was called Galeed, ⁴⁹also ^(AMZ)Mizpah,^[gs] because he said, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from another. ⁵⁰If you afflict my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us—see, God is witness between you and me!”

⁵¹Then Laban said to Jacob, “Here is this heap and here is this pillar, which I have placed between you and me. ⁵²This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. ⁵³The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their father ^(ANA)judge between us.” And Jacob ^(ANB)swore by ^(ANC)the ^[gt]Fear of his father Isaac. ⁵⁴Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread. And they ate bread and stayed all night on the mountain. ⁵⁵And early in the morning Laban arose, and ^(AND)kissed his sons and daughters and ^(ANE)blessed them. Then Laban departed and ^(ANF)returned to his place.

Esau Comes to Meet Jacob

32 So Jacob went on his way, and ^(ANG)the angels of God met him. ²When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s ^(ANH)camp.” And he called the name of that place ^[gu]Mahanaim.

³Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother ^(ANI)in the land of Seir, ^(ANJ)the ^[gv]country of Edom. ⁴And he commanded them, saying, ^(ANK)“Speak thus to my lord Esau, ‘Thus your servant Jacob says: “I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there until now. ⁵^(ANL)I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that ^(ANM)I may find favor in your sight.” ’ ”

⁶Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and ^(ANN)he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” ⁷So Jacob was greatly afraid and ^(ANO)distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies. ⁸And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and ^[gw]attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.”

⁹^(ANP)Then Jacob said, ^(ANQ)“O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord ^(ANR)who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’: ¹⁰I am not worthy of the least of all the ^(ANS)mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with ^(ANT)my staff, and now I have become two companies. ¹¹^(ANU)Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and ^[gx]attack me and ^(ANV)the mother with the children. ¹²For ^(ANW)You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the ^(ANX)sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”

¹³So he lodged there that same night, and took what ^[gy]came to his hand as ^(ANY)a present for Esau his brother: ¹⁴two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. ¹⁶Then he delivered them to the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put some distance between successive droves.” ¹⁷And he commanded the first one, saying, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going? Whose are these in front of you?’ ¹⁸then you shall say, ‘They are your servant Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord Esau; and behold, he also is behind us.’ ” ¹⁹So he commanded the second, the third, and all who followed the droves, saying, “In this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him; ²⁰and also say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For he said, “I will ^(ANZ)appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” ²¹So the present went on over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp.

Wrestling with God

²²And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, ^(AOA)and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. ²³He took them, sent them ^[gz]over the brook, and sent over what he had. ²⁴Then Jacob was left alone; and ^(AOB)a Man wrestled with him until the ^[ha]breaking of day. ²⁵Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He ^[hb]touched the socket of his hip; and ^(AOC)the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. ²⁶And ^(AOD)He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”

But he said, ^(AOE)“I will not let You go unless You bless me!”

²⁷So He said to him, “What is your name?”

He said, “Jacob.”

²⁸And He said, ^(AOF)“Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but ^[hc]Israel; for you have ^(AOG)struggled with God and ^(AOH)with men, and have prevailed.”

²⁹Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.”

And He said, ^(AOI)“Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He ^(AOJ)blessed him there.

³⁰So Jacob called the name of the place ^[hd]Peniel: “For ^(AOK)I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” ³¹Just as he crossed over ^[he]Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip. ³²Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He ^[hf]touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank.

Jacob and Esau Meet

33 Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, ^(AOL)Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants. ²And he put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last. ³Then he crossed over before them and ^(AOM)bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴^(AON)But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, ^(AOO)and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. ⁵And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, “Who are these with you?”

So he said, “The children ^(AOP)whom God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶Then the maidservants came near, they and their children, and bowed down. ⁷And Leah also came near with her children, and they bowed down. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed down.

⁸Then Esau said, “What do you mean by ^(AOQ)all this company which I met?”

And he said, “These are ^(AOR)to find favor in the sight of my lord.”

⁹But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.”

¹⁰And Jacob said, “No, please, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present from my hand, inasmuch as I ^(AOS)have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God, and you were pleased with me. ¹¹Please, take ^(AOT)my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt ^(AOU)graciously with me, and because I have ^[hg]enough.” ^(AOV)So he urged him, and he took it.

¹²Then Esau said, “Let us take our journey; let us go, and I will go before you.”

¹³But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds which are nursing are with me. And if the men should drive them hard one day, all the flock will die. ¹⁴Please let my lord go on ahead before his servant. I will lead on slowly at a pace which the livestock that go before me, and the children, ^[hh]are able to endure, until I come to my lord ^(AOW)in Seir.”

¹⁵And Esau said, “Now let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.”

But he said, “What need is there? ^(AOX)Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” ¹⁶So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. ¹⁷And Jacob journeyed to ^(AOY)Succoth, built himself a house, and made ^[hi]booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called ^[hj]Succoth.

Jacob Comes to Canaan

¹⁸Then Jacob came ^[hk]safely to ^(AOZ)the city of ^(APA)Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city. ¹⁹And ^(APB)he bought the parcel of ^[hl]land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. ²⁰Then he erected an altar there and called it ^(APC)El^[hm] Elohe Israel.

The Dinah Incident

34 Now ^(APD)Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. ²And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he ^(APE)took her and lay with her, and violated her. ³His soul ^[hn]was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke ^[ho]kindly to the young woman. ⁴So Shechem ^(APF)spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young woman as a wife.”

⁵And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field; so Jacob ^(APG)held^[hp] his peace until they came. ⁶Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. ⁷And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved and very angry, because he ^(APH)had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, ^(API)a thing which ought not to be done. ⁸But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. ⁹And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves. ¹⁰So you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it.”

¹¹Then Shechem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. ¹²Ask me ever so much ^(APJ)dowry^[hq] and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me; but give me the young woman as a wife.”

¹³But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke ^(APK)deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. ¹⁴And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is ^(APL)uncircumcised, for ^(APM)that would be a reproach to us. ¹⁵But on this condition we will consent to you: If you will become as we are, if every male of you is circumcised, ¹⁶then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. ¹⁷But if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone.”

¹⁸And their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. ¹⁹So the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. He was ^(APN)more honorable than all the household of his father.

Footnotes

Genesis 1:2 Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.
Genesis 1:5 Lit. And evening was, and morning was, a day, one.
Genesis 1:6 expanse
Genesis 1:16 luminaries
Genesis 1:20 souls
Genesis 1:20 expanse
Genesis 1:26 Syr. all the wild animals of
Genesis 1:28 moves about on
Genesis 1:30 a living soul
Genesis 2:4 Heb. toledoth, lit. generations
Genesis 2:14 Or Tigris
Genesis 2:14 Heb. Ashshur
Genesis 2:15 Or Adam
Genesis 2:15 cultivate
Genesis 2:17 Lit. dying you shall die
Genesis 2:19 Or the man
Genesis 2:22 Lit. built
Genesis 2:23 Heb. Ishshah
Genesis 2:23 Heb. Ish
Genesis 2:24 Lit. cling
Genesis 3:6 Lit. a desirable thing
Genesis 3:7 girding coverings
Genesis 3:8 Or voice
Genesis 3:8 Or wind, breeze
Genesis 3:16 Lit. toward
Genesis 3:18 cause to grow
Genesis 3:20 Lit. Life or Living
Genesis 4:1 Lit. Acquire
Genesis 4:2 Lit. Breath or Nothing
Genesis 4:3 Lit. at the end of days
Genesis 4:7 Lit. toward
Genesis 4:8 Lit. said to
Genesis 4:8 Sam., LXX, Syr., Vg. add “Let us go out to the field.”
Genesis 4:13 iniquity
Genesis 4:15 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Syr., Vg. Not so;
Genesis 4:16 Lit. Wandering
Genesis 4:21 pipe
Genesis 4:23 slain a man for my wound
Genesis 4:23 for my hurt
Genesis 4:25 Lit. Appointed
Genesis 4:26 Gr. Enos, Luke 3:38
Genesis 5:9 Heb. Qenan
Genesis 5:29 Lit. Rest
Genesis 6:3 LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. abide
Genesis 6:4 Heb. nephilim, fallen or mighty ones
Genesis 6:5 So with MT, Tg.; Vg. God; LXX Lord God
Genesis 6:5 thought
Genesis 6:5 all the day
Genesis 6:9 blameless or having integrity
Genesis 6:14 Lit. compartments or nests
Genesis 6:15 A cubit is about 18 inches.
Genesis 7:3 Lit. seed
Genesis 7:4 Lit. blot out
Genesis 7:21 the land
Genesis 7:22 LXX, Vg. omit of the spirit
Genesis 8:21 intent or thought
Genesis 9:9 Lit. seed
Genesis 9:23 Lit. backwards
Genesis 10:3 Diphath, 1 Chr. 1:6
Genesis 10:4 Sam. Rodanim and 1 Chr. 1:7
Genesis 10:6 Or Phut
Genesis 10:21 Or the older brother of Japheth
Genesis 10:23 LXX Meshech and 1 Chr. 1:17
Genesis 10:24 So with MT, Vg., Tg.; LXX Arphaxad begot Cainan, and Cainan begot Salah (cf. Luke 3:35, 36)
Genesis 10:25 Lit. Division
Genesis 10:28 Ebal, 1 Chr. 1:22
Genesis 11:1 Lit. lip
Genesis 11:3 Lit. burn
Genesis 11:9 Lit. Confusion, Babylon
Genesis 11:26 Abraham, Gen. 17:5
Genesis 11:29 Sarah, Gen. 17:15
Genesis 12:5 Lit. souls
Genesis 12:6 Heb. Alon Moreh
Genesis 12:7 Lit. seed
Genesis 12:9 Heb. Negev
Genesis 12:13 Lit. my soul
Genesis 13:1 Heb. Negev
Genesis 13:6 Lit. bear
Genesis 13:15 Lit. seed
Genesis 13:18 Heb. Alon Mamre
Genesis 14:1 Heb. goyim
Genesis 14:9 Heb. goyim
Genesis 14:13 Heb. Alon Mamre
Genesis 14:15 Lit. on the left hand of
Genesis 14:17 Lit. striking
Genesis 14:20 one-tenth
Genesis 14:21 Lit. souls
Genesis 15:1 Or your reward shall be very great
Genesis 15:2 am childless
Genesis 15:3 a servant
Genesis 15:15 Die and join your ancestors
Genesis 16:2 Lit. be built up from
Genesis 16:4 sight
Genesis 16:5 The wrong done to me be
Genesis 16:11 Lit. God Hears
Genesis 16:13 Heb. El Roi
Genesis 16:13 Seen the back of
Genesis 16:14 Lit. Well of the One Who Lives and Sees Me
Genesis 17:1 Heb. El Shaddai
Genesis 17:4 Lit. a multitude of nations
Genesis 17:5 Lit. Exalted Father
Genesis 17:5 Lit. Father of a Multitude
Genesis 17:5 a multitude of
Genesis 17:8 Lit. of your sojournings
Genesis 17:15 Lit. Princess
Genesis 18:1 Heb. Alon Mamre
Genesis 18:11 Lit. the manner of women had ceased to be with Sarah
Genesis 19:9 As a resident alien
Genesis 19:17 LXX, Syr., Vg. they
Genesis 19:17 Lit. swept away
Genesis 19:22 Lit. Little or Insignificant
Genesis 19:25 devastated
Genesis 19:32 Lit. seed
Genesis 19:34 Lit. seed
Genesis 20:3 Lit. married to a husband
Genesis 20:5 innocence
Genesis 20:9 sinned against
Genesis 20:16 Lit. is a covering of the eyes for you to all
Genesis 20:16 Or justified
Genesis 21:3 Lit. Laughter
Genesis 21:6 Lit. made laughter for me
Genesis 21:9 Lit. laughing
Genesis 21:11 distressing
Genesis 21:13 descendant
Genesis 21:14 A water bottle made of skins
Genesis 21:23 take an oath
Genesis 21:27 treaty
Genesis 21:31 Lit. Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven
Genesis 22:5 Or young man
Genesis 22:7 Or goat
Genesis 22:14 Heb. YHWH Yireh
Genesis 22:23 Rebecca, Rom. 9:10
Genesis 23:6 Lit. prince of God
Genesis 23:8 entreat
Genesis 24:3 take an oath
Genesis 24:7 Lit. seed
Genesis 24:15 Rebecca, Rom. 9:10
Genesis 24:23 to spend the night
Genesis 24:40 make your way successful
Genesis 24:56 delay
Genesis 25:15 MT Hadad
Genesis 25:16 camps
Genesis 25:18 fell
Genesis 25:25 Lit. Hairy
Genesis 25:26 Supplanter or Deceitful, lit. One Who Takes the Heel
Genesis 25:27 Lit. complete
Genesis 25:30 Lit. Red
Genesis 25:33 Take an oath
Genesis 26:8 caressing
Genesis 26:17 camped
Genesis 26:20 Lit. Quarrel
Genesis 26:21 Lit. Enmity
Genesis 26:22 Lit. Spaciousness
Genesis 26:28 treaty
Genesis 26:33 Lit. Oath or Seven
Genesis 26:33 Lit. Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven
Genesis 27:4 tasty
Genesis 27:7 tasty
Genesis 27:14 tasty
Genesis 27:31 tasty
Genesis 27:36 Supplanter or Deceitful, lit. One Who Takes the Heel
Genesis 27:37 provided support for
Genesis 27:39 fertility
Genesis 27:41 are soon here
Genesis 28:1 commanded
Genesis 28:4 Lit. Of your sojournings
Genesis 28:15 protect
Genesis 28:19 Lit. House of God
Genesis 28:22 tithe
Genesis 29:7 early in the day
Genesis 29:17 Or weak
Genesis 29:26 Lit. place
Genesis 29:31 Lit. hated
Genesis 29:32 Lit. See, a Son
Genesis 29:33 Lit. hated
Genesis 29:33 Lit. Heard
Genesis 29:34 Lit. Attached
Genesis 29:35 Lit. Praise
Genesis 30:3 Lit. be built up by her
Genesis 30:6 Lit. Judge
Genesis 30:8 Lit. wrestlings of God
Genesis 30:8 Lit. My Wrestling
Genesis 30:11 So with Qr., Syr., Tg.; Kt., LXX, Vg. in fortune
Genesis 30:11 Lit. Troop or Fortune
Genesis 30:13 Lit. Happy
Genesis 30:18 Lit. Wages
Genesis 30:20 Lit. Dwelling
Genesis 30:21 Lit. Judgment
Genesis 30:24 Lit. He Will Add
Genesis 30:30 Lit. at my foot
Genesis 31:5 Lit. face
Genesis 31:19 Heb. teraphim
Genesis 31:21 Lit. set his face toward
Genesis 31:34 Heb. teraphim
Genesis 31:34 Lit. felt
Genesis 31:35 Heb. teraphim
Genesis 31:36 transgression
Genesis 31:44 treaty
Genesis 31:47 Lit., in Aram., Heap of Witness
Genesis 31:47 Lit., in Heb., Heap of Witness
Genesis 31:49 Lit. Watch
Genesis 31:53 A reference to God
Genesis 32:2 Lit. Double Camp
Genesis 32:3 Lit. field
Genesis 32:8 Lit. strikes
Genesis 32:11 Lit. strike
Genesis 32:13 he had received
Genesis 32:23 across
Genesis 32:24 dawn
Genesis 32:25 struck
Genesis 32:28 Lit. Prince with God
Genesis 32:30 Lit. Face of God
Genesis 32:31 Lit. Face of God; same as Peniel, v. 30
Genesis 32:32 struck
Genesis 33:11 Lit. all
Genesis 33:14 can stand
Genesis 33:17 shelters
Genesis 33:17 Lit. Booths
Genesis 33:18 Or to Shalem, a city of
Genesis 33:19 Lit. the field
Genesis 33:20 Lit. God, the God of Israel
Genesis 34:3 Lit. clung to
Genesis 34:3 tenderly
Genesis 34:5 kept silent
Genesis 34:12 bride-price

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)

Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)

New King James Version (NKJV)

Genesis 1-20 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

Six Days of Creation and the Sabbath

Another Account of the Creation

The First Sin and Its Punishment

Cain Murders Abel

Beginnings of Civilization

Adam’s Descendants to Noah and His Sons

The Wickedness of Mankind

Noah Pleases God

The Great Flood

The Flood Subsides

God’s Promise to Noah

The Covenant With Noah

Noah and His Sons

Nations Descended from Noah

The Tower of Babel

Descendants of Shem

Descendants of Terah

The Call of Abram

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

Abram and Lot Separate

Lot’s Captivity and Rescue

Abram Blessed by Melchizedek

God’s Covenant with Abram

The Birth of Ishmael

The Sign of the Covenant

A Son Promised to Abraham and Sarah

Judgment Pronounced on Sodom

The Depravity of Sodom

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

The Shameful Origin of Moab and Ammon

Abraham and Sarah at Gerar

Footnotes

Genesis 1-34 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition

Genesis 1-34 New King James Version

The History of Creation(A)

The Garden of Eden

Life in God’s Garden

The Temptation and Fall of Man(BS)

Cain Murders Abel(DB)

The Family of Cain

A New Son

The Family of Adam(DZ)

The Wickedness and Judgment of Man

Noah Pleases God

The Ark Prepared(FL)

The Great Flood(FZ)

Noah’s Deliverance

God’s Covenant with Creation

God’s Promise to Noah

Noah and His Sons

Nations Descended from Noah(IV)

The Tower of Babel

Shem’s Descendants(KD)

Terah’s Descendants

Promises to Abram(KS)

Abram in Egypt

Abram Inherits Canaan

Lot’s Captivity and Rescue

Abram and Melchizedek(OE)

God’s Covenant with Abram(OR)

Hagar and Ishmael

The Sign of the Covenant(QY)

The Son of Promise(SJ)

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

Sodom’s Depravity

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed(UL)

The Descendants of Lot

Abraham and Abimelech

Isaac Is Born(WS)

Hagar and Ishmael Depart(XE)

A Covenant with Abimelech

Abraham’s Faith Confirmed(YD)

The Family of Nahor

Sarah’s Death and Burial

A Bride for Isaac

Abraham and Keturah(ACI)

Abraham’s Death and Burial

The Families of Ishmael and Isaac(ACV)

Esau Sells His Birthright(ADU)

Genesis 1-20

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

Genesis 1-34

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition

Genesis 1-34

New King James Version

The History of Creation^(A)

The Temptation and Fall of Man^(BS)

Cain Murders Abel^(DB)

The Family of Adam^(DZ)

The Ark Prepared^(FL)

The Great Flood^(FZ)

Nations Descended from Noah^(IV)

Shem’s Descendants^(KD)

Promises to Abram^(KS)

Abram and Melchizedek^(OE)

God’s Covenant with Abram^(OR)

The Sign of the Covenant^(QY)

The Son of Promise^(SJ)

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed^(UL)

Isaac Is Born^(WS)

Hagar and Ishmael Depart^(XE)

Abraham’s Faith Confirmed^(YD)

Abraham and Keturah^(ACI)

The Families of Ishmael and Isaac^(ACV)

Esau Sells His Birthright^(ADU)

Esau’s Lost Hope^(AGQ)