¹¹ Blessed (happy, ^[a]to be envied, and ^[b]spiritually prosperous—^[c]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of your outward conditions) are you when people revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you falsely on My account.

¹² Be glad and supremely joyful, for your reward in heaven is great (strong and intense), for in this same way people persecuted the prophets who were before you.^(A)

¹³ You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality), how can its saltness be restored? It is not good for anything any longer but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men.

¹⁴ You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

¹⁵ Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a peck measure, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.

¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men that they may see your ^[d]moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and ^[e]recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.

¹⁷ Do not think that I have come to do away with or ^[f]undo the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to do away with or undo but to complete and fulfill them.

¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until the sky and earth pass away and perish, not one smallest letter nor one little hook [identifying certain Hebrew letters] will pass from the Law until all things [it foreshadows] are accomplished.

¹⁹ Whoever then breaks or does away with or relaxes one of the least [important] of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least [important] in the kingdom of heaven, but he who practices them and teaches others to do so shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness (your uprightness and your right standing with God) is more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

10 This is the history of the generations (descendants) of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The sons born to them after the flood were:

² The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

³ The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.

⁴ The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

⁵ From these the coastland peoples spread. [These are the sons of Japheth] in their lands, each with his own language, by their families within their nations.

⁶ The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt [Mizraim], Put, and Canaan.

⁷ The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

⁸ Cush became the father of Nimrod; he was the first to be a mighty man on the earth.

⁹ He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.

¹⁰ The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar [in Babylonia].

¹¹ Out of the land he [Nimrod] went forth into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,

¹² And Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah; all these [suburbs combined to form] the great city.

¹³ And Egypt [Mizraim] became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim,

¹⁴ Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines), and Caphtorim.

¹⁵ Canaan became the father of Sidon his firstborn, Heth [the Hittites],

¹⁶ The Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites,

¹⁷ The Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,

¹⁸ The Arvadites, the Zemarites and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the Canaanites spread abroad

¹⁹ And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon as one goes to Gerar as far as Gaza, and as one goes to ^[a]Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

²⁰ These are the sons of Ham by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

²¹ To Shem also, the younger brother of Japheth and the ancestor of all the children of Eber [including the Hebrews], children were born.

²² The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.

²³ The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.

²⁴ Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber.

²⁵ To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg [division], because [the inhabitants of] the earth were divided up in his days; and his brother’s name was Joktan.

²⁶ Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,

²⁷ Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,

²⁸ Obal, Abimael, Sheba,

²⁹ Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan.

³⁰ The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha as one goes toward Sephar to the hill country of the east.

³¹ These are Shem’s descendants by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

³² These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, within their nations; and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.^(A)