The Flight into Egypt

¹³ Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”

¹⁴ When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, ¹⁵ and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, ^(A)“Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

Massacre of the Innocents

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. ¹⁷ Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

The Home in Nazareth^(C)

¹⁹ Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ^20 (D)saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who ^(E)sought the young Child’s life are dead.” ²¹ Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.

²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a ^(F)dream, he turned aside ^(G)into the region of Galilee. ²³ And he came and dwelt in a city called ^(H)Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled ^(I)which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

²² “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you ^(A)by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— ²³ Him, ^(B)being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, ^(C)you ^[a]have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; ^24 (D)whom God raised up, having ^[b]loosed the ^[c]pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. ²⁵ For David says concerning Him:

²⁹ “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you ^(G)of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰ Therefore, being a prophet, ^(H)and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, ^[d]according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, ³¹ he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, ^(I)that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. ^32 (J)This Jesus God has raised up, ^(K)of which we are all witnesses. ³³ Therefore ^(L)being exalted ^[e]to ^(M)the right hand of God, and ^(N)having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He ^(O)poured out this which you now see and hear.

³⁴ “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself:

³⁶ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

³⁷ Now when they heard this, ^(Q)they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

³⁸ Then Peter said to them, ^(R)“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the ^[f]remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is to you and ^(S)to your children, and ^(T)to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

A Vital Church Grows

⁴⁰ And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this ^[g]perverse generation.” ⁴¹ Then those who ^[h]gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. ^42 (U)And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ ^[i]doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. ⁴³ Then fear came upon every soul, and ^(V)many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. ⁴⁴ Now all who believed were together, and ^(W)had all things in common, ⁴⁵ and ^[j]sold their possessions and goods, and ^(X)divided^[k] them among all, as anyone had need.

^46 (Y)So continuing daily with one accord ^(Z)in the temple, and ^(AA)breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And ^(AB)the Lord added ^[l]to the church daily those who were being saved.

The Safety of the Faithful

To the ^[a]Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.

God’s Promise to Noah

9 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: ^(A)“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. ^2 (B)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 (C)Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you ^(D)all things, even as the ^(E)green herbs. ^4 (F)But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. ⁵ Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; ^(G)from the hand of every beast I will require it, and ^(H)from the hand of man. From the hand of every ^(I)man’s brother I will require the life of man.

⁸ Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: ⁹ “And as for Me, ^(M)behold, I establish ^(N)My covenant with you and with your ^[a]descendants after you, ^10 (O)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. ¹¹ Thus ^(P)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.”

¹² And God said: ^(Q)“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: ¹³ I set ^(R)My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. ¹⁴ It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; ¹⁵ and ^(S)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. ¹⁶ The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember ^(T)the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” ¹⁷ And 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

¹⁸ Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. ^(U)And Ham was the father of Canaan. ^19 (V)These three were the sons of Noah, ^(W)and from these the whole earth was populated.

²⁰ And Noah began to be ^(X)a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. ²¹ Then he drank of the wine ^(Y)and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. ²² And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. ^23 (Z)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 ^[b]turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.

²⁴ So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. ²⁵ Then he said:

²⁶ And he said:

²⁸ And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. ²⁹ So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.

Nations Descended from Noah^(AF)

10 Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. ^(AG)And sons were born to them after the flood.

^2 (AH)The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. ³ The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, ^[c]Riphath, and Togarmah. ⁴ The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and ^[d]Dodanim. ⁵ From these ^(AI)the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.

^6 (AJ)The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, ^[e]Put, and Canaan. ⁷ The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.

⁸ Cush begot ^(AK)Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. ⁹ He was a mighty ^(AL)hunter ^(AM)before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.” ^10 (AN)And the beginning of his kingdom was ^(AO)Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. ¹¹ From that land he went ^(AP)to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, ¹² and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).

¹³ Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, ¹⁴ Pathrusim, and Casluhim ^(AQ)(from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim).

¹⁵ Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and ^(AR)Heth; ^16 (AS)the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; ¹⁷ the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; ¹⁸ the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed. ^19 (AT)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. ²⁰ These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations.

²¹ And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, ^[f]the brother of Japheth the elder. ²² The ^(AU)sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, ^(AV)Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. ²³ The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and ^[g]Mash. ^24 [h]Arphaxad begot ^(AW)Salah, and Salah begot Eber. ^25 (AX)To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was ^[i]Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. ²⁶ Joktan begot Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²⁷ Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ^28 [j]Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ²⁹ Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. ³⁰ And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. ³¹ These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations.

^32 (AY)These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; ^(AZ)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 ^[k]speech. ² And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land ^(BA)of Shinar, and they dwelt there. ³ Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and ^[l]bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. ⁴ And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower ^(BB)whose top is in the heavens; let us make a ^(BC)name for ourselves, lest we ^(BD)be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

^5 (BE)But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. ⁶ And the Lord said, “Indeed ^(BF)the people are one and they all have ^(BG)one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they ^(BH)propose to do will be withheld from them. ⁷ Come, ^(BI)let Us go down and there ^(BJ)confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸ So ^(BK)the Lord scattered them abroad from there ^(BL)over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. ⁹ Therefore its name is called ^[m]Babel, ^(BM)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^(BN)

^10 (BO)This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. ¹¹ After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

¹² Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, ^(BP)and begot Salah. ¹³ After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.

¹⁴ Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. ¹⁵ After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.

^16 (BQ)Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot ^(BR)Peleg. ¹⁷ After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.

¹⁸ Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. ¹⁹ After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters.

²⁰ Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot ^(BS)Serug. ²¹ After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.

²² Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. ²³ After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

²⁴ Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot ^(BT)Terah. ²⁵ After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters.

²⁶ Now Terah lived seventy years, and ^(BU)begot ^[n]Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Terah’s Descendants

²⁷ This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot ^(BV)Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. ²⁸ And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹ Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was ^(BW)Sarai,^[o] and the name of Nahor’s wife, ^(BX)Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. ³⁰ But ^(BY)Sarai was barren; she had no child.

³¹ And Terah ^(BZ)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 ^(CA)Ur of the Chaldeans to go to ^(CB)the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. ³² So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.