The Law of the Lord Is Perfect

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

Increasing Corruption on Earth

6 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. ³ Then the Lord said, ^(A)“My Spirit shall not abide in^[a] man forever, ^(B)for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” ⁴ The Nephilim^[b] were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

^5 (C)The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every ^(D)intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶ And ^(E)the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it ^(F)grieved him to his heart. ⁷ So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸ But Noah ^(G)found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah and the Flood

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

¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹² And God ^(K)saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, ^(L)for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. ¹³ And God said to Noah, ^(M)“I have determined to make an end of all flesh,^[c] for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴ Make yourself an ark of gopher wood.^[d] Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. ¹⁵ This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits,^[e] its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. ¹⁶ Make a roof^[f] 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. ^17 (N)For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. ¹⁸ But ^(O)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. ¹⁹ And 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. ²⁰ Of 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. ²¹ Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” ^22 (P)Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

7 Then the Lord said to Noah, ^(Q)“Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that ^(R)you are righteous before me in this generation. ² Take with you seven pairs of all ^(S)clean animals,^[g] the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, ³ and seven pairs^[h] of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴ For in seven days ^(T)I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, ^(U)and every living thing^[i] that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” ^5 (V)And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

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

¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the ^(W)fountains of the great deep burst forth, and ^(X)the windows of the heavens were opened. ¹² And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. ¹³ On 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, ¹⁴ they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock 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 winged creature. ¹⁵ They ^(Y)went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. ¹⁶ And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in ^(Z)as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.

¹⁷ The flood ^(AA)continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. ¹⁸ The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. ¹⁹ And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. ²⁰ The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits^[j] deep. ²¹ And ^(AB)all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. ²² Everything on the dry land ^(AC)in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. ²³ He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only ^(AD)Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. ²⁴ And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.

The Flood Subsides

8 But God ^(AE)remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And ^(AF)God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. ^2 (AG)The fountains of the deep and ^(AH)the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, ³ and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end ^(AI)of 150 days the waters had abated, ⁴ and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of ^(AJ)Ararat. ⁵ And 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.

⁶ At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made ⁷ and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. ⁸ Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. ⁹ But 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 out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. ¹⁰ He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. ¹¹ And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. ¹² Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.

¹³ In 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. ¹⁴ In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. ¹⁵ Then God said to Noah, ¹⁶ “Go out from the ark, ^(AK)you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. ¹⁷ Bring out 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 swarm on the earth, and ^(AL)be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” ¹⁸ So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. ¹⁹ Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

God's Covenant with Noah

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹ And when the Lord smelled ^(AM)the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again ^(AN)curse^[k] the ground because of man, for ^(AO)the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. ^(AP)Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. ^22 (AQ)While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, ^(AR)day and night, shall not cease.”

9 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ^(AS)“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. ^2 (AT)The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. ^3 (AU)Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And ^(AV)as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. ⁴ But you shall not eat flesh with its ^(AW)life, that is, its blood. ⁵ And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: ^(AX)from every beast I will require it and ^(AY)from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

⁷ And you,^[l] be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

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

Noah's Descendants

¹⁸ The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were ^(BH)Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) ¹⁹ These three were the sons of Noah, and ^(BI)from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.^[m]

²⁰ Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.^{[n] 21} He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. ²² And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. ²³ Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father's nakedness. ²⁴ When Noah awoke from his wine ^(BJ)and knew what his youngest son had done to him, ²⁵ he said,

²⁶ He also said,

²⁸ After the flood Noah lived 350 years. ²⁹ All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

29 Then Jacob went on his journey and came to ^(A)the land of the people of the east. ² As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well's mouth was large, ³ and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well.

⁴ Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, ^(B)“We are from Haran.” ⁵ He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.” ⁶ He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!” ⁷ He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go, pasture them.” ⁸ But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

⁹ While he was still speaking with them, ^(C)Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰ Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother. ¹¹ Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. ¹² And Jacob told Rachel that he was ^(D)her father's kinsman, and that he was Rebekah's son, ^(E)and she ran and told her father.

¹³ As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister's son, ^(F)he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, ¹⁴ and Laban said to him, ^(G)“Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month.

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah's eyes were weak,^[a] but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. ¹⁸ Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, ^(H)“I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” ¹⁹ Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob ^(I)served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” ²² So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and ^(J)made a feast. ²³ But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. ²⁴ (Laban gave^{[b] (K)}his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) ²⁵ And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” ²⁶ Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. ^27 (L)Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” ²⁸ Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. ²⁹ (Laban gave ^(M)his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) ³⁰ So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban ^(N)for another seven years.

Jacob's Children

³¹ When the Lord saw that Leah was ^(O)hated, ^(P)he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ³² And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben,^[c] for she said, “Because the Lord ^(Q)has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” ³³ She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon.^{[d] 34} Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be ^(R)attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.^{[e] 35} And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name ^(S)Judah.^[f] Then she ceased bearing.

30 When Rachel saw that ^(T)she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” ² Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, ^(U)who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” ³ Then she said, “Here is my servant ^(V)Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth ^(W)on my behalf,^[g] that even I may have children^[h] through her.” ⁴ So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵ And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has ^(X)judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.^{[i] 7} Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings^[j] I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name ^(Y)Naphtali.^[k]

⁹ When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and ^(Z)gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ Then Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ And Leah said, ^(AA)“Good fortune has come!” so she called his name ^(AB)Gad.^{[l] 12} Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women ^(AC)have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.^[m]

¹⁴ In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found ^(AD)mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son's mandrakes.” ¹⁵ But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes.” ¹⁶ When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son's mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. ¹⁷ And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.^[n]

¹⁹ And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name ^(AE)Zebulun.^{[o] 21} Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.

²² Then God ^(AF)remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and ^(AG)opened her womb. ²³ She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away ^(AH)my reproach.” ²⁴ And she called his name Joseph,^[p] saying, ^(AI)“May the Lord add to me another son!”

Jacob's Prosperity

²⁵ As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. ²⁶ Give me my wives and my children ^(AJ)for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.” ²⁷ But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that^[q] the Lord has blessed me because of you. ^28 (AK)Name your wages, and I will give it.” ²⁹ Jacob said to him, ^(AL)“You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me. ³⁰ For you had little before I came, ^(AM)and it has increased abundantly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I ^(AN)provide for my own household also?” ³¹ He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: ³² let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and ^(AO)they shall be my wages. ³³ So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.” ³⁴ Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” ³⁵ But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. ³⁶ And he set a distance of three days' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban's flock.

³⁷ Then ^(AP)Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. ³⁸ He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the ^(AQ)watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, ³⁹ the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. ⁴⁰ And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban's flock. ⁴¹ Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks, ⁴² but for the feebler of the flock he would not lay them there. So the feebler would be Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's. ⁴³ Thus the man ^(AR)increased greatly and ^(AS)had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

The Lord Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.