The Descendants of Noah

10 After the flood Shem, Ham, and Japheth had many descendants.

The Descendants of Japheth

^2-5 Japheth's descendants had their own languages, tribes, and land. They were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

Gomer was the ancestor of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.

Javan was the ancestor of Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim,^[a] who settled along the coast.

The Descendants of Ham

^6-20 Ham's descendants had their own languages, tribes, and land. They were Ethiopia,^[b] Egypt, Put, and Canaan.

Cush^[c] was the ancestor of Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca.

Raamah was the ancestor of Sheba and Dedan.

Cush was also the ancestor of Nimrod, a mighty warrior whose strength came from the Lord. This is why people say: “You hunt like Nimrod with the strength of the Lord!” Nimrod first ruled in Babylon, Erech, and Accad, all of^[d] which were in Babylonia.^[e] From there Nimrod went to Assyria and built the great city of Nineveh. He also built Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, as well as Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah.

Egypt was the ancestor of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim, the ancestor of the Philistines.^[f]

Canaan's sons were Sidon and Heth. Canaan was also the ancestor of the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites.

Later the Canaanites spread from the territory of Sidon and settled as far away as Gaza in the direction of Gerar. They also went as far as Lasha in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim.

The Descendants of Shem

^21-31 Shem's descendants had their own languages, tribes, and land. He was the older brother of Japheth and the ancestor of the tribes of Eber.

Shem was the ancestor of Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.

Aram was the ancestor of Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.

Arpachshad was the father of Shelah and the grandfather of Eber, whose first son was named Peleg,^[g] because it was during his time that tribes divided up the earth. Eber's second son was Joktan.

Joktan was the ancestor of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. Their land reached from Mesha in the direction of Sephar, the hill country in the east.

³² This completes the list of Noah's descendants. After the flood their descendants became nations and spread all over the world.

The Tower of Babel

11 At first everyone spoke the same language, ² but after some of them moved from the east^[h] and settled in Babylonia,^{[i] 3-4} they said:

Let's build a city with a tower that reaches to the sky! We'll use hard bricks and tar instead of stone and mortar. We'll become famous, and we won't be scattered all over the world.

⁵ But when the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower, ⁶ he said:

These people are working together because they all speak the same language. This is just the beginning. Soon they will be able to do anything they want. ⁷ Let's go down and confuse them! We'll make them speak different languages, and they won't be able to understand each other.

^8-9 So the people had to stop building the city, because the Lord confused their language and scattered them all over the earth. That's how the city of Babel^[j] got its name.

The Descendants of Shem

^10-11 Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100, he had a son named Arpachshad. He had more children and died at the age of 600. This is a list of his descendants:

¹² When Arpachshad was 35, he had a son named Shelah. ¹³ Arpachshad had more children and died at the age of 438.

¹⁴ When Shelah was 30, he had a son named Eber. ¹⁵ Shelah had more children and died at the age of 433.

¹⁶ When Eber was 34, he had a son named Peleg. ¹⁷ Eber had more children and died at the age of 464.

¹⁸ When Peleg was 30, he had a son named Reu. ¹⁹ Peleg had more children and died at the age of 239.

²⁰ When Reu was 32 he had a son named Serug. ²¹ Reu had more children and died at the age of 239.

²² When Serug was 30, he had a son named Nahor. ²³ Serug had more children and died at the age of 230.

²⁴ When Nahor was 29, he had a son named Terah. ²⁵ Nahor had more children and died at the age of 148.

The Descendants of Terah

^26-28 After Terah was 70 years old, he had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran, who became the father of Lot. Terah's sons were born in the city of Ur in Chaldea,^[k] and Haran died there before the death of his father. The following is the story of Terah's descendants.

^29-30 Abram married Sarai, but she was not able to have children. And Nahor married Milcah, who was the daughter of Haran and the sister of Iscah.

³¹ Terah decided to move from Ur to the land of Canaan. He took along Abram and Sarai and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran. But when they came to the city of Haran,^[l] they settled there instead. ³² Terah lived to be 205 years old and died in Haran.

The Lord Chooses Abram

12 ^(A) The Lord said to Abram:

Leave your country, your family, and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you. ² I will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. You will become famous and be a blessing to others. ^3 (B) I will bless those who bless you, but I will put a curse on anyone who puts a curse on you. Everyone on earth will be blessed because of you.^[m]

^4-5 Abram was 75 years old when the Lord told him to leave the city of Haran. He obeyed and left with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and slaves they had acquired while in Haran.

When they came to the land of Canaan, ⁶ Abram went as far as the sacred tree of Moreh in a place called Shechem. The Canaanites were still living in the land at that time, ^7 (C) but the Lord appeared to Abram and promised, “I will give this land to your family forever.” Abram then built an altar there for the Lord.

⁸ Abram traveled to the hill country east of Bethel and camped between Bethel and Ai, where he built another altar and worshiped the Lord. ⁹ Later, Abram started out toward the Southern Desert.

Abram in Egypt

^10-11 The crops failed, and there was no food anywhere in Canaan. So Abram and his wife Sarai went to live in Egypt for a while. But just before they got there, Abram said, “Sarai, you are really beautiful! ¹² When the Egyptians see you, they will murder me because I am your husband. But they won't kill you. ^13 (D) Please save my life by saying you are my sister.”

¹⁴ As soon as Abram and Sarai arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians noticed how beautiful she was. ¹⁵ The king's^[n] officials told him about her, and she was taken to his house. ¹⁶ The king was good to Abram because of Sarai, and Abram was given sheep, cattle, donkeys, slaves, and camels.

¹⁷ Because of Sarai, the Lord struck the king and everyone in his palace with terrible diseases. ¹⁸ Finally, the king sent for Abram and said to him, “What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me Sarai was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you make me believe she was your sister? Now I've married her. Take her and go! She's your wife.”

²⁰ So the king told his men to let Abram and Sarai take their possessions and leave.

Jesus and the Devil

(Mark 1.12,13; Luke 4.1-13)

4 ^(A) The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert, so that the devil could test him. ² After Jesus had gone without eating^[a] for 40 days and nights, he was very hungry. ³ Then the devil came to him and said, “If you are God's Son, tell these stones to turn into bread.”

^4 (B) Jesus answered, “The Scriptures say:

⁵ Next, the devil took Jesus into the holy city to the highest part of the temple. ^6 (C) The devil said, “If you are God's Son, jump off. The Scriptures say:

^7 (D) Jesus answered, “The Scriptures also say, ‘Don't try to test the Lord your God!’ ”

⁸ Finally, the devil took Jesus up on a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms on earth and their power. ⁹ The devil said to him, “I will give all this to you, if you will bow down and worship me.”

^10 (E) Jesus answered, “Go away Satan! The Scriptures say:

¹¹ Then the devil left Jesus, and angels came to help him.

Jesus Begins His Work

(Mark 1.14,15; Luke 4.14,15)

^12 (F) When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he went to Galilee. ^13 (G) But instead of staying in Nazareth, Jesus moved to Capernaum. This town was beside Lake Galilee in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali.^{[b] 14} So God's promise came true, just as the prophet Isaiah had said,

^17 (I) Then Jesus started preaching, “Turn back to God! The kingdom of heaven will soon be here.”^[c]

Jesus Chooses Four Fishermen

(Mark 1.16-20; Luke 5.1-11)

¹⁸ While Jesus was walking along the shore of Lake Galilee, he saw two brothers. One was Simon, also known as Peter, and the other was Andrew. They were fishermen, and they were casting their net into the lake. ¹⁹ Jesus said to them, “Follow me! I will teach you how to bring in people instead of fish.” ²⁰ Right then the two brothers dropped their nets and went with him.

²¹ Jesus walked on until he saw James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat with their father, mending their nets. Jesus asked them to come with him. ²² At once they left the boat and their father and went with Jesus.

Jesus Teaches, Preaches, and Heals

(Luke 6.17-19)

^23 (J) Jesus went all over Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news about God's kingdom. He also healed every kind of disease and sickness. ²⁴ News about him spread all over Syria, and people with every kind of sickness or disease were brought to him. Some of them had a lot of demons in them, others were thought to be crazy,^[d] and still others could not walk. But Jesus healed them all.

²⁵ Large crowds followed Jesus from Galilee and the region around the ten cities known as Decapolis.^[e] They also came from Jerusalem, Judea, and from across the Jordan River.