Beginning
The First Family
4 Adam had intimate relations with his wife Eve. She became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.[a] Eve said, “With the Lord’s help, I have given birth to a man.” 2 After that, Eve gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel took care of sheep. Cain became a farmer.
3 Later, Cain brought a gift to God. He brought some food from the ground. 4 Abel brought the best parts of his best sheep. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift. 5 But God did not accept Cain and his gift. Cain became very angry and looked unhappy.
6 The Lord asked Cain, “Why are you angry? Why do you look so unhappy? 7 If you do good, I will accept you. But if you do not do good, sin is ready to attack you. Sin wants you. But you must rule over it.”
8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out into the field.” So Cain and Abel went into the field. Then Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
9 Later, the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
Cain answered, “I don’t know. Is it my job to take care of my brother?”
10 Then the Lord said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood is on the ground. That blood is like a voice that tells me what happened. 11 And now you will be cursed in your work with the ground. It is the same ground where your brother’s blood fell. Your hands killed him. 12 You will work the ground. But it will not grow good crops for you anymore. You will wander around on the earth.”
13 Then Cain said to the Lord, “This punishment is more than I can stand! 14 Look! You have forced me to stop working the ground. And now I must hide from you. I will wander around on the earth. And anyone who meets me can kill me.”
15 Then the Lord said to Cain, “No! If anyone kills you, I will punish that person seven times more.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain. It was a warning to anyone who met him not to kill him.
Cain’s Family
16 Then Cain went away from the Lord. Cain lived in the land of Nod,[b] east of Eden. 17 Cain had intimate relations with his wife. She became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. At that time Cain was building a city. He named it after his son Enoch. 18 Enoch had a son named Irad. Irad had a son named Mehujael. Mehujael had a son named Methushael. And Methushael had a son named Lamech.
19 Lamech married two women. One wife was named Adah, and the other was Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal. He was the first person to live in tents and raise cattle. 21 Jabal’s brother was Jubal. Jubal was the first person to play the harp and flute. 22 Zillah gave birth to Tubal-Cain. He made tools out of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
23 Lamech said to his wives:
“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice!
You wives of Lamech, listen to what I say.
I killed a man for wounding me.
I killed a young man for hitting me.
24 Cain’s killer may be punished 7 times.
Then Lamech’s killer will be punished 77 times.”
Adam and Eve Have a New Son
25 Adam had intimate relations with his wife Eve again. And she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth.[c] Eve said, “God has given me another child. He will take the place of Abel, who was killed by Cain.” 26 Seth also had a son. They named him Enosh. At that time people began to pray to the Lord.
Adam’s Family History
5 This is the family history of Adam. When God created human beings, he made them in God’s likeness. 2 He created them male and female. And on that day he blessed them and named them human beings.
3 When Adam was 130 years old, he became the father of another son. He was in the likeness and image of Adam. Adam named him Seth. 4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters. 5 So Adam lived a total of 930 years. Then he died.
6 When Seth was 105 years old, he had a son named Enosh. 7 After Enosh was born, Seth lived 807 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters. 8 So Seth lived a total of 912 years. Then he died.
9 When Enosh was 90 years old, he had a son named Kenan. 10 After Kenan was born, Enosh lived 815 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters. 11 So Enosh lived a total of 905 years. Then he died.
12 When Kenan was 70 years old, he had a son named Mahalalel. 13 After Mahalalel was born, Kenan lived 840 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters. 14 So Kenan lived a total of 910 years. Then he died.
15 When Mahalalel was 65 years old, he had a son named Jared. 16 After Jared was born, Mahalalel lived 830 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters. 17 So Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years. Then he died.
18 When Jared was 162 years old, he had a son named Enoch. 19 After Enoch was born, Jared lived 800 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters. 20 So Jared lived a total of 962 years. Then he died.
21 When Enoch was 65 years old, he had a son named Methuselah. 22 After Methuselah was born, Enoch walked with God 300 years more. During that time he had other sons and daughters. 23 So Enoch lived a total of 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God. One day Enoch could not be found, because God took him.
25 When Methuselah was 187 years old, he had a son named Lamech. 26 After Lamech was born, Methuselah lived 782 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters. 27 So Methuselah lived a total of 969 years. Then he died.
28 When Lamech was 182, he had a son. 29 Lamech named his son Noah.[d] Lamech said, “Noah will comfort us from the pain of our work. The pain is because God has cursed the ground.” 30 After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters. 31 So Lamech lived a total of 777 years. Then he died.
32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.
The Human Race Becomes Evil
6 The number of people on earth began to grow. Daughters were born to these people. 2 The sons of God saw that these girls were beautiful. And they married any of them they chose. 3 The Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain in human beings forever. This is because they are flesh. They will live only 120 years.”
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also later. That was when the sons of God had physical relations with the daughters of men. These women gave birth to children, who became famous. They were the mighty warriors of long ago.
5 The Lord saw that the human beings on the earth were very wicked. He also saw that their thoughts were only about evil all the time. 6 The Lord was sorry he had made human beings on the earth. His heart was filled with pain. 7 So the Lord said, “I will destroy all human beings that I made on the earth. And I will destroy every animal and everything that crawls on the earth. I will also destroy the birds of the air. This is because I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah pleased the Lord.
Noah and the Great Flood
9 This is the family history of Noah. Noah was a good man. He was the most innocent man of his time. He walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
11 People on earth did what God said was evil. Violence was everywhere. 12 And God saw this evil. All people on the earth did only evil. 13 So God said to Noah, “People have made the earth full of violence. So I will destroy all people from the earth. 14 Build a boat of cypress wood for yourself. Make rooms in it and cover it inside and outside with tar. 15 This is how big I want you to build the boat: 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. 16 Make an opening around the top of the boat. Make it 18 inches high from the edge of the roof down. Put a door in the side of the boat. Make an upper, middle and lower deck in it. 17 I will bring a flood of water on the earth. I will destroy all living things that live under the sky. This includes everything that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will die. 18 But I will make an agreement with you. You, your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives will all go into the boat. 19 Also, you must bring into the boat two of every living thing, male and female. Keep them alive with you. 20 There will be two of every kind of bird, animal and crawling thing. They will come to you to be kept alive. 21 Also gather some of every kind of food. Store it on the boat as food for you and the animals.”
22 Noah did everything that God commanded him.
The Flood Begins
7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “I have seen that you are the best man among the people of this time. So you and your family go into the boat. 2 Take with you seven pairs, each male with its female, of every kind of clean animal. And take one pair, each male with its female, of every kind of unclean animal. 3 Take seven pairs of all the birds of the sky, each male with its female. This will allow all these animals to continue living on the earth after the flood. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth. It will rain 40 days and 40 nights. I will destroy from the earth every living thing that I made.”
5 Noah did everything that the Lord commanded him.
6 Noah was 600 years old when the flood came. 7 He and his wife and his sons and their wives went into the boat. They went in to escape the waters of the flood. 8 The clean animals, the unclean animals, the birds and everything that crawls on the ground 9 came to Noah. They went into the boat in groups of two, male and female. This was just as God had commanded Noah. 10 Seven days later the flood started.
11 Noah was now 600 years old. The flood started on the seventeenth day of the second month of that year. That day the underground springs split open. And the clouds in the sky poured out rain. 12 The rain fell on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.
13 On that same day Noah and his wife, his sons Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives went into the boat. 14 They had every kind of wild animal and tame animal. There was every kind of animal that crawls on the earth. Every kind of bird was there. 15 They all came to Noah in the boat in groups of two. There was every creature that had the breath of life. 16 One male and one female of every living thing came. It was just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind them.
17 Water flooded the earth for 40 days. As the water rose, it lifted the boat off the ground. 18 The water continued to rise, and the boat floated on the water above the earth. 19 The water rose so much that even the highest mountains under the sky were covered by it. 20 The water continued to rise until it was more than 20 feet above the mountains.
21 All living things that moved on the earth died. This included all the birds, tame animals, wild animals and creatures that swarm on the earth. And all human beings died. 22 So everything on dry land died. This means everything that had the breath of life in its nose. 23 So God destroyed from the earth every living thing that was on the land. This was every man, animal, crawling thing and bird of the sky. All that was left was Noah and what was with him in the boat. 24 And the waters continued to cover the earth for 150 days.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.