Beginning
The Reign of Sin[a]
Chapter 4
Hostility toward One’s Neighbor.[b] 1 Adam was intimate with Eve his wife and she conceived and bore a son named Cain. She said, “I have obtained a son from the Lord.” 2 Next she bore another child named Abel. Abel was a shepherd of flocks and Cain tilled the soil.
3 Some time later Cain offered the fruit of the earth as a sacrifice to the Lord, 4 and Abel offered the firstborn of his flock and their fat offerings. The Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering, 5 but he was not pleased with Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry and his countenance fell.
6 The Lord therefore said to Cain, “Why are you angry and why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be able to hold up your head? But if you do what is wrong, sin is crouching at your door. It seeks to dominate you, but you can overcome it.”
8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out into the fields.” While they were walking in the fields, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord asked Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?” He answered, “I do not know. Am I to be my brother’s keeper?”
10 The Lord told him, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the soil. 11 Now may you be cursed far from the soil that drank the blood of your brother that you have shed. 12 When you till the soil, it shall not be fruitful for you. You shall be a fugitive and wanderer upon the earth.”
13 Cain told the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear! 14 Behold, you are banishing me from the soil this day. I will have to hide far from you. I will be a fugitive and wanderer upon the earth, and whoever meets me will be able to kill me.” 15 But the Lord told him, “Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.” The Lord placed a mark[c] upon Cain, so that no one who might meet him would strike him.
16 Descendants of the Murderer.[d] Cain left the presence of the Lord and lived in the land of Nod,[e] which lies to the east of Eden.
17 Cain was intimate with his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. He became the founder of a city, which he named after his son, Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad. Irad was the father of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methusael. Methusael was the father of Lamech.
19 Lamech had two wives: one named Adah and the other named Zillah. 20 [f]Adah bore Jabal, who was the forefather of those who live in tents and herd cattle. 21 His brother was named Jubal. He was the forefather of those who play the lyre and the flute. 22 Zillah bore Tubalcain, the forger, and forefather of those who forge things made of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.
23 Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah, listen to my voice;
wives of Lamech, lend an ear to what I say.
I have killed a man for wounding me
and a boy, for bruising me.
24 If Cain received a vengeance of sevenfold,
Lamech will receive one of seventy-sevenfold.”
25 First Stages of the History of Salvation.[g] Adam was once again intimate with his wife, and she bore a son who was named Seth.[h] She said, “God has granted me another child to take the place of Abel whom Cain killed.”
26 Seth also had a son who was named Enosh. It was at this time that people began to call upon the name of the Lord.
Chapter 5
1 This is the book of genealogy for Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God; 2 male and female he created them. He blessed them and named them “human.”
3 Adam was one hundred and thirty years old when he had a son in his likeness, who was named Seth. 4 After he had Seth, Adam lived another eight hundred years and had other sons and daughters. 5 Adam lived for nine hundred and thirty years, and then he died.
6 Seth was one hundred and five years old when he had Enosh. 7 After he had Enosh, he lived another eight hundred and seven years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Seth lived for nine hundred and twelve years, and then he died.
9 Enosh was ninety years old when he had Kenan. 10 After he had Kenan, Enosh lived another eight hundred and fifteen years and had other sons and daughters. 11 Enosh lived for nine hundred and five years, and then he died.
12 Kenan was seventy years old when he had Mahalalel. 13 After he had Mahalalel, he lived another eight hundred and forty years and had other sons and daughters. 14 Kenan lived for nine hundred and ten years, and then he died.
15 Mahalalel was sixty-five years old when he had Jared. 16 After he had Jared, he lived another eight hundred and thirty years and had other sons and daughters. 17 Mahalalel lived for eight hundred and ninety-five years, and then he died.
18 Jared was one hundred and sixty-two years old when he had Enoch. 19 After he had Enoch, he lived another eight hundred years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Jared lived for nine hundred and sixty-two years, and then he died.
21 Enoch was sixty-five years old when he had Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God.[i] After he had Methuselah, he lived another three hundred years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Enoch lived for three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 Enoch then walked with God and was no more for he was with God.
25 Methuselah was one hundred and eighty-seven years old when he had Lamech. 26 After he had Lamech, he lived another seven hundred and eighty-two years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Methuselah lived for nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and then he died.
28 Lamech was one hundred eighty-two years old when he had a son. 29 He named him Noah, saying, “This one shall be a consolation for the work and labor that we must endure because the Lord has cursed the soil.” 30 After he had Noah, Lamech lived another five hundred ninety-five years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Lamech lived for seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and then he died. 32 Noah was five hundred years old when he had Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Death and Resurrection of God’s Work[j]
Chapter 6
Widespread Perversion.[k]1 When men began to multiply upon the earth, and they began to have daughters, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married as many of them as they wanted. 3 The Lord therefore said, “My spirit will not remain in them forever, for they are flesh and the length of their lives will be one hundred and twenty years.”
4 There were giants upon the earth at this time, as well as afterward. They were the children of the sons of God who married the daughters of men. These were the heroes of times past, men of renown.
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of men upon the earth was great, and that every plan that their hearts conceived was nothing but evil. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made man upon the earth and his heart was grieved. 7 The Lord said, “I will obliterate man, whom I created, from the earth. Together with man I will eliminate all the cattle and reptiles and the birds of the air, for I regret having made them.” 8 But Noah found favor with the Lord.
Salvation through the Righteous.[l] 9 This is the story of Noah. Noah was a just and blameless man at that time and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 But the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and filled with violence. 12 God saw that the earth was corrupt, for every person on the earth was perverse in what he did.
13 God therefore said to Noah, “I have decided to end everything, for they have filled the earth with their violence. Behold, I will destroy the entire creation. 14 Build an ark[m] of gopher wood and divide the ark into compartments and caulk it with bitumen inside and out. 15 This is how you shall make it: the ark will be three hundred cubits long, fifty wide, and thirty high. 16 Make a roof on the ark one cubit high.[n] Place a door in the side of the ark. Make it with three decks: lower, middle, and higher.
17 “Behold, I will send a flood. The waters shall cover the earth to destroy the life of everything under the skies that has the breath of life in it. Everything on the earth shall perish. 18 But I will establish a covenant with you.
“Go into the ark, you and your sons, your wife, and the wives of your sons. 19 Bring into the ark two of everything that lives, of all flesh. Bring a male and female of each species into the ark to save them. 20 Bring two birds of each species, two animals of each species, and two reptiles of each species with you to save them. 21 As for you, gather every type of food and take it with you. It shall nourish both you and them.”
22 Noah did all of this, exactly as God had commanded him.
Chapter 7
1 The Lord said to Noah, “Enter into the ark with your entire family, for I have seen that you, of all this generation, are just in my sight. 2 You are to take seven pairs of each type of clean animal with you, male and female. You are to take one pair of each type of unclean animal with you, male and female. 3 You are also to take seven pairs of birds of the air, male and female, with you, so that you may save every species of animal upon the earth. 4 In seven days I will make it begin to rain upon the earth, and it will rain for forty days and forty nights. I will destroy from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”
5 Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him to do.
End of the Sinful World.[o] 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood began and the waters covered the earth. 7 Noah went into the ark with his sons, his wife, and the wives of his sons to escape from the waters of the flood. 8 The clean animals and the unclean animals, the birds, and the creatures that creep on the ground[p] 9 entered the ark two by two, male and female, along with Noah, just as the Lord had commanded. 10 After seven days, the waters of the flood covered the earth; 11 this happened in the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month. On that very day the springs of the great abyss and the floodgates of the heavens opened.[q] 12 The rains fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.
13 That day Noah and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth entered the ark along with the wife of Noah and the three wives of his sons. 14 They entered along with all living creatures according to their kind, all cattle according to their kind, all creeping creatures according to their kind, and all birds according to their kind. 15 They went into the ark with Noah, two by two, every creature that had breath in it. 16 Those that came, male and female of every type of flesh, entered the ark as God had commanded. The Lord closed the door after them.
17 The flood lasted for forty days. The waters rose and lifted the ark off the earth as they increased. 18 The waters continued to swell and increased greatly on the earth until the ark floated upon the waters. 19 The waters rose more and more on the earth and covered all the highest mountains that are under the heavens. 20 The waters were fifteen cubits over the tops of the mountains that they covered.
21 Every living creature that moves upon the earth, every bird, cattle, wild animal, and creature that crawls upon the earth, and every single person on dry land died. 22 Every creature on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died.
23 This is how every living creature on earth was slain, every human being and every animal, every reptile and every bird of the air. They were blotted out of the earth, and only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived.[r]
24 The waters covered the earth for one hundred and fifty days.
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