Bible in 90 Days

The Creation

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth— ² Now^[a] the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. ³ And God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light. ⁴ And God saw the light, that it was good, and God caused there to be a separation between the light and between the darkness. ⁵ And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

⁶ And God said, “Let there be a vaulted dome^[b] in the midst of the waters, and let it cause a separation between the waters.”^{[c] 7} So^[d] God made the vaulted dome,^[e] and he caused a separation between the waters which were under the vaulted dome^[f] and between the waters which were over the vaulted dome.^[g] And it was so. ⁸ And God called the vaulted dome^[h] “heaven.”^[i] And there was evening, and there was morning, a second day.

⁹ And God said, “Let the waters under heaven^[j] be gathered to one place, and let the dry ground appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ And God called the dry ground “earth,” and he called the collection of the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good. ¹¹ And God said, “Let the earth produce green plants that will bear seed—fruit trees bearing fruit in which there is seed^[k]—according to its^[l] kind, on the earth.” And it was so. ¹² And the earth brought forth green plants bearing seed according to its^[m] kind, and trees bearing fruit in which there was seed^[n] according to its^[o] kind. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights^[p] in the vaulted dome^[q] of heaven^[r] to separate day from night,^[s] and let them be as signs and for appointed times, and for days and years, ¹⁵ and they shall be as lights^[t] in the vaulted dome^[u] of heaven^[v] to give light on the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ And God made two lights,^[w] the greater light^[x] to rule^[y] the day and the smaller light^[z] to rule^[aa] the night, and the stars. ¹⁷ And God placed them in the vaulted dome^[ab] of heaven^[ac] to give light on the earth ¹⁸ and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate light from darkness.^[ad] And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

²⁰ And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly over the earth across the face of the vaulted dome^[ae] of heaven.^{[af] 21} So^[ag] God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kind, and every bird with wings according to its^[ah] kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.

²⁴ And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kind: cattle and moving things, and wild animals^[ai] according to their kind.” And it was so. ²⁵ So^[aj] God made wild animals^[ak] according to their kind and the cattle according to their kind, and every creeping thing of the earth according to its^[al] kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶ And God said, “Let us make humankind in^[am] our image and according to^[an] our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of heaven,^[ao] and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every moving thing that moves upon the earth.” ²⁷ So^[ap] God created humankind in^[aq] his image, in^[ar] the likeness of God he created him,^[as] male and female he created them. ²⁸ And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven,^[at] and over every animal that moves upon the earth.”

²⁹ And God said, “Look—I am giving to you every plant that bears seed which is on the face of the whole earth, and every kind of tree that bears fruit.^[au] They shall be yours as food.” ³⁰ And to every kind of animal of the earth and to every bird of heaven,^[av] and to everything that moves upon the earth in which there is life I am giving every green plant as food.” And it was so. ³¹ And God saw everything that he had made and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day.

2 And heaven^[aw] and earth^[ax] and all their array^[ay] were finished. ² And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. ³ And God blessed the seventh day, and he sanctified^[az] it, because on it he rested from all his work of creating that there was to do.^[ba]

The Generations of Heaven and Earth

⁴ These are the generations^[bb] of heaven^[bc] and earth^[bd] when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made earth and heaven^[be]— ⁵ before any plant of the field was^[bf] on earth, and before any plant of the field^[bg] had sprung up, because Yahweh God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no human being to cultivate the ground, ⁶ but a stream would rise from the earth and water the whole face of the ground— ⁷ when^[bh] Yahweh God formed the man^[bi] of dust from the ground, and he blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

⁸ And Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he put the man^[bj] whom he had formed. ⁹ And Yahweh God caused to grow every tree that was pleasing to the sight and good for food. And the tree of life was in the midst of the garden, along with^[bk] the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰ Now^[bl] a river flowed out from Eden that watered the garden, and from there it diverged and became four branches. ¹¹ The name of the first is the Pishon. It went around all the land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² (The gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stones are there.) ¹³ And the name of the second is Gihon. It went around all the land of Cush. ¹⁴ And the name of the third is Tigris. It flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵ And Yahweh God took the man^[bm] and set him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it. ¹⁶ And Yahweh God commanded the man,^[bn] saying, “From every tree of the garden you may freely eat,^{[bo] 17} but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat^[bp] from it you shall surely die.”^[bq]

¹⁸ Then^[br] Yahweh God said, “it is not good that the man^[bs] is alone. I will make for him a helper as his counterpart.”^{[bt] 19} And out of the ground Yahweh God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky,^[bu] and he brought each to the man^[bv] to see what he would call it. And whatever the man^[bw] called that living creature was its name. ²⁰ And the man^[bx] gave names^[by] to every domesticated animal and to the birds of heaven^[bz] and to all the wild animals.^[ca] But for the man there was not found a helper as his counterpart.^{[cb] 21} And Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man.^[cc] While^[cd] he slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh where it had been.^{[ce] 22} And Yahweh God fashioned the rib which he had taken from the man^[cf] into a woman and brought her to the man.^{[cg] 23} And the man^[ch] said,

²⁴ Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife, and they shall be as one flesh. ²⁵ And the man^[cl] and his wife, both of them, were naked, and they were not ashamed.

The Fall

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal^[cm] which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God indeed say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” ² The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, ³ but from the tree that is in the midst of the garden, God said, ‘You shall not eat from it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die’.” ⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, “You shall not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that on the day you both eat from it, then your eyes will be opened and you both shall be like gods,^[cn] knowing good and evil.” ⁶ When^[co] the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was desirable to make one wise, then^[cp] she took from its fruit and she ate. And she gave it also to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then^[cq] the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed together fig leaves and they made for themselves coverings.

⁸ Then^[cr] they heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden at the windy time of day.^[cs] And the man^[ct] and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ And Yahweh God called to the man^[cu] and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ And he replied,^[cv] “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I am naked, so I hid myself.” ¹¹ Then he^[cw] asked,^[cx] “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I forbade you to eat?”^{[cy] 12} And the man^[cz] replied,^[da] “The woman whom you gave to be with me—she gave to me from the tree and I ate.” ¹³ Then^[db] Yahweh God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” ¹⁴ Then^[dc] Yahweh God said to the serpent,

¹⁶ To the woman he said,

¹⁷ And to Adam^[dh] he said, “Because you listened to the voice of your wife and you ate from the tree from which I forbade you to eat,^[di]

²⁰ And the man^[dk] named^[dl] his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all life. ²¹ And Yahweh God made for Adam^[dm] and for his wife garments of skin, and he clothed them.

²² And Yahweh God said, “Look—the man has become as one of us, to know good and evil. What if^[dn] he stretches out his hand and takes also from the tree of life and eats, and lives forever?” ²³ And Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ So^[do] he drove the man out, and placed cherubim east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming, turning sword^[dp] to guard the way to the tree of life.

Cain and Abel

4 Now Adam knew^[dq] Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain. And she said, “I have given birth to a man with the help of Yahweh.” ² Then she bore^[dr] his brother Abel. And Abel became a keeper of sheep, and Cain became a tiller of the ground. ³ And in the course of time^[ds] Cain brought an offering from the fruit of the ground to Yahweh, ⁴ and Abel also brought an offering from the choicest firstlings of his flock.^[dt] And Yahweh looked with favor to Abel and to his offering, ⁵ but to Cain and to his offering he did not look with favor. And Cain became very angry, and his face fell. ⁶ And Yahweh said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your face fallen? ⁷ If you do well will I not accept you?^[du] But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. And its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

⁸ Then^[dv] Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out into the field.”^[dw] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. ⁹ Then^[dx] Yahweh said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰ And he said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground. ¹¹ So now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive the blood of your brother from your hand. ¹² When you till the ground it shall no longer yield its strength to you.^[dy] You shall be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth.” ¹³ And Cain said to Yahweh, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. ¹⁴ Look, you have driven me out today from the face of the ground, and from your face I must hide. I will be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth, and it will happen that whoever finds me will kill me.” ¹⁵ Then^[dz] Yahweh said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain will be avenged sevenfold.” Then^[ea] Yahweh put a sign on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. ¹⁶ And Cain went out from the presence of Yahweh, and he settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

¹⁷ And Cain knew^[eb] his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. And when he built a city he named the city after his son, Enoch.^{[ec] 18} And to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. ¹⁹ And Lamech took to himself two wives.^[ed] The name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. ²⁰ And Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and those who have livestock. ²¹ And the name of his brother was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and wind instruments. ²² Then^[ee] Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain who forged all kinds of tools of bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

²³ Then^[ef] Lamech said to his wives,

²⁵ Then^[eg] Adam knew^[eh] his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. And she called his name Seth, for she said “God has appointed to me another child in the place of Abel, because Cain killed him.” ²⁶ And as for Seth, he also fathered a son, and he called his name Enosh. At that time he^[ei] began to call on the name of Yahweh.

Adam’s Descendants to Noah

5 This is the record of the generations^[ej] of Adam. When^[ek] God created Adam,^[el] he made him in the likeness of God. ² Male and female he created them. And he blessed them. And he called their name “Humankind” when^[em] they were created. ³ And when Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he fathered a child in his likeness, according to his image. And he called his name Seth. ⁴ And the days of Adam after he fathered Seth were eight hundred years. And he fathered sons and daughters. ⁵ And all the days of Adam which he lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.

⁶ When^[en] Seth had lived one hundred and five years, he fathered Enosh. ⁷ And after Seth had fathered Enosh he lived eight hundred and seven years, and fathered sons and daughters. ⁸ And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.

⁹ When^[eo] Enosh lived ninety years, he fathered Kenan. ¹⁰ And after Enosh fathered Kenan he lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and fathered sons and daughters. ¹¹ And all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, and he died.

¹² When^[ep] Kenan had lived seventy years, he fathered Mahalalel. ¹³ And after Kenan had fathered Mahalalel, he lived eight hundred and forty years, and fathered sons and daughters. ¹⁴ And all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.

¹⁵ When^[eq] Mahalalel had lived sixty-five years, he fathered Jared. ¹⁶ And after Mahalalel had fathered Jared, he lived eight hundred and thirty years, and fathered sons and daughters. ¹⁷ And all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.

¹⁸ When^[er] Jared had lived one hundred and sixty-two years, he fathered Enoch. ¹⁹ And after Jared had fathered Enoch, he lived eight hundred years, and fathered sons and daughters. ²⁰ And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died.

²¹ When^[es] Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he fathered Methuselah. ²² And Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah three hundred years, and fathered sons and daughters. ²³ And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. ²⁴ And Enoch walked with God, and he was no more, for God took him.

²⁵ When^[et] Methuselah had lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, he fathered Lamech. ²⁶ And after Methuselah had fathered Lamech, he lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and fathered sons and daughters. ²⁷ And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died.

²⁸ When^[eu] Lamech had lived one hundred and eighty-two years, he fathered a son. ²⁹ And he called his name Noah, saying, “This one shall relieve us^[ev] from our work, and from the hard labor of our hands, from the ground which Yahweh had cursed. ³⁰ And after Lamech had fathered Noah he lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and he fathered sons and daughters. ³¹ All the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died.

³² When^[ew] Noah was five hundred years old,^[ex] Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Prelude to the Flood

6 And it happened that, when humankind began to multiply on the face of the ground, daughters were born to them. ² Then^[ey] the sons of God saw the daughters of humankind, that they were beautiful. And they took for themselves wives from all that they chose. ³ And Yahweh said, “My Spirit shall not abide with humankind forever in that he is also flesh. And his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” ⁴ The Nephilim were upon the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God went into the daughters of humankind, and they bore children to them.

⁵ And Yahweh saw that the evil of humankind was great upon the earth, and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was always^[ez] only evil. ⁶ And Yahweh regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was grieved in his heart.^{[fa] 7} And Yahweh said, “I will destroy humankind whom I created from upon the face of the earth, from humankind, to animals, to creeping things, and to the birds of heaven,^[fb] for I regret that I have made them.” ⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of Yahweh.

⁹ These are the generations^[fc] of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, without defect in his generations. Noah walked with God. ¹⁰ And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. ¹¹ And the earth was corrupted before God, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹² And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth. ¹³ And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth was filled with violence because of them. Now, look, I am going to destroy them along with the earth. ¹⁴ Make for yourself an ark of cypress wood; you must make the ark with rooms, then^[fd] you must cover it with pitch, inside and outside. ¹⁵ And this is how you must make it: the length of the ark, three hundred cubits; its width fifty cubits; its height, thirty cubits. ¹⁶ You must make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above.^[fe] And as for the door of the ark, you must put it in its side. You must make it with a lower, second, and a third deck.

¹⁷ And I, behold, I am about to bring the flood waters over the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under the heaven;^[ff] everything that is on the earth shall perish. ¹⁸ And I will establish my covenant with you, and you must go into the ark—you, and your sons, and your wife, and the wives of your sons with you. ¹⁹ And of every living thing, from all flesh, you must bring two from every kind into the ark to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. ²⁰ From the birds according to their^[fg] kind, and from the animals according to their^[fh] kind, from every creeping thing on the ground according to its^[fi] kind—two from every kind shall come to you to keep them alive. ²¹ And as for you, take for yourself from every kind of food that is eaten. And you must gather it to yourself. And it shall be for you and for them for food.” ²² And Noah did according to all that God commanded him; thus he did.

7 Then^[fj] Yahweh said to Noah, “Go—you and all your household—into the ark, for I have seen you are righteous before me in this generation. ² From all the clean animals you must take for yourself seven pairs,^[fk] a male and its mate. And from the animals that are not clean you must take two, a male and its mate, ³ as well as from the birds of heaven^[fl] seven pairs,^[fm] male and female, to keep their kind alive^[fn] on the face of the earth. ⁴ For within seven days^[fo] I will send rain upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. And I will blot out all the living creatures that I have made from upon the face of the ground.” ⁵ And Noah did according to all that Yahweh commanded him.

The Flood

⁶ Noah was six hundred years old^[fp] when^[fq] the flood waters came upon the earth. ⁷ And Noah and his sons and his wife, and the wives of his sons with him, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. ⁸ Of clean animals, and of animals which are not clean, and of the birds, and everything that creeps upon the ground, ⁹ two of each^[fr] went to Noah, into the ark, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰ And it happened that after seven days the waters of the flood came over the earth. ¹¹ In the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month—on that day all the springs of the great deep were split open, and the windows of heaven were opened. ¹² And the rain came upon the earth forty days and forty nights. ¹³ On this same day, Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and the wife of Noah and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark, ¹⁴ they and all the living creatures according to their^[fs] kind, and all the domesticated animals according to their^[ft] kind, and all the creatures that creep upon the earth according to their^[fu] kind, all the birds according to their^[fv] kind, every winged creature. ¹⁵ And they came to Noah to the ark, two of each,^[fw] from every living thing in which was the breath of life. ¹⁶ And those that came, male and female, of every living thing, came as God had commanded him. And Yahweh shut the door behind him. ¹⁷ And the flood came forty days and forty nights upon the earth. And the waters increased, and lifted the ark, and it rose up from the earth. ¹⁸ And the waters prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth. And the ark went upon the surface^[fx] of the waters. ¹⁹ And the waters prevailed overwhelmingly^[fy] upon the earth, and they covered all the high mountains which were under the entire heaven.^{[fz] 20} The waters swelled fifteen cubits above the mountains, covering them.^{[ga] 21} And every living thing that moved on the earth perished—the birds, and the domesticated animals, and the wild animals, and everything that swarmed on the earth, and all humankind. ²² Everything in whose nostrils was the breath of life,^[gb] among all that was on dry land, died. ²³ And he^[gc] blotted out every living thing upon the surface of the ground, from humankind, to animals, to creeping things, and to the birds of heaven;^[gd] they were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained. ²⁴ And the waters prevailed over the earth one hundred and fifty days.

The Flood Subsides

8 And God remembered Noah and all the wild animals, and all the domesticated animals that were with him in the ark. And God caused a wind to blow^[ge] over the earth, and the waters subsided. ² And the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens^[gf] were closed, and the rain from the heavens^[gg] was restrained. ³ And the waters receded from the earth gradually,^[gh] and the waters abated at the end of one hundred and fifty days. ⁴ And the ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. ⁵ And the waters continued to recede^[gi] to the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared. ⁶ And it happened that at the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made. ⁷ And he sent out a^[gj] raven;^[gk] it went to and fro^[gl] until the waters were dried up from upon the earth. ⁸ And he sent out a^[gm] dove^[gn] to see whether the waters had subsided from upon the ground. ⁹ But the dove did not find a resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned to him into the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the earth. And he stretched out his hand and took her, and brought her to himself into the ark. ¹⁰ And he waited another seven days, and again he sent out^[go] the dove from the ark. ¹¹ And the dove came to him in the evening,^[gp] and behold, a freshly-picked olive tree leaf was in her mouth. And Noah knew that the waters had subsided from upon the earth. ¹² And he waited seven more days,^[gq] and he sent out the dove. But it did not return again to him. ¹³ And it happened that, in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the waters dried up from upon the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked. And behold, the face of the ground was dried up. ¹⁴ And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. ¹⁵ And God spoke to Noah, saying: ¹⁶ “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁷ Bring out with you all the living things which are with you, from all the living creatures—birds, and animals, and everything that creeps on the earth, and let them swarm on the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” ¹⁸ So^[gr] Noah went out, with^[gs] his sons and his wife, and the wives of his sons with him. ¹⁹ Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, and everything that moves upon the earth, according to its families, went out from the ark. ²⁰ And Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and he took from all the clean animals and from all the clean birds, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹ And Yahweh smelled the soothing fragrance, and Yahweh said to himself,^[gt] “Never again will I curse^[gu] the ground for the sake of humankind, because the inclination of the heart of humankind is evil from his youth. Nor will I ever again destroy^[gv] all life as I have done. ²² As long as the earth endures,^[gw] seed and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will not cease.

God’s Covenant with Noah and Humankind

9 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. ² And fear of you and dread of you shall be upon every animal of the earth, and on every bird of heaven,^[gx] and on everything that moves upon the ground, and on all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they shall be given. ³ Every moving thing that lives shall be for you as food. As I gave the green plants to you, I have now given you everything. ⁴ Only you shall not eat raw flesh with blood in it.^{[gy] 5} And^[gz] your lifeblood^[ha] I will require; from every animal^[hb] I will require it. And from the hand of humankind, from the hand of each man to his brother I will require the life of humankind.

⁷ “And you, be fruitful and multiply, swarm on the earth and multiply in it.” ⁸ And God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ⁹ “As for me, behold, I am establishing my covenant with you and with your seed after you, ¹⁰ and with every living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and every animal of the earth with you, from all that came out of the ark to all the animals of the earth. ¹¹ I am establishing my covenant with you, that never again will all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, nor will there ever be a flood that destroys the earth.” ¹² And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I am making between me and you, and between every living creature that is with you for future generations. ¹³ My bow I have set in the clouds, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between me and between the earth. ¹⁴ And when I make clouds appear over the earth the bow shall be seen in the clouds. ¹⁵ Then^[hc] I will remember my covenant that is between me and you, and between every living creature, with all flesh. And the waters of a flood will never again cause the destruction^[hd] of all flesh. ¹⁶ The bow shall be in the clouds, and I will see it, so as to remember the everlasting covenant between God and between every living creature, with all flesh that is upon the earth.” ¹⁷ And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am establishing between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

Noah’s Descendants

¹⁸ Now^[he] the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) ¹⁹ These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.^{[hf] 20} And Noah began to be a man of the ground, and he planted a vineyard. ²¹ And he drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he exposed himself in the midst of his tent. ²² And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and he told his two brothers outside. ²³ Then^[hg] Shem and Japheth took a garment, and the two of them put it on their shoulders and, walking backward, they covered the nakedness of their father. And their faces were turned backward, so that^[hh] they did not see the nakedness of their father. ²⁴ Then^[hi] Noah awoke from his drunkenness,^[hj] and he knew what his youngest son had done to him. ²⁵ And he said,

²⁶ Then^[hk] he said,

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

The Descendants of the Sons of Noah

10 These are the generations^[hl] of the sons of Noah—Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Children^[hm] were born to them after the flood. ² The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. ³ And the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. ⁴ And the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. ⁵ From these the coastland peoples spread out through their lands, each according to his own language by their own families, in their nations.

⁶ And the sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. ⁷ And the sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. ⁸ And Cush fathered Nimrod. He was the first on earth to be a mighty warrior.^{[hn] 9} He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh. Therefore it was said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Yahweh.” ¹⁰ Now,^[ho] the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. ¹¹ From that land he went out to Assyria, and he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, ¹² Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. ¹³ And Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, ¹⁴ Pathrusim, and Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim.

¹⁵ Canaan fathered Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth, ¹⁶ and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, ¹⁷ the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, ¹⁸ the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were spread abroad. ¹⁹ And the territory of the Canaanites was from Sidon in the direction of^[hp] Gerar as far as Gaza, and in the direction of^[hq] Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. ²⁰ These are the descendants^[hr] of Ham, according to their families and their languages, in their lands, and in their nations.

²¹ And to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the older brother of Japheth, children were also born. ²² The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. ²³ And the sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. ²⁴ And Arphaxad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber. ²⁵ And to Eber two sons were born. The name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and the name of his brother was Joktan. ²⁶ And Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²⁷ Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ²⁸ Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ²⁹ Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. ³⁰ And their dwelling place extended from^[hs] Mesha in the direction of^[ht] Sephar to the hill country of the east. ³¹ These are the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, and according to their nations.

³² These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations^[hu] and in their nations. And from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.

The Tower of Babel

11 Now^[hv] the whole earth had one language and the same words. ² And as people migrated^[hw] from the east they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. ³ And they said to each other,^[hx] “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.”^[hy] And they had brick for stone and they had tar for mortar. ⁴ And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top reaches to the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

⁵ Then^[hz] Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower that humankind^[ia] was building. ⁶ And Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people with one language,^[ib] and this is only the beginning of what they will do.^[ic] So^[id] now nothing that they intend to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand each other’s language.”^{[ie] 8} So Yahweh scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ Therefore its name was called Babel, for there Yahweh confused the language of the whole earth, and there Yahweh scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

The Descendants of Shem

¹⁰ These are the generations^[if] of Shem. When Shem was one hundred years old,^[ig] he fathered Arphaxad, two years after the flood. ¹¹ And Shem lived five hundred years after he fathered Arphaxad, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹² When Arphaxad had lived thirty-five years, he fathered Shelah. ¹³ And Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years after he fathered Shelah, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁴ When Shelah had lived thirty years, he fathered Eber. ¹⁵ And Shelah lived four hundred and three years after he fathered Eber, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁶ When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he fathered Peleg. ¹⁷ And Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after he fathered Peleg, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁸ When Peleg had lived thirty years, he fathered Reu. ¹⁹ And Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after he fathered Reu, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁰ When Reu had lived thirty-two years, he fathered Serug. ²¹ And Reu lived two hundred and seven years after he fathered Serug, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²² When Serug had lived thirty years, he fathered Nahor. ²³ And Serug lived two hundred years after he fathered Nahor, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁴ When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he fathered Terah. ²⁵ And Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years after he fathered Terah, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁶ When Terah had lived seventy years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

The Descendants of Terah

²⁷ Now^[ih] these are the generations^[ii] of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot. ²⁸ And Haran died in the presence of Terah his father in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹ And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of the wife of Abram was Sarai, and the name of the wife of Nahor was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. ³⁰ And Sarai was barren; she had no child. ³¹ And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his grandson,^[ij] and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of Abram his son, and went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. And they went to Haran, and they settled there. ³² And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

The Call of Abram

12 And Yahweh said to Abram, “Go out from your land and from your relatives, and from the house of your father, to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great. And you will be a blessing. ³ And I will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you I will curse. And all families of the earth will be blessed in you.”

Abram’s Journey

⁴ And Abram went out as Yahweh had told him, and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old^[ik] when he went out from Haran. ⁵ And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his nephew,^[il] and all their possessions that they had gathered, and all the persons that they had acquired in Haran, and they went out to go to the land of Canaan. And they went to the land of Canaan. ⁶ And Abram traveled through the land up to the place of Shechem, to the Oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time. ⁷ And Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” And he built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him. ⁸ And he moved on from there to the hill country, east of Bethel. And he pitched his tent at Bethel on the west, and at Ai on the east. And he built an altar there to Yahweh. And he called on the name of Yahweh. ⁹ And Abram kept moving on,^[im] toward the Negev. ¹⁰ And there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down to Egypt to dwell as an alien there, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹ And it happened that as he drew near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “Look now, I know that you are a woman beautiful of appearance, ¹² and it shall happen that, if the Egyptians see you, then they will say, ‘This is his wife,’ then they will kill me but let you live. ¹³ Please say you are my sister so that it will go well for me on your account. Then I will live^[in] on account of you.” ¹⁴ And it happened that as Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. ¹⁵ And the officials of Pharaoh saw her, and they praised her beauty to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to the house of Pharaoh. ¹⁶ And he dealt well with Abram on account of her, and he had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. ¹⁷ Then^[io] Yahweh afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues on account of the matter of Sarai the wife of Abram. ¹⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to myself as a wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go.” ²⁰ And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and then sent him and his wife and all that was with him away.

The Parting of Abram and Lot

13 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that was with him. And Lot went with him to the Negev. ² Now Abram was very wealthy in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³ And he went according to his journey from the Negev, then to Bethel, to the place where his tent was at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to the place where he had made an altar at the beginning. And Abram called on the name of Yahweh there. ⁵ And Lot, who went with Abram, also had herds and tents. ⁶ And the land could not support them^[ip] so as to live together, because their possessions were so many that^[iq] they were not able to live together. ⁷ And there was a quarrel between the herdsmen of the livestock of Abram and the herdsmen of the livestock of Lot. Now at that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land. ⁸ Then Abram said to Lot, “Please, let there not be quarreling between me and you, and between my shepherds and your shepherds, for we men are brothers. ⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you want what is on the left, then I will go right; if you want what is on the right, I will go left.” ¹⁰ And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw the whole plain of the Jordan, that all of it was well-watered land—this was before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt in the direction of^[ir] Zoar. ¹¹ So^[is] Lot chose for himself all the plain of the Jordan. And Lot journeyed from the east, and so they separated from each other.^{[it] 12} Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled in the cities of the plain. And he pitched his tent toward Sodom. ¹³ Now the men of Sodom were extremely wicked sinners against Yahweh.^{[iu] 14} And Yahweh said to Abram after Lot had separated from him, “Now, lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are to the north, and to the south, and to the east and to the west, ¹⁵ for all the land which you see I will give to you, and to your descendants, forever. ¹⁶ I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth which, if anyone were able to count the dust of the earth, your descendants would be so counted. ¹⁷ Arise, go through the length of the land and through its breadth, for I will give it to you.” ¹⁸ So^[iv] Abram pitched his tent, and he came and settled at the oaks of Mamre, which were at Hebron. And there he built an altar to Yahweh.

Abram Rescues Lot

14 And it happened that in the days of Amraphel, the king of Shinar, Arioch, the king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer, the king of Elam, and Tidal, the king of Goiim, ² made war with Bera, the king of Sodom, and Birsha, the king of Gomorrah, Shinab, the king of Admah, and Shemeber, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). ³ All these joined forces at the valley of Siddim (that is, the sea of the salt). ⁴ Twelve years they had served Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵ In the fourteenth year Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-Kiriathaim, ⁶ And the Horites in their hill country of Seir, as far as El-Paran, which is at the wilderness. ⁷ Then^[iw] they turned back and came to En-Mishpat (that is, Kadesh). And they defeated the whole territory of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were living in Hazazon-Tamar. ⁸ Then^[ix] the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they took up battle position^[iy] in the Valley of Siddim ⁹ with Kedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim, and Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Ellasar, four kings against five. ¹⁰ Now^[iz] the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits.^[ja] And the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell into them,^[jb] but the rest fled to the mountains. ¹¹ So^[jc] they^[jd] took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions, and they left. ¹² And they^[je] took Lot, the son of the brother of Abram, and his possessions, and left. (Now he had been living in Sodom.) ¹³ Then^[jf] one who escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew. And he was living at the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner. They were allies with Abram.^{[jg] 14} When^[jh] Abram heard that his relative^[ji] was taken captive, he summoned his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen of them, and he went in pursuit up to Dan. ¹⁵ And he divided his trained men against them at night, he and his servants. And he defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, which is north of Damascus. ¹⁶ And he brought back all the possessions. And he also brought back Lot, his relative,^[jj] and his possessions, and the women and the people as well.

Abram Meets Melchizedek

¹⁷ After his return from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the Valley of the King). ¹⁸ And Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. (He was the priest of God Most High). ¹⁹ And he blessed him and said,

And he^[jk] gave to him a tenth of everything. ²¹ And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, but the possessions take for yourself.” ²² And Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth, ²³ that neither a thread nor^[jl] a thong of a sandal would I take from all that belongs to you, that you might not say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ ²⁴ Nothing besides what^[jm] the servants have eaten and the share of the men who went out with me will I take. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”

Yahweh’s Covenant with Abram

15 After these things the word of Yahweh came^[jn] to Abram in a vision, saying: “Do not be afraid, Abram; I am your shield, and your reward shall be very great.” ² Then^[jo] Abram said, “O Yahweh, my Lord, what will you give me? I continue to be^[jp] childless, and my heir^[jq] is Eliezer of Damascus.” ³ And Abram said, “Look, you have not given me a descendant, and here, a member of my household^[jr] is my heir.”^{[js] 4} And behold, the word of Yahweh came to him saying, “This person will not be your heir,^[jt] but your own son will be your heir.”^{[ju] 5} And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward the heavens and count the stars if you are able to count them.” And he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” ⁶ And he believed in Yahweh, and he reckoned it to him as righteousness. ⁷ And he said to him, “I am Yahweh, who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give this land to you, to possess it.” ⁸ And he said, “O Yahweh God, how shall I know that I will possess it?” ⁹ And he said to him, “Take for me a three-year-old heifer, and a three-year-old female goat, and a three-year-old ram, and a turtledove and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰ And he took for him all these and cut them in pieces down the middle. And he put each piece opposite the other,^[jv] but the birds he did not cut. ¹¹ And the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. ¹² And it happened, as the sun went down,^[jw] then a deep sleep fell upon Abram and, behold, a great terrifying darkness fell upon him. ¹³ And he said to Abram, “You must surely know^[jx] that your descendants shall be as aliens in a land not their own.^[jy] And they shall serve them^[jz] and they^[ka] shall oppress them four hundred years. ¹⁴ And also the nation that they^[kb] serve I will judge. Then^[kc] afterward they shall go out with great possessions. ¹⁵ And as for you, you shall go to your ancestors^[kd] in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. ¹⁶ And the fourth generation shall return here, for the guilt of the Amorites is not yet complete.”^{[ke] 17} And after the sun had gone down and it was dusk, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between those half pieces. ¹⁸ On that day Yahweh made^[kf] a covenant with Abram saying, “To your offspring I will give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates river, ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Sarai and Hagar

16 Now^[kg] Sarai, the wife of Abram, had borne him no children. And she had a female Egyptian servant, and her name was Hagar. ² And Sarai said to Abram, “Look, please, Yahweh has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my servant; perhaps I will have children by her.”^[kh] And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. ³ Then^[ki] Sarai, the wife of Abram, took Hagar, her Egyptian servant, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband as his wife. ⁴ And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she^[kj] saw that she had conceived, then her mistress grew small in her eyes. ⁵ And Sarai said to Abram, “may my harm be upon you. I had my servant sleep with you,^[kk] and when she saw that she had conceived, she no longer respected me.^[kl] May Yahweh judge between me and you!” ⁶ And Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your servant is under your authority.^[km] Do to her that which is good in your eyes.” And Sarai mistreated her, and she^[kn] fled from her presence.

Hagar and the Angel of Yahweh

⁷ And the angel of Yahweh found her at a spring of water in the wilderness, at the spring by the road of Shur. ⁸ And he said to Hagar, the servant of Sarai, “From where^[ko] have you come, and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of Sarai my mistress.” ⁹ Then^[kp] the angel of Yahweh said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit yourself under her authority.”^{[kq] 10} And the angel of Yahweh said to her, “I will greatly multiply^[kr] your offspring, so that they cannot be counted for their abundance.” ¹¹ And the angel of Yahweh said to her:

¹³ So^[kt] she called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are El-Roi,”^[ku] for she said, “Here I have seen after he who sees me.” ¹⁴ Therefore the well was called Beer-Lahai-Roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. ¹⁵ And Hagar had a child for Abram, a son. And Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore to him, Ishmael. ¹⁶ And Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.