Old/New Testament

10 And these are the genealogical records of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.

² Japheth’s sons were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras. ³ Gomer’s sons were Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah. ⁴ Javan’s sons were Elishah and Tarshish, Kittites and Dodanites. ⁵ From these the coastlands of the nations spread out in their lands, each one according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.

⁶ Ham’s sons were Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan. ⁷ Cush’s sons were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. And Raamah’s sons were Sheba, and Dedan.

⁸ Now Cush fathered Nimrod. He started to become mighty in the land. ⁹ He was a mighty hunter before Adonai. This is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before Adonai.” ¹⁰ The beginning of his kingdom included Babel, Erech, Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. ¹¹ From that land he went out to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rechovot-ir, Calah ¹² and Resen, between Nineveh and Calah—it is the great city.

¹³ Mizraim fathered the Ludites, the Anamites, the Lehabites, the Naphtuhites, ¹⁴ the Pathrusites, the Casluhites—from whom came the Philistines—and the Caphtorites.

¹⁵ Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn, Heth, ¹⁶ the Jebusite, the Amorite, the Girgashite, ¹⁷ the Hivite, the Arkite, the Sinite, ¹⁸ the Arvadite, the Zemarite and the Hamathite—and afterwards, the Canaanite families were scattered. ¹⁹ Now the Canaanite border was from Zidon, as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

²⁰ These are Ham’s sons according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, in their nations.

²¹ Sons were also born to Shem, who was Japheth’s older brother and the father of all the sons of Eber. ²² Shem’s sons were Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud and Aram. ²³ Aram’s sons were Uz, Hul, Gether and Mash. ²⁴ Arpachshad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber. ²⁵ Two sons were born to Eber. The name of the first was Peleg—because in his days the land was divided—and his brother’s name was Joktan. ²⁶ Joktan fathered Elmodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²⁷ Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ²⁸ Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ²⁹ Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All of these are Joktan’s sons. ³⁰ Their dwelling place was from Mesha till you come toward Sephar, the eastern hill country. ³¹ These are Shem’s sons, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations.

³² These are the families of the sons of Noah according to their genealogies in their nations, and from these the nations were dispersed on the earth after the flood.

Tower of Babel

11 Now the entire earth had the same language with the same vocabulary. ² When they traveled eastward, they found a valley-plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. ³ They said to one another, “Come! Let’s make bricks and bake them until they’re hard.” So they used bricks for stone, and tar for mortar.

⁴ Then they said, “Come! Let’s build ourselves a city, with a tower whose top reaches into heaven. So let’s make a name for ourselves, or else we will be scattered over the face of the whole land.”

⁵ Then Adonai came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of man had built. ⁶ Adonai said, “Look, the people are one and all of them have the same language. So this is what they have begun to do. Now, nothing they plan to do will be impossible. ⁷ Come! Let Us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand each other’s language.”

⁸ So Adonai scattered them from there over the face of the entire land, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ This is why it is named Babel, because Adonai confused the languages of the entire world there, and from there Adonai scattered them over the face of the entire world.

From Shem to Abram

¹⁰ These are the genealogical records of Shem: Shem was 100 years old when he fathered Arpachshad—two years after the flood. ¹¹ Shem lived 500 years after he fathered Arpachshad, and he fathered sons and daughters. ¹² Arpachshad lived 35 years when he fathered Shelah. ¹³ Arpachshad lived 403 years after he fathered Shelah, and fathered sons and daughters. ¹⁴ Shelah lived 30 years and he fathered Eber. ¹⁵ Shelah lived 403 years after he fathered Eber, and fathered sons and daughters. ¹⁶ Eber lived 34 years and he fathered Peleg. ¹⁷ Eber lived 430 years after he fathered Peleg, and he fathered sons and daughters. ¹⁸ Peleg lived 30 years and he fathered Reu. ¹⁹ Peleg lived 209 years after he fathered Reu, and he fathered sons and daughters. ²⁰ Reu lived 32 years and he fathered Serug. ²¹ Reu lived 207 years after he fathered Serug, and he fathered sons and daughters. ²² Serug lived 30 years and fathered Nahor. ²³ Serug lived 200 years after he fathered Nahor, and he fathered sons and daughters. ²⁴ Nahor lived 27 years and he fathered Terah. ²⁵ Nahor lived 119 years after he fathered Terah, and he fathered sons and daughters. ²⁶ Terah lived 70 years when he fathered Abram, Nahor and Haran.

²⁷ These are Terah’s genealogies: Terah fathered Abram, Nahor and Haran. Haran fathered Lot. ²⁸ Haran died before Terah his father, in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹ Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah—the daughter of Haran, father of Milcah and Iscah. ³⁰ Sarai was barren; she did not have a child.

³¹ Terah took Abram his son and Lot, Haran’s son, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and he took them out of Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.

³² Terah’s days were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.

Parashat Lech Lecha

Abram Obeys the Calling

12 Then Adonai said to Abram,

“Get going out from your land,

and from your relatives,

and from your father’s house,

to the land that I will show you.

² My heart’s desire is to make you into a great nation, to bless you,

to make your name great so that you may be a blessing.

³ My desire is to bless those who bless you,

but whoever curses you I will curse,^[a]

and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.^[b]

⁴ So Abram went, just as Adonai had spoken to him. Also Lot went with him. (Now Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.) ⁵ Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions that they had acquired, and the people that they acquired in Haran, and they left to go to the land of Canaan, and they entered the land of Canaan. ⁶ Abram passed through the land as far as the place of Shechem, as far as Moreh’s big tree. (The Canaanites were in the land then.)^[c]

⁷ Then Adonai appeared to Abram, and said, “I will give this land to your seed.” So there he built an altar to Adonai, who had appeared to him. ⁸ From there he moved to the mountain to the east of Beth-El and erected his tent (with Beth-El to the west and Ai to the east). There he built an altar to Adonai and called on the Name of Adonai. ⁹ So Abram kept on journeying southward.^[d]

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

¹⁰ Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live as an outsider there, because the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹ Just as he was about to enter Egypt he said to Sarai his wife, “Look, please, I know that you are an attractive woman. ¹² So when the Egyptians see you they’ll say, ‘This is his wife.’ And they’ll kill me; but you, they’ll let live. ¹³ Please say that you are my sister, so that I’ll be treated well for your sake, and my life will be spared because of you.”

¹⁴ When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians did see that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ Indeed, Pharaoh’s officials saw her and they raved about her to Pharaoh. Then the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶ But Abram was treated well for her sake, and he got sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male and female slaves, female donkeys and camels.

¹⁷ But Adonai struck Pharaoh and his household with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸ So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What’s this that you did to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she is your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take—and go!” ²⁰ Then Pharaoh instructed men concerning him, and they expelled him, with his wife, and everything that belonged to him.

Overcoming Temptation with God’s Word

4 Then Yeshua was led by the Ruach into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² After He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. ³ And when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are Ben-Elohim, tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴ But He replied, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”^[a]

⁵ Then the devil took Him into the holy city and placed Him on the highest point of the Temple. ⁶ “If You are Ben-Elohim,” he said, “throw Yourself down. For it is written,

⁷ Yeshua said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put Adonai your God to the test.’”^[d]

⁸ Again, the devil takes Him to a very high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Then Yeshua says to him, “Go away, satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship Adonai your God, and Him only shall you serve.’” ^{[e] 11} Then the devil leaves Him. And behold, angels came and began to take care of Him.

Yeshua Withdraws to Seek God

¹² Now when Yeshua heard that John had been handed over, He withdrew to the Galilee. ¹³ Leaving Natzeret, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴ This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,

¹⁷ From then on, Yeshua began to proclaim, “Turn away from your sins, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Raising Up Fishers of Men

¹⁸ Now as Yeshua was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter and Andrew his brother. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

²¹ Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, Jacob the son of Zebedee and John his brother. They were in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and He called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.

²³ Yeshua was going throughout all the Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness among the people. ²⁴ News about Him spread throughout all Syria. And they brought to Him all the sick—those tormented by various diseases and afflictions, those plagued by demons, the epileptics, the paralyzed—and He healed them. ²⁵ And large crowds followed Him from the Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.