Old/New Testament

Descendants of Noah

10 These are the records of the generations (descendants) of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and the sons born to them after the flood:

² the sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras; ³ the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah; ⁴ the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. ⁵ From these, [the people of] the coastlands of the nations were separated and spread into their lands, every one ^[a]according to his own language, according to their constituent groups (families), and into their nations:

⁶ the sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim [from whom descended the Egyptians], Put, and Canaan; ⁷ the sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah; Sheba and Dedan. ⁸ Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth. ⁹ He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.” ¹⁰ The beginning of his kingdom was ^[b]Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar [in Babylonia]. ¹¹ From that land Nimrod went to Assyria, and built Nineveh, and Rehoboth-Ir, and Calah, ¹² and [Nimrod built] Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah; all these [combined to form] the great city [Nineveh].^{(A) 13} Mizraim [the ancestor of the Egyptians] became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim ¹⁴ and Pathrusim and Casluhim—from whom came the Philistines—and Caphtorim.

¹⁵ Canaan became the father of Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth ¹⁶ and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite ¹⁷ and the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite ¹⁸ and the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanite were spread abroad. ¹⁹ The territory of the Canaanite extended from Sidon as one goes to Gerar, as far as Gaza; and as one goes to ^[c]Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. ²⁰ These are the descendants of Ham according to their constituent groups, according to their languages, by their lands, and by their nations.

²¹ Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber [including the Hebrews], the ^[d]older brother of Japheth, children were born. ²² The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud and Aram; ²³ the sons of Aram [ancestor of the Syrians]: Uz, Hul, Gether and ^[e]Mash. ²⁴ Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber. ²⁵ Two sons were born to Eber; the name of one was Peleg (division), for [the inhabitants of] the earth were divided in his days; and his brother’s name was Joktan. ²⁶ Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²⁷ and Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ²⁸ and ^[f]Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ²⁹ and Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. ³⁰ Now their territory extended from Mesha as one goes toward Sephar, to the hill country of the east. ³¹ These are Shem’s descendants according to their constituent groups (families), according to their languages, by their lands, according to their nations.

³² These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their descendants, by their nations; and from these [people] the nations were separated and spread abroad on the earth after the flood.^(B)

Universal Language, Babel, Confusion

11 Now the whole earth ^[g]spoke one language and used the same words (vocabulary). ² And as people journeyed eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and they settled there.^{(C) 3} They said one to another, “Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly [in a kiln, to harden and strengthen them].” So they used brick for stone [as building material], and they used tar (bitumen, asphalt) for mortar. ⁴ They said, “Come, let us build a city for ourselves, and a tower whose top will reach into the heavens, and let us make a [famous] name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered [into separate groups] and be dispersed over the surface of the entire earth [as the Lord instructed].”^{(D) 5} Now the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. ⁶ And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one [unified] people, and they all have the same language. This is only the beginning of what they will do [in rebellion against Me], and now no evil thing they imagine they can do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) go down and there confuse and mix up their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the surface of the entire earth; and they stopped building the city. ⁹ Therefore the name of the city was ^[h]Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the entire earth; and from that place the Lord scattered and dispersed them over the surface of all the earth.

Descendants of Shem

¹⁰ These are the records of the generations of Shem [from whom Abraham descended]. Shem was a hundred years old when he became the father of Arpachshad, two years after the flood. ¹¹ And Shem lived five hundred years after Arpachshad was born, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹² When Arpachshad had lived thirty-five years, he became the father of Shelah. ¹³ Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years after Shelah was born, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹⁴ When Shelah had lived thirty years, he became the father of Eber. ¹⁵ Shelah lived four hundred and three years after Eber was born, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹⁶ When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he became the father of Peleg. ¹⁷ And Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after Peleg was born, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹⁸ When Peleg had lived thirty years, he became the father of Reu. ¹⁹ And Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after Reu was born, and he had other sons and daughters.

²⁰ When Reu had lived thirty-two years, he became the father of Serug. ²¹ And Reu lived two hundred and seven years after Serug was born, and he had other sons and daughters.

²² When Serug had lived thirty years, he became the father of Nahor. ²³ And Serug lived two hundred years after Nahor was born, and he had other sons and daughters.

²⁴ When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he became the father of Terah. ²⁵ And Nahor lived a hundred and nineteen years after Terah was born, and he had other sons and daughters.

²⁶ After Terah had lived seventy years, he became the father of ^[i]Abram and Nahor and Haran [his firstborn].

²⁷ Now these are the records of the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram (Abraham), Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot. ²⁸ Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in ^[j]Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹ Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai (later called Sarah), and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. ³⁰ But Sarai was barren; she did not have a child.

³¹ Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together to go from Ur of the Chaldeans into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran [about five hundred and fifty miles northwest of Ur], they settled there. ³² Terah lived two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.

Abram Journeys to Egypt

12 Now [in Haran] the Lord had said to Abram,

⁴ So Abram departed [in faithful obedience] as the Lord had directed him; and Lot [his nephew] left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. ⁵ Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had acquired, and the people (servants) which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, ⁶ Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the [great] terebinth (oak) tree of Moreh. Now the ^[l]Canaanites were in the land at that time. ⁷ Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” So Abram built an altar there to [honor] the Lord who had appeared to him. ⁸ Then he moved on from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord [in worship through prayer, praise, and thanksgiving]. ⁹ Then Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev (the South country of Judah).

¹⁰ Now there was a famine in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt to live temporarily, for the famine in the land was oppressive and severe. ¹¹ And when he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “Listen: I know that you are ^[m]a beautiful woman; ¹² so when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me [to acquire you], but they will let you live. ¹³ Please tell them that you are ^[n]my sister so that things will go well for me for your sake, and my life will be spared because of you.” ¹⁴ And when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was very beautiful. ¹⁵ Pharaoh’s princes (officials) also saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken [for the purpose of marriage] into Pharaoh’s house (harem). ¹⁶ Therefore Pharaoh treated Abram well for her sake; he acquired sheep, oxen, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

¹⁷ But the Lord punished Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸ Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that 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 as my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her and go!” ²⁰ So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they escorted him on his way, with his wife and all that he had.

The Temptation of Jesus

4 Then Jesus was led by the [Holy] Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.^{(A) 2} After He had gone without food for forty days and forty nights, He became hungry.^{(B) 3} And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ⁴ But Jesus replied, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”^(C)

⁵ Then the devil took Him into the holy city [Jerusalem] and placed Him on the pinnacle (highest point) of the temple.^{(D) 6} And he said [mockingly] to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,

and

⁷ Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written and forever remains written, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.’”^(F)

⁸ Again, the devil took Him up on a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory [splendor, magnificence, and excellence] of them; ⁹ and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written and forever remains written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”^{(G) 11} Then the devil left Him; and angels came and ministered to Him [bringing Him food and serving Him].

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹² Now when Jesus heard that John [the Baptist] had been arrested and put in prison, He left for Galilee. ¹³ And leaving Nazareth, He went and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the country of Zebulun and Naphtali.^{(H) 14} This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “^[a]Repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins, live your life in a way that proves repentance; seek God’s purpose for your life], for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The First Disciples

¹⁸ As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He noticed two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And He said to them, “^[b]Follow Me [as My disciples, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk], and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example]. ²¹ And going on [further] from there He noticed two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in the boat with their father ^[c]Zebedee, mending their nets; and He called them [to follow Him as His disciples]. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].

Ministry in Galilee

²³ And He went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news (gospel) of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people [demonstrating and revealing that He was indeed the promised Messiah].

²⁴ So the news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were sick, those suffering with various diseases and pains, those under the power of demons, and epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them. ²⁵ Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the ^[d]Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and the other side of the Jordan.