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3417 lines (2678 loc) · 236 KB
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\id GEN Unlocked Dynamic Bible
\ide UTF-8
\h GENESIS
\toc1 The Book of Genesis
\toc2 Genesis
\toc3 Gen
\mt1 GENESIS
\s5
\c 1
\p
\v 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
\v 2 When he began to create the earth, it was shapeless and completely desolate. Darkness covered the surface of the deep water. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the water.
\s5
\v 3 God said, "I command there to be light," and there was light.
\v 4 God was pleased with the light. Then he made the light shine in some places at certain times, while in other places there was still darkness.
\v 5 He named the light "day," and he named the darkness "night." This was an evening and morning, the first day.
\s5
\p
\v 6 Then God said, "I command that there be an empty space like a huge dome to separate the water into two parts."
\v 7 And that is what happened. God made the empty space like a huge dome and it separated the water that is above it from the water on the earth that is below it.
\v 8 God named the space like a huge dome "sky." This was an evening and morning, the second day.
\s5
\p
\v 9 Then God said, "I command the water that is below the sky to come together, and dry ground to appear and rise above it." And that is what happened.
\v 10 God gave to the ground the name "earth," and he gave to the water that came together the name "oceans." God was pleased with the earth and the oceans.
\s5
\v 11 Then God said, "I command the earth to produce many kinds of plants that reproduce themselves—plants that will produce seeds and trees that will produce fruit with their seed in it." And that is what happened.
\v 12 Then plants grew on the earth. Each kind of plant began to produce its own kind of seed, and each kind of tree produced fruit with its seed in it. God was pleased with the plants and trees.
\v 13 This was an evening and morning, the third day.
\s5
\p
\v 14 Then God said, "I command many lights to shine in the sky. They will distinguish day from night. By the changes in their appearance they will indicate the time for various festivals and other things that people do at certain times and in certain years.
\v 15 I also want these lights in the sky to shine down on the earth." And that is what happened.
\s5
\v 16 God made two of them to be very big lights. The biggest one, the sun, he made to govern the day and the smaller one, the moon, he made to govern the night. He also made the stars.
\v 17 God set all of them in the sky to shine on the earth,
\v 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light of the daytime from the darkness of the nighttime. God was pleased with the lights.
\v 19 This was an evening and morning, the fourth day.
\s5
\v 20 Then God said, "Fill the waters with all kinds of living things that I have made, and fill the sky with birds that fly above the earth."
\v 21 So God created the very large creatures that live in the sea, and he created all the other living things that are found, in very great numbers, in the waters. He also created every kind of bird that has wings. All these creatures would be able to produce their own offspring. God looked at all that he had made and he was pleased with them.
\s5
\v 22 So God blessed them. He said, "Produce offspring and become very numerous. I want the creatures in the water to live throughout all the bodies of water, and the birds also to become very numerous."
\v 23 This was an evening and morning, the fifth day.
\s5
\v 24 Then God said, "I command the earth to produce various kinds of animals that reproduce themselves to live on the earth. There will be many kinds of domestic animals, creatures that crawl on the ground, and large wild animals." And that is what happened.
\v 25 God made all kinds of wild animals and domestic animals and all kinds of creatures that crawl on the ground. They could all produce more animals of their same kind. God was pleased with them.
\s5
\p
\v 26 Then God said, "Let us make human beings to be like us. I want them to rule over the fish in the sea, over the birds in the sky, over all the domestic animals, and over all the other creatures that move across the surface of the ground."
\v 27 So God created human beings that were like him in many ways. He made them to be like himself. He created them as male and female.
\s5
\v 28 God blessed them, saying, "Produce many children, who should live all over the earth and rule over it. I want you to rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over all the creatures that move across the surface of the ground."
\v 29 God said, "Look! I have given you all the plants that produce seeds all over the earth, and all the trees that produce fruit. All these things are for you to eat.
\s5
\v 30 I have given all the green plants to be food for all the wild animals, for the birds, and for all the creatures that move across the surface of the ground, that is, for everything that has life-giving breath in it." And that is what happened.
\v 31 God was pleased with everything that he had made. Truly, it was all very good. This was an evening and morning, the sixth day.
\s5
\c 2
\p
\v 1 That is the way God created the heavens and the earth and the living things that filled them.
\v 2 By the time it was the seventh day, God had finished the work of creating everything, so he did not work anymore on that day.
\v 3 God declared that each seventh day would have his favor. He set those days apart to be special days, because on the seventh day God did not work anymore, after finishing all his work of creating everything.
\s5
\v 4 What follows is how God created the heavens and the earth.
\p God, whose name is Yahweh, made the heavens and the earth.
\v 5 At first there were no plants growing, because Yahweh God had not yet caused rain to fall on the ground. Furthermore, there was no one to plow the ground for planting crops.
\v 6 Instead, mist rose up from the ground, so that there was water all over the surface of the ground.
\s5
\v 7 Then Yahweh God took some soil and formed a man. He breathed into the man's nostrils his own breath that makes things alive, and as a result the man became a whole living person.
\v 8 Yahweh God made a park in a place named Eden, which was east of the land of Canaan. There he placed the man that he had formed.
\s5
\v 9 Yahweh God caused to grow from the ground every kind of tree that is beautiful to see and that produces fruit that is good to eat. He also placed in the middle of the park a tree whose fruit would enable those who ate it to live forever. He also placed there another tree whose fruit would enable those who ate it to know what actions were good to do and what actions were evil to do.
\p
\v 10 A river flowed from Eden to provide water for the park. Outside of Eden, the river divided into four rivers.
\s5
\v 11 The name of the first river is Pishon. That river flows through all the land of Havilah, where there is gold.
\v 12 That gold is very pure. There is also a sweet-smelling gum called bdellium and valuable stones called onyx.
\s5
\v 13 The name of the second river is Gihon. That river flows through all the land of Cush.
\v 14 The name of the third river is Tigris. It flows east of the city of Ashur. The name of the fourth river is Euphrates.
\s5
\p
\v 15 Yahweh God took the man and put him in Eden to plow it and take care of it.
\v 16-17 But Yahweh said to him, "I will not permit you to eat the fruit of the tree that will enable you to know what actions are good to do and what actions are evil to do. If you eat any fruit from that tree, on the day you eat it you will surely die. But I will permit you to eat the fruit of any of the other trees in the park."
\s5
\p
\v 18 Yahweh God said, "It is not good for this man to be alone. So I will make someone who will be a suitable partner for him."
\v 19 Yahweh God had taken some soil and had formed all kinds of animals and birds, and he brought them to the man to hear what names he would give to them. And the man gave a name to every living animal that Yahweh had made.
\v 20 Then the man gave names to all the kinds of cattle, birds, and wild animals, but none of these creatures was a partner that was suitable for the man.
\s5
\v 21 So Yahweh God caused the man to become deeply asleep. While the man was sleeping, Yahweh took out one of the man's ribs. Then he immediately closed the opening in his body and healed it.
\v 22 Yahweh then made a woman from the rib that he had taken from the man's body, and he brought her to the man.
\v 23 The man exclaimed, "Finally, this is truly someone like me! Her bones came from one of my bones, and her flesh came from my flesh. So I will call her woman, because she was taken from me, a man."
\s5
\p
\v 24 The first woman was taken from the man's body, so that is why when a man and a woman marry, they must leave their parents. The man will join very closely to his wife, so that the two of them will be as though they are one person.
\p
\v 25 Although the man and his wife were naked, they were not ashamed about being naked.
\s5
\c 3
\p
\v 1 Now the snake was more cunning than all the other wild animals that Yahweh God had made. The snake said to her, "Did God really say to you, 'Do not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the park'?"
\v 2 The woman replied, "What God said was, 'Do not eat the fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the park or touch it. If you do that, you will die.
\v 3 But you can eat fruit from any of the other trees.'"
\s5
\v 4 The snake said to the woman, "No, you will certainly not die. God said that
\v 5 only because he knows that when you eat fruit from that tree, you will understand new things. It will be as though your eyes were opened, and you will know what is good to do and what is evil to do, just as God does."
\v 6 The woman saw that the fruit on that tree was good to eat, and it was very beautiful. She desired it because she thought it would make her wise. So she picked some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he ate it.
\s5
\v 7 Immediately it was as though their eyes were opened, and they realized that they were naked, so they were ashamed. So they picked some fig leaves and fastened them together to make clothes for themselves.
\p
\v 8 Late that afternoon, when a cool breeze was blowing, they heard the sound of Yahweh God as he was walking in the park. So the man and his wife hid themselves among the bushes in the park, so that Yahweh God would not see them.
\s5
\v 9 But Yahweh God called to the man, saying to him, "Why are you trying to hide from me?"
\v 10 The man replied, "I heard the sound of your footsteps in the garden, and I was naked, so I was afraid and I hid from you."
\v 11 God said, "How did you find out you were naked? It must be because you ate some of the fruit from the tree that I told you, 'Do not eat its fruit.' Is that what you have done?"
\s5
\v 12 The man said, "You gave me this woman to be with me. She is the one who gave me some of the fruit from that tree, so I ate it."
\v 13 Then Yahweh God said to the woman, "Why did you do such a thing?" The woman replied, "I ate it because the snake deceived me."
\s5
\v 14 Then Yahweh God said to the snake, "Because you did this, of all the domestic animals and the wild animals, I will curse you alone. As a result, you and all other snakes will crawl on the ground on your bellies, and so what you eat will have dirt on it as long as you live.
\v 15 I will cause you and the woman to be enemies to each other, and I will cause your descendant and her descendant to be enemies toward each other. You will bite his heel, but he will crush your head."
\s5
\v 16 Then Yahweh said to the woman, "I will make you have great pain when you give birth to children. You will want to be with your husband, but he will rule over you."
\s5
\v 17 Then he said to the man, "You listened to what your wife said, and you ate some of the fruit of the tree about which I commanded you, 'Do not eat it.' So I will make it difficult to grow things in the ground because of what you did. You will have to work hard as long as you live to produce things from the ground to eat.
\v 18 Thornbushes and thistle plants and other weeds will grow and prevent what you have planted from growing. And for food, you will have to eat things that just grow in your fields.
\v 19 All your life you will sweat as you work hard to produce food to eat. Then you will die, and your body will be buried in the ground. I made you from soil, so your body will become soil again."
\s5
\p
\v 20 The man, whose name was Adam, named his wife Eve, which means "living," because she became the ancestor of all living people.
\v 21 Then Yahweh God killed some animals and made clothes from their skins for Adam and his wife.
\s5
\p
\v 22 Then Yahweh God said, "Look! Those two have become like us because they know what is good to do and what is evil to do. So now, it will not be good if they reach out and pick and eat some of the fruit from the tree which enables people who eat it to live forever!"
\v 23 So Yahweh God drove out the man and his wife from the park of Eden. Yahweh God had created Adam from the ground, and he forced him to plow the ground.
\v 24 After Yahweh God drove them out, on the east side of the park he placed cherubim and a flaming sword that flashed back and forth, in order to block the entrance, so that people could not go back to the tree that enables anyone who eats its fruit to live forever.
\s5
\c 4
\p
\v 1 Adam slept with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son whom she named Cain, which means "produce," because, she said, "By Yahweh's help I have produced a son."
\p
\v 2 Some time later she gave birth to another son, and she named him Abel. After those boys grew up, Abel tended sheep and goats, and Cain became a farmer.
\s5
\v 3 One day it happened that Cain harvested some of the crops he had grown and brought them to Yahweh as a gift for him,
\v 4 and Abel took from his flock some of the first lambs that had been born and killed them and, as a gift, gave to Yahweh the fatty parts, which were the best parts. Yahweh was pleased with Abel and his offering,
\v 5 but he was not pleased with Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his expression became unpleasant.
\s5
\v 6 Yahweh said to Cain, "You should not be angry! You should not scowl like that!
\v 7 If you do what is right, I will accept you. But if you do not do what is right, the evil that you want to do will devour you, like a lion waiting outside your door to attack you. Your desire to sin wants to control you, but you must control it."
\s5
\p
\v 8 But one day, Cain said to his younger brother Abel, "Come with me to the fields." So they went together. And when they were in the countryside, suddenly Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
\p
\v 9 Then, even though Yahweh knew what Cain had done, he said to Cain, "Do you know where Abel, your younger brother, is?" Cain replied, "No, I do not know. My job is not to guard my younger brother!"
\s5
\v 10 Yahweh said, "What you have done is terrible! Your brother's blood that has soaked into the ground convicts you of your guilt.
\v 11 You have killed your younger brother, and, now that the ground has soaked up your younger brother's blood, you are not welcome on it and your efforts to produce crops on it will fail.
\v 12 When you till the ground to plant crops, the ground will produce very little for you. You will continually wander around the earth, and not have any place to live permanently."
\s5
\v 13 Cain replied to Yahweh, "You are punishing me more then I can endure.
\v 14 You are about to expel me from the ground that I have been tilling, and I will no longer be able to come into your presence. Furthermore, I will be continually wandering around the earth with no place to live permanently, and anyone who sees me will kill me."
\v 15 But Yahweh said to him, "No, that will not happen. I will put a mark on you to warn anyone who sees you that I will punish him severely if he kills you. I will punish that person seven times as severely as I am punishing you." Then Yahweh put a mark on Cain.
\s5
\v 16 So Cain left Yahweh and went to live in the land called Nod, which means 'wandering', which was east of Eden.
\p
\v 17 Some time later, Cain slept with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, whom she named Enoch. Then Cain started to build a city, and he named the city 'Enoch,' the same name that his son had.
\s5
\v 18 Enoch grew up and married and became the father of a son whom he named Irad. When Irad grew up he became the father of a son whom he named Mehujael. Mehujael grew up and became the father of a son whom he named Methushael. Methushael grew up and became the father of Lamech.
\v 19 When Lamech grew up he married two women. The name of one was Adah and the name of the other was Zillah.
\s5
\v 20 Adah gave birth to a son named Jabal. Later, Jabal became the first person who lived in tents because he traveled from place to place to take care of livestock.
\v 21 His younger brother's name was Jubal. He was the first person who made a lyre and a flute.
\v 22 Lamech's other wife Zillah gave birth to a son whom she named Tubal-Cain. Later he learned how to make things out of bronze and iron. The name of Tubal-Cain's younger sister was Naamah.
\s5
\p
\v 23 One day Lamech said to his two wives, "Adah and Zillah, my two wives, listen carefully to what I am saying. A young man struck me and wounded me, so I killed him.
\v 24 Yahweh said long ago that he would avenge and punish anyone who killed Cain seven times as much as he punished Cain. So if anyone tries to kill me, may he be punished seventy-seven times as much."
\s5
\p
\v 25 Adam continued to sleep with his wife, and she again became pregnant and gave birth to another son, whom she named Seth. She said, "I name him Seth because God has given me another child to take the place of Abel, since Cain killed him."
\v 26 When Seth grew up, he became the father of a son whom he named Enosh. About that time people began to worship Yahweh.
\s5
\c 5
\p
\v 1 This is a list of those who descended from Adam. When God created humans, he made them to be like him in many ways.
\v 2 He created one man and one woman. He blessed them, and on the day that he created them, he called them 'human beings.'
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\v 3 When Adam was 130 years old, he became the father of a son who was just like him. That was the son he named Seth.
\v 4 After Seth was born, Adam lived eight hundred more years, and during those years he became the father of other sons and daughters.
\v 5 Adam lived 930 years altogether, and then he died.
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\v 6 When Seth was 105 years old, he became the father of Enosh.
\v 7 After Enosh was born, Seth lived 807 more years, and became the father of other sons and daughters.
\v 8 Seth lived 912 years altogether, and then he died.
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\v 9 When Enosh was ninety years old, he became the father of Kenan.
\v 10 After Kenan was born, Enosh lived 815 more years and became the father of other sons and daughters.
\v 11 Enosh lived 905 years altogether, and then he died.
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\v 12 When Kenan was seventy years old, he became the father of Mahalalel.
\v 13 After Mahalalel was born, Kenan lived 840 more years and became the father of other sons and daughters.
\v 14 Kenan lived 910 years altogether, and then he died.
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\v 15 When Mahalalel was sixty-five years old, he became the father of Jared.
\v 16 After Jared was born, Mahalalel lived 830 more years and became the father of other sons and daughters.
\v 17 Mahalalel lived 895 years altogether, and then he died.
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\v 18 When Jared was 162 years old, he became the father of Enoch.
\v 19 Jared lived eight hundred years after Enoch was born, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.
\v 20 Jared lived 962 years altogether, and then he died.
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\v 21 When Enoch was sixty-five years old, he became the father of Methuselah.
\v 22 Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for three hundred years after Methuselah was born, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.
\v 23 Enoch lived 365 years.
\v 24 He was in close fellowship with God, and one day he disappeared, because God took him away to be with him.
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\v 25 When Methuselah was 187 years old, he became the father of Lamech.
\v 26 Methuselah lived 782 years after Lamech was born, and became the father of other sons and daughters.
\v 27 Methuselah lived 969 years altogether, and then he died.
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\v 28 When Lamech was 182 years old, he became the father of a son,
\v 29 whom he named Noah, because, as he said, "He will bring us relief from all the hard work we have been doing to produce food from the ground that Yahweh cursed."
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\v 30 Lamech lived 595 years after Noah was born and became the father of other sons and daughters.
\v 31 Lamech lived 777 years altogether, and then he died.
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\v 32 When Noah was five hundred years old, he became the father of sons whom he named Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
\s5
\c 6
\p
\v 1 When people began to become very numerous all over the earth, and many daughters were born to them,
\v 2 some of the heavenly beings saw that the human women were very beautiful. So they took whichever ones they chose to become their wives.
\v 3 Then Yahweh said, "My breath will not remain in people forever, to keep them alive. They are made of weak flesh. They will live not more than 120 years before they die."
\s5
\p
\v 4 When these heavenly beings slept with human women, they gave birth to children. These were the giants who lived on the earth at that time and also later. These giants were heroic fighters; they were famous men from long ago.
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\p
\v 5 Yahweh saw that people on the earth had become very wicked, and everything they thought in their inner beings was evil continually.
\v 6 Yahweh was sorry that he had made people on the earth and it made him sad.
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\v 7 So Yahweh said, "I will completely destroy the people I made. I will also destroy all the larger animals and the creatures that move close to the ground and the birds. None of them will remain on the earth, because I regret that I made them."
\p
\v 8 But Yahweh was pleased with Noah.
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\v 9 This is what happened: Noah was a man whose behavior was always righteous. No one who lived at that time could criticize him about anything. Noah lived in close fellowship with God.
\v 10 Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
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\p
\v 11 God could see that everyone else on earth was very wicked, and everywhere on the earth, people were acting cruelly and violently toward each other.
\v 12 God looked at everyone and saw how evil people were, because all people on the earth had begun to behave in an evil way.
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\v 13 So God said to Noah, "I have decided to destroy all people, because all over the earth people are acting violently toward each other. So I am about to get rid of them as well as everything else on the earth.
\v 14 Make for yourself a large boat from cypress wood. Make rooms inside it. Cover the outside and the inside with tar to make it waterproof.
\v 15 This is how you must make it: It must be 138 meters long, twenty-three meters wide, and fourteen meters high.
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\v 16 Make a roof for the boat. Leave a space of about half a meter between the sides and the roof to let air and light enter. Make it with three decks inside, and put a door in one side.
\v 17 Listen carefully! I am about to bring a flood that will destroy everything that lives beneath the sky. Everything on the earth will die.
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\v 18 But I will make my covenant with you. You and your wife, your sons and their wives will enter the boat.
\v 19 You must also bring two of all living creatures, a male and a female, into the boat with you, so that they also may remain alive.
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\v 20 Two of every kind of creature will come to you in order for you to keep them alive. They will include two of each kind of bird and two of each kind of larger animal and two of each kind of creature that moves close to the ground.
\v 21 You must also take some of every kind of food that you and all these creatures will need, and store it in the boat."
\v 22 So Noah did everything that God told him to do.
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\c 7
\p
\v 1 Then Yahweh said to Noah, "I have seen that from all the people who are now living, you alone always act righteously. So I want you and all your family to go into the boat.
\v 2 Take with you seven pairs of every kind of animal that I have said I will accept for sacrifices. Take seven males and seven females. Also take one male and one female from every kind of animal that I have said that I will not accept for sacrifices.
\v 3 Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird from to keep their descendants alive all over the earth.
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\v 4 Do this because seven days from now I will cause rain to fall on the earth. It will rain constantly for forty days and nights. In this way, I will destroy everything that I have made that is on the earth."
\p
\v 5 Noah did everything that Yahweh told him to do.
\s5
\v 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came on the earth.
\v 7 Before it started to rain, Noah and his wife and his sons and his sons' wives all went into the boat to escape from the flood water.
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\v 8 Pairs of animals, those that God said that he would accept for sacrifices and those that he would not accept for sacrifices, and pairs of birds and pairs of all the kinds of creatures that move close to the ground,
\v 9 males and females, came to Noah and then went into the boat, just as God told Noah that they would do.
\v 10 After seven days had ended, it started to rain and a flood began to cover the earth.
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\v 11 When Noah was six hundred years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the water that is under the surface of the earth burst out, and it began to rain so hard that it was as though a dam in the sky burst open.
\v 12 Rain fell on the earth constantly for forty days and nights.
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\v 13 On the day that it started to rain, Noah went into the boat with his wife, and his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives.
\v 14 They and some of every kind of wild animal, and every kind of domestic animal, and every kind of creature that moves close to the ground, and every kind of bird, and every other creature that has wings, all entered the boat.
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\v 15 Pairs of all creatures that breathed came to Noah and entered the boat.
\v 16 There were a male and a female of each creature that came to Noah, just as God had said they would do. After they were all in the boat, Yahweh shut the door.
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\p
\v 17 For forty days the water kept coming and the flood increased and lifted the boat up above the ground.
\v 18 The rushing water rose higher and higher on the earth, and the boat floated on the surface of the water.
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\v 19 The water rushed higher and higher all over the earth until it covered all the mountains and everything under heaven.
\v 20 Even the highest mountains were covered by more than six meters of water.
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\v 21 As a result, every living being on the surface of the earth died. That included the birds, the domestic animals, the wild animals, and all the other creatures that move around on the ground, as well as all the people.
\v 22 Everything that breathed, that was a creature of the land, died.
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\v 23 In this way every living thing on the earth perished—the people, the larger animals, the creatures that crawl, and the birds. The only ones that remained alive were Noah and those who were in the boat with him.
\v 24 The waters remained at full flood like that on the earth for 150 days.
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\c 8
\p
\v 1 But God did not forget about Noah, or about all the wild animals and all the kinds of domestic animals that were with him in the boat. So one day God sent a wind to blow across the earth, and the wind caused the water to begin to recede.
\v 2 God caused the water that was under the earth to stop bursting out, and he caused the floodgates of water from the sky to close so that it stopped raining.
\v 3 The water on the earth gradually receded. By one hundred fifty days after the flood began, much of the water was gone.
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\v 4 On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the boat came to rest on one of the mountains in the region of Ararat.
\v 5 The water continued to recede until, on the first day of the tenth month of that year, the tops of other mountains became visible.
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\v 6 Forty days later, Noah opened the window that he had made in the side of the boat, and sent out a raven.
\v 7 The raven flew back and forth to and from the boat until the water dried up from the surface of the ground.
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\v 8 Then Noah sent out a dove to find out if the water had all receded from the surface of the ground.
\v 9 But the dove did not find any place to perch, so it flew back to Noah in the boat, because there was still water all over the surface of the earth. So Noah reached out his hand and took the dove back inside the boat.
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\v 10 Noah waited seven more days. Then he sent the dove out of the boat again.
\v 11 This time the dove returned to him in the evening and, surprisingly, there was a leaf from an olive tree that the dove had just plucked in its beak. Then Noah knew that the water had truly receded from the surface of the ground.
\v 12 Noah waited again seven more days. Then he sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.
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\p
\v 13 Noah was now 601 years old. By the first day of the first month of that year, the water had completely drained away from the ground. Noah removed the covering on top of the boat, and he was surprised to see that the surface of the ground was drying.
\v 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the next month, the ground was completely dry.
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\v 15 Then God said to Noah,
\v 16 "Leave the boat, along with your wife, your sons, and their wives.
\v 17 Bring out with you all the birds, the domestic animals, and all the kinds of creatures that move close to the ground, in order that they can spread all over the earth and become very numerous."
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\v 18 So Noah left the boat, along with his wife, his sons, and their wives.
\v 19 Then all the creatures, including all those that move close to the ground, all the birds, and every animal that moves on the earth, left the boat. They left the boat in groups of their own kind.
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\p
\v 20 Then Noah built an altar to Yahweh. He took some of the animals and birds that were acceptable as sacrifices and killed them. Then he burned them whole on the altar.
\v 21 When Yahweh smelled the pleasant odor, he was pleased with the sacrifice. Then he said to himself, "I will never again devastate everything on the earth because of the sinful things people do. Even though all that people think in their minds is evil from the time they are young, I will not destroy all the living beings again, as I did this time.
\v 22 As long as the earth exists, the seasons for planting seeds and seasons for harvesting crops, the times when it is cold and times when it is hot, the summer and winter, the daytime and nighttime will continue."
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\c 9
\p
\v 1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons. He said to them, "I want you to have many children who will live all over the earth.
\v 2 All the larger animals on the earth, all the birds, all the creatures that move close to the ground, and all the fish, will be very afraid of you. I place them under your authority.
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\v 3 Previously I allowed you to eat green plants for food, but now you may eat everything that lives and moves.
\v 4 But you must not eat meat that still has the blood in it, because the life is in its blood.
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\v 5 I punish any creature who kills a human being—that they answer to Yahweh—whether it be an animal or from a human being. I demand that murderers must suffer for their crimes and pay with their own lives. Even when an animal kills a person, that animal must also have their life taken because they have taken the life of a human being.
\v 6 For I made people to be like myself. So I insist that if someone murders another human being, another person must kill him. Anyone who pours another's blood out must himself lose his own blood.
\p
\v 7 As for you, I want you to produce many children, in order that they and their descendants may live all over the earth."
\s5
\p
\v 8 God also said to Noah and his sons,
\v 9 "Listen carefully. I am now making a covenant with you and with your descendants,
\v 10 and with every creature with you, that is alive—including the birds, the domestic animals, and the wild animals—every living animal creature on the earth that came out of the boat with you.
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\v 11 This is the covenant that I am making with you: I will never again destroy all living beings by a flood, or destroy everything else on the earth by a flood."
\p
\v 12 Then God said to him, "This is the sign to guarantee that I will keep the covenant that I am making with you and with all living beings, a covenant that I will keep forever:
\v 13 From time to time I will put a rainbow in the sky. It will be the sign of my covenant with you and with everything on the earth.
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\v 14 When I cause rain to fall from the clouds, and a rainbow appears in the sky,
\v 15 it will remind me about the covenant that I have made with you and with all living creatures, my promise that there will never again be a flood that will destroy all living creatures.
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\v 16 Whenever there is a rainbow in the sky, I will see it, and I will think about the covenant that I have made with every living being that is upon the earth, a promise that I will keep forever."
\p
\v 17 Then God said to Noah, "The rainbow will be the sign of the covenant that I have made with all living beings on the earth."
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\p
\v 18 The sons of Noah who came out of boat were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham later became the father of Canaan.
\v 19 All the people on the earth are descended from these three sons of Noah.
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\p
\v 20 Noah began to farm the land. He planted grapevines.
\v 21 After they produced grapes, he made wine from them. One day, when he had drunk too much of the wine, he became drunk, and he lay naked in his tent.
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\v 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father lying naked in the tent. So he went outside and told his two older brothers what he had seen.
\v 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a large cloth and placed it across their backs, and walked backwards into the tent. They covered their father's naked body with the cloth. Their faces were turned away from their father, so they did not see him naked.
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\v 24 When Noah woke up and was sober again, he found out how badly Ham, his youngest son, had behaved toward him.
\v 25 He said, "I am cursing Ham's son, Canaan, and his descendants. They will be like slaves to their uncles.
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\q
\v 26 I praise Yahweh, whom Shem worships. May Canaan's descendants be servants to Shem's descendants.
\v 27 But may God make the Japheth's territory larger. May he allow Japheth's descendants to live peacefully among the descendants of Shem. May Canaan's descendants be their slaves."
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\p
\v 28 Noah lived 350 more years after the flood.
\v 29 He died when he was 950 years old.
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\c 10
\p
\v 1 These are the descendants of Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. They became the fathers of many children after the flood.
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\v 2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
\v 3 The sons of Gomer were Askenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
\v 4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
\v 5 The sons and their families who were descended from Javan lived in the islands and in the lands close to the ocean. Their descendants became people groups, each with its own language, clans, and territory.
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\v 6 The sons of Ham were Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.
\p
\v 7 The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtah. The sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.
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\p
\v 8 Another one of Cush's sons was Nimrod. Nimrod was the first person on earth who became a mighty warrior.
\v 9 Yahweh saw that he had become a great hunter. That is why people say to a great hunter, "Yahweh sees that you are a great hunter like Nimrod."
\v 10 Nimrod became a king who ruled in Babylonia land. The first cities over which he ruled were Babel, Erech, Akkad, and Kalneh.
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\v 11 From there he went with other people to Assyria, and there they built the cities of Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah,
\v 12 and Resen. Resen was a large city between Nineveh and Calah.
\p
\v 13 Ham's son, Egypt, became the ancestor of the Lud, Anam, Lehab and Naphtuh,
\v 14 Pathrus, Casluh and Caphtor people groups. The Philistine people were descended from Casluh.
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\p
\v 15 Ham's youngest son, Canaan, became the father of Sidon, who was his eldest son, and Heth, his younger son.
\v 16 Canaan was also the ancestor of the Jebus, Amor, Girgash,
\v 17 Hiv, Ark, Sin,
\v 18 Arved, Zemar and Hamath people groups. Later the descendants of Canaan scattered over a large area.
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\v 19 Their land extended from the city of Sidon in the north as far south as Gaza near Gerar, and then east toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboyim towns, as far as the town of Lasha.
\p
\v 20 Those are the descendants of Ham. They became people groups that had their own clans, their own languages, and their own lands.
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\p
\v 21 Shem, the older brother of Japheth, also had sons, and he became the ancestor of all the descendants of Eber.
\v 22 The sons of Shem were Elam, Ashur, Arphachshad, Lud, and Aram.
\v 23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.
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\v 24 Arphachshad became the father of Shelah. Shelah became the father of Eber.
\v 25 Eber became the father of two sons. One of them was named Peleg, which means "division," because during the time he lived, people on the earth became divided and scattered everywhere. Peleg's younger brother was Joktan.
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\v 26 Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,
\v 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,
\v 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba,
\v 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan.
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\v 30 The areas in which the clans began to live extended from Mesha to Sephar, which is in the hill country in the east.
\v 31 They are descendants from the sons of Shem. They became people groups that had their own clans, their own languages, and their own land.
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\p
\v 32 All these clans descended from the sons of Noah. Each clan had its own genealogy and each became a separate people group. Those people groups formed after the flood and spread all around the earth.
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\c 11
\p
\v 1 At this time, all the people in the world spoke the same language.
\v 2 As people moved around in the east, they arrived at a plain in the region of Babylon and began to live there.
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\v 3 Then they said to each other, "Let us make bricks and bake them to make them hard, for building!" So they used bricks instead of stones, and used tar instead of mortar to hold them together.
\v 4 They said, "Let us build a city for ourselves! We also ought to build a very high tower that reaches up to the sky! In that way people will know who we are! If we do not do this, we will be scattered all over the earth!"
\s5
\p
\v 5 One day Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower that the people were building.
\v 6 Yahweh said, "These people are one group that all speak the same language. If they have begun to do this, then there is nothing that they will decide to do that will be impossible for them!
\v 7 So, let us go down there and make the people speak different languages, so that they will not be able to understand what each other is saying."
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\p
\v 8 By doing this, Yahweh caused them to scatter all over the earth, and the people stopped building the city.
\v 9 The city was called Babel, because there Yahweh caused the people all over the earth to no longer speak only one language. And Yahweh caused them to scatter all over the earth from that place.
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\p
\v 10 These are those who descended from Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was one hundred years old, he became the father of Arphaxad.
\v 11 After Arphaxad was born, Shem lived five hundred more years and became the father of other sons and daughters.
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\p
\v 12 When Arphachshad was thirty-five years old, he became the father of Shelah.
\v 13 After Shelah was born, Arphaxad lived 403 more years and became the father of other sons and daughters.
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\p
\v 14 When Shelah was thirty years old, he became the father of Eber.
\v 15 After Eber was born, Shelah lived 403 more years and became the father of other sons and daughters.
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\p
\v 16 When Eber was thirty-four years old, he became the father of Peleg.
\v 17 After Peleg was born, Eber lived 430 more years and became the father of other sons and daughters.
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\p
\v 18 When Peleg was thirty years old, he became the father of Reu.
\v 19 After Reu was born, Peleg lived 209 more years and became the father of other sons and daughters.
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\p
\v 20 When Reu was thirty-two years old, he became the father of Serug.
\v 21 After Serug was born, Reu lived 207 more years and became the father of other sons and daughters.
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\p
\v 22 When Serug was thirty years old, he became the father of Nahor.
\v 23 After Nahor was born, Serug lived two hundred more years and became the father of other sons and daughters.
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\p
\v 24 When Nahor was twenty-nine years old, he became the father of Terah.
\v 25 After Terah was born, Nahor lived 119 more years and became the father of other sons and daughters.
\p
\v 26 After Terah was seventy years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
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\p
\v 27 This is what happened concerning the descendants of Terah: Terah's sons were Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran's son was named Lot.
\v 28 Haran's father was with him when Haran died in the city of Ur, in the country of the Chaldeans. This is the land where he was born.
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\v 29 Abram and Nahor both married. Abram's wife was named Sarai, and Nahor's wife was named Milkah. Milkah and her sister Iskah were the daughters of Haran.
\v 30 Sarai was unable to have any children.
\s5
\p
\v 31 Terah decided to leave Ur and go to live in the land of Canaan. So he took his son Abram and his grandson Lot son of Haran, and Abram's wife Sarai with him. But instead of going to Canaan, they stopped at the town of Haran and lived there.
\v 32 When Terah was 205 years old, he died in Haran.
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\c 12
\p
\v 1 Then Yahweh said to Abram, "Leave this country where you are now living. Leave your father's clan and his family, and go to a land that I will show you.
\v 2 I will cause your descendants to become a large nation. I will bless you and cause you to become famous. What I do for you will be a blessing to others.
\v 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who do evil things to you. I will bless all the clans on earth through you."
\s5
\p
\v 4 So Abram left Haran, as Yahweh told him to do. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left there along with his family and Lot's family.
\v 5 Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot; he also took with himself all the possessions and slaves that they had accumulated in Haran. They left from there and went to the land of Canaan.
\s5
\v 6 In Canaan they traveled as far as Shechem and camped by a tall tree called the tree of Moreh. When this happened, the Canaanite people were living in that land.
\p
\v 7 Then Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, "I will give this land to your descendants." Then Abram built an altar to offer a sacrifice to Yahweh, who had appeared to him.
\s5
\v 8 From Shechem, Abram and his family traveled to the hills that were east of Bethel. Bethel was to the west of where they set up their tent, and Ai was to the east. There he built another altar and offered a sacrifice and worshiped Yahweh there.
\v 9 Then they left there and continued traveling south to the Negev desert.
\s5
\p
\v 10 There was a famine in that land, so they went further south to live for awhile in the land of Egypt, because the lack of food in the land where they were was very severe.
\v 11 When they were coming near to the land of Egypt, Abram said to his wife Sarai, "Listen, I know that you are a very beautiful woman.
\v 12 When the people in Egypt see you, they will say, 'This woman is his wife!' and they will kill me, but they will not kill you.
\v 13 So I ask you to tell them that you are my sister, so that I will be safe and so they will spare my life because of you."
\s5
\p
\v 14 And that was what happened. As soon as they arrived in Egypt, the people in Egypt saw that his wife was indeed very beautiful.
\v 15 When the king's officials saw her, they told the king how beautiful she was. Then the king took her into his palace.
\v 16 The king treated Abram kindly because of Sarai, and he gave Abram sheep and cattle and donkeys and male and female slaves and camels.
\s5
\v 17 But because the king had taken Sarai, Abram's wife, Yahweh caused the king and the others in his household to be inflicted with terrible diseases.
\v 18 So the king summoned Abram and said to him, "You have done a terrible thing to me! Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
\v 19 Why did you say that she is your sister, so that I took her to be my wife? You should not have done that! So now take your wife, leave here and go!"
\v 20 Then the king ordered his officials to take Abram and his wife and all his possessions out of Egypt.
\s5
\c 13
\p
\v 1 So Abram and Sarai left Egypt and went back to the southern Judean wilderness. They took along all their possessions, and Lot went with them.
\v 2 Abram was very rich. He owned a lot of livestock, silver, and gold.
\s5
\v 3 They continued traveling from place to place from the southern Judean wilderness toward Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where they had previously set up their tents.
\v 4 This is also where Abram had built an altar; there he worshiped Yahweh again.
\s5
\v 5 Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks of sheep and goats and herds of cattle and tents.
\v 6 The two of them had so many animals that they could not all stay in the same area. There was not enough land to provide water and food for all their animals.
\v 7 Furthermore, the men who took care of Abram's livestock started quarreling with the men who took care of Lot's livestock. The descendants of Canaan and Perez were also living in that area.
\s5
\v 8 Then Abram said to Lot, "Since we are close relatives, it is not good for us to quarrel, or for the men who take care of your animals to quarrel with the men who take care of my animals.
\v 9 There is plenty of land for both of us. So we should separate. You can choose whatever part you want. If you want the area over there, I will stay here. If you want the area here, I will go over there."
\s5
\v 10 Lot looked toward Zoar and saw that there was plenty of water all over the plain near the Jordan River. This was before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah which were on that plain. In those days, it was like the garden of Yahweh, like the land in Egypt near the Nile River.
\v 11 So Lot chose for himself the land in the plain of the Jordan River. He left his uncle, Abram, and moved east.
\s5
\v 12 Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, and Lot went to live near the cities in the plain of the Jordan River, and he set up his tents near Sodom.
\v 13 Now the people who lived in Sodom were extremely wicked and sinned terribly against Yahweh.
\s5
\p
\v 14 After Abram and Lot separated, Yahweh said to Abram, "Look around at this whole area where you are. Look north and south, look east and west.
\v 15 I will give to you and to your descendants all the land that you see; I will give it to you forever.
\s5
\v 16 I will cause your descendants to be as numerous as particles of dust! If a man tried to count the particles of dust, it would be the same as if he tried to count your descendants.
\v 17 Walk through the land in every direction, because I am going to give it all to you."
\v 18 So Abram took down his tents and moved to Hebron and settled by the big trees of Mamre. He built a stone altar there to make sacrifices to Yahweh.
\s5
\c 14
\p
\v 1 There were four kings who were allies. They were King Amraphel of Babylonia, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim.
\v 2 They prepared to attack a group of five kings: King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela, the city that is now called Zoar.
\s5
\v 3 Those five kings and their armies gathered together in the Valley of Siddim, which is also called the Valley of the Dead Sea, to fight against the four kings and their armies.
\v 4 For twelve years King Chedorlaomer had ruled them. But in the thirteenth year, they rebelled against King Chedorlaomer and refused to give him any more tribute money.
\v 5 The next year, King Chedorlaomer and the other kings that were with him gathered their armies and started coming toward the area of the five kings. They defeated the Rephaite people in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzite people in Ham, and the Emite people in Shaveh Kiriathaim.
\v 6 They also defeated the Horite people in their hill area of Seir as far as El Paran near the desert.
\s5
\v 7 Then they turned around and went to En Mishpat, which is now called Kadesh. They conquered all the land belonging to the Amalekite people and the Amorite people who were living in Hazezon Tamar.
\p
\v 8 Then the armies of the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboyim and Bela marched out to fight the armies of the four kings in Siddim Valley.
\v 9 They fought against the armies of Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, Tidal the king of Goiim, Amraphel the king of Shinar, and Arioch the king of Ellasar. The armies of four kings were fighting against the armies of five kings.
\s5
\v 10 TheValley of Siddim was full of tar pits. So when the armies of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah tried to run away, many of the men fell into these pits. The others escaped and ran away to the hills.
\v 11 As they fled, their enemies seized all of the valuable things in Sodom and Gomorrah, including all the food.
\v 12 They also captured Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom at that time.
\s5
\v 13-14 At that time, Abram was living near the big trees that belonged to Mamre, who belonged to the Amor clan. Abram had made an agreement with Mamre and his two brothers, Eshcol and Aner, that they would help each other if there was a war. One of the men who escaped from the battle told Abram the Hebrew what had happened and that the enemy had captured his nephew, Lot, and taken him away. So Abram summoned 318 men who were his servants, men who had been with Abram since they were born and who knew how to fight as warriors. They all went together and pursued their enemies as far as the city of Dan.
\s5
\v 15 During the night, Abram divided the men into several groups, and they attacked their enemies from various directions and defeated them. They pursued them as far as Hobah, which was north of the city of Damascus.
\v 16 Abram's men recovered all of the goods that had been taken. They also rescued Lot and all his possessions and also the women and others who their enemies had taken.
\s5
\p
\v 17 As Abram was returning home after he and his men had defeated the armies of King Chedorlaomer and the other kings who had fought alongside him, the King of Sodom went north to meet him in Shaveh Valley, which people also call the King's Valley.
\v 18 Melchizedek, the king of the city of Salem, was also a priest of the supreme God. He brought some bread and wine to Abram.
\s5
\v 19 Then he blessed Abram and said, "I ask the supreme God, the one who created heaven and earth, to bless you.
\v 20 I praise the supreme God, because he has enabled you to defeat your enemies." Then Abram gave to Melchizedek a tenth part of all the things he had captured.
\s5
\v 21 The King of Sodom said to Abram, "You can keep all the goods you recovered. Just let me take back the people from my city whom you captured."
\v 22 But Abram said to the King of Sodom, "I have solemnly promised Yahweh, the supreme God, the one who created heaven and earth,
\v 23 that I will not take even one thread or a thong of a sandal from anything that belongs to you. As a result, you will never be able to say, 'I caused Abram to become rich.'
\v 24 The only thing I will accept is the food that my men have eaten. But Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre went with me and fought alongside me, so let them have a share of the goods we brought back."
\s5
\c 15
\p
\v 1 Some time later, Abram had a vision in which Yahweh spoke to him and said, "Do not be afraid of anything, I will protect you and I will give a great reward."
\v 2 But Abram replied, "Lord Yahweh, how can you give me what I truly want, because I have no children, and the one who will inherit all my possessions is my servant Eliezer, from Damascus!"
\v 3 Abram also said, "You have not given me any children, so a servant in my household will inherit everything that I own!"
\s5
\v 4 Yahweh replied, "No! He will not be the one who will inherit it. Instead, you yourself will be the father of the one who will inherit everything you own."
\v 5 Then Yahweh took Abram outside of his tent and said, "Look up at the sky! Can you count the stars? No, you cannot count them because there are so many of them, and your descendants will be as numerous as the stars."
\s5
\v 6 Abram believed that what Yahweh said would happen. Because of that, Yahweh considered him as good.
\v 7 Yahweh also said to him, "I am Yahweh. I am the one who brought you from Ur in the land of Chaldea. I brought you here to give you this land to possess."
\v 8 But Abram replied, "Lord Yahweh, how can I know for sure that this land will belong to me?"
\s5
\v 9 God said to him, "Bring a three year old heifer and a three year old goat to me, and a dove and a pigeon."
\v 10 So Abram brought all of them. He killed them and cut each of the animals in half. He arranged the halves of each one, side by side. But he did not cut the pigeon and dove in half.
\v 11 Birds that eat dead animals came down to eat the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
\s5
\v 12 As the sun was going down, Abram fell sound asleep, and suddenly everything around him became dark and frightening.
\v 13 Then Yahweh said to Abram, "I want you to know that your descendants will become foreigners living in a land that does not belong to them. They will become slaves of the owners of that land. The owners of the land will mistreat them for four hundred years.
\s5
\v 14 But then I will punish the people of that country where they are slaves. Then your descendants will leave that country, taking many possessions with them.
\v 15 But as for you, you will die peacefully and be buried when you are very old.
\v 16 After your descendants have been slaves for four hundred years, they will come back here. They will take control of this land and defeat the Amor people. This will not happen before that time, because the Amor people have not yet sinned to the degree that I would punish them like that for it."
\s5
\v 17 When the sun had set and it was dark, unexpectedly a blazing torch and a clay pot containing burning coals from which smoke was rising appeared and went between the halves of the animals.
\v 18 On that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram. Yahweh told him, "I will give to your descendants all the land between the river that is on the eastern border of Egypt to the south, and north to the Euphrates River.
\v 19 That is the land where the Ken, the Keniz, the Kidmon,
\v 20 the Heth, the Perez, the Repha,
\v 21 the Amor, the Canaan, the Girgash, and the Jebus people groups live."
\s5
\c 16
\p
\v 1 Up to that time, Abram's wife Sarai had not given birth to any children for Abram. But she had a female slave from Egypt, whose name was Hagar.
\v 2 Sarai said to Abram, "Listen to me! Yahweh has not allowed me to become pregnant. So sleep with my slave Hagar. Perhaps she will bear children whom I can consider to be mine." Abram agreed to do what Sarai said.
\v 3 This happened ten years after Abram and Sarai went to live in Canaan land. In this way Abram took Hagar, Sarai's slave from Egypt, to be his second wife.
\v 4 So he slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress Sarai.
\s5
\v 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, "It is your fault! I put my servant into your arms so that you could sleep with her. Now she is pregnant, and she despises me because I have no children. May Yahweh find you guilty for doing this to me!"
\v 6 So Abram said to Sarai, "Listen to me! She is your servant, so act toward her in the way you consider best." Then Sarai started to mistreat her, so Hagar ran away.
\s5
\v 7 The angel of Yahweh went to her as she was near a spring of water in the desert. It was the spring that was alongside the road to Shur.
\v 8 He said to her, "Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?" She replied, "I have run away from Sarai, my mistress."
\s5
\v 9 The angel of Yahweh said, "Go back to your mistress and continue to obey her."
\v 10 The angel of Yahweh also said to her, "I will enable you to bear so many descendants that no one will be able to count them!"
\s5
\v 11 The angel of Yahweh also said to her, "Listen to this! You are pregnant. You will give birth to a son. You must name him Ishmael, which means 'God listens,' because Yahweh has heard you crying because you feel so miserable.
\v 12 But your son will be as uncontrollable as a wild donkey. He will oppose everyone, and everyone will oppose him. He will live far away from all his relatives."
\s5
\v 13 Hagar said to herself, "I continue to live, even though Yahweh has seen me!" So she called Yahweh, "God, the one who sees me."
\v 14 That is why people call the well there "Beer Lahai Roi," which means, "the well of the living one who sees me!" It is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
\s5
\p
\v 15 So Hagar later gave birth to a son for Abram, and she named him Ishmael.
\v 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Abram's son Ishmael.
\s5
\c 17
\p
\v 1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram again and said to him, "I am God Almighty. I want you to live your life in the way that I want. I want you to not do anything wrong.
\v 2 I will confirm my covenant between us, and I will cause you to have a very great number of descendants."
\s5
\v 3 Abram bowed down with his face on the ground. Then God said to him,
\v 4 "Listen to this! This is the covenant I am making with you: You will be the father of many groups of people.
\v 5 Your name will be Abram no longer. Instead, your name will be Abraham, because I will make you the father of many groups of people.
\v 6 I will cause you to have very, very many descendants, and I will cause nations and kings to be among them.
\s5
\v 7 I will make this covenant between me and you and the generations of your descendants after you forever. Because of this covenant, you will worship and follow me as God, and so will your descendants.
\v 8 I will give to you and to your descendants the land of Canaan, the whole land of Canaan, where you are now living. It will be an everlasting possession for them, and I will be their God."
\s5
\p
\v 9 Then God said to Abraham, "Now you must keep your part of the covenant that I am making with you, and your descendants must also obey it, for all generations.
\v 10 This is a requirement of the covenant that I am making between myself and you and all your descendants: Every male among you must be circumcised.
\v 11 Cutting the foreskins of them will be the sign that you have accepted the covenant that I am making with you.
\s5
\v 12 Every male child among you must be circumcised when he is eight days old, in all future generations. That includes baby boys in your household and those born from slaves that have been bought, and foreigners who live among you but do not belong to your household.
\v 13 It does not matter whether their parents are members of your household or slaves that you have bought; they must all be circumcised. Your bodies will have this mark to show you have accepted this everlasting covenant that I am making.
\v 14 You must drive out from your community any male who has not been circumcised, because that person has disobeyed my covenant."
\s5
\p
\v 15 God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai, your wife, you must not call her Sarai any longer. I will change her name also. Her name will now be Sarah.
\v 16 I will bless her, and she will surely give birth to a son for you. And I will bless her so much that she will be the ancestor of people of many nations. Kings and people groups will be descended from her."
\s5
\p
\v 17 Abraham lay down with his face on the ground in respect before God. But then he laughed as he said to himself, "Can a man who is a hundred years old become a father of a son? And since Sarah is ninety years old, how can she bear a child?"
\v 18 Then Abraham said to God, "Perhaps you will let Ishmael receive your blessing and inherit all I possess."
\s5
\v 19 Then God replied, "No! Your wife Sarah will bear a son for you. You must name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him, one that will be an everlasting covenant with him and his descendants.
\v 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard what you asked me to do for him. I will bless him so that he also will have many descendants. Among his descendants will be the leaders of twelve tribes. And I will cause his descendants to become a great nation.
\v 21 But it is with Isaac that I will establish my covenant—Isaac, the son whom Sarah will give birth to at this time next year."
\s5
\v 22 When God finished talking to Abraham, God disappeared from his sight.
\p
\v 23 On that same day, Abraham took his son Ishmael and all the males that were in his household, including the sons of all the slaves he had bought, and circumcised them. He cut off their foreskins, just as God told him to do.
\s5
\v 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised,
\v 25 and Ishmael was thirteen years old when Abraham circumcised him.
\v 26 It was on that very same day that Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised.
\v 27 All the males in his household, the ones who had been born there and those Abraham had bought from foreigners, were also circumcised.
\s5
\c 18
\p
\v 1 One day during that year, at the time of day when it was hot, Yahweh appeared to Abraham again near the big trees that belonged to Mamre. Abraham was sitting in the entrance to his tent.
\v 2 Abraham looked up and was surprised to see three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them. He prostrated himself with his face on the ground in respect.
\s5
\v 3 He said to one of them, "Lord, if you are pleased with me, stay here for a little while.
\v 4 Allow my servants to bring a little water and wash your feet, and then rest under this tree.
\v 5 Since you have come here to me, allow me to bring you some food so that you can gain strength before you leave." The men replied, "All right, do as you have said."
\s5
\v 6 Then Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, "Quick, get twenty kilograms of our best flour and make some bread!"
\v 7 Then he ran to the herd of cattle and selected a calf whose meat would be tender and tasty. He gave it to one of his servants, who hurried to kill and cook it.
\v 8 When the meat was cooked, Abraham brought some curds, milk, and the meat that the servant had prepared. He placed them in front of them. Then he stood near them under a tree while they ate.
\s5
\v 9 After they ate, they asked him, "Where is Sarah, your wife?" He replied, "She is in the tent."
\v 10 Then the leader of the group said, "I will return to you in the springtime next year, and listen, your wife Sarah will have an infant son." It happened that Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, which was behind the man who was speaking.
\s5
\v 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah was far past the time of childbearing.
\v 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, "My body is worn out, and my husband is old. So how can I have the pleasure of having a baby?"
\s5
\v 13 Yahweh said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? Why was she thinking, 'I am too old, so how can I bear a child'?
\v 14 Is there anything too difficult for me? I will return about this time next year in the springtime, the time I have fixed, and Sarah will have an infant son."
\v 15 Then Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, "I did not laugh." But Yahweh said, "Do not deny it! You did laugh."
\s5
\p
\v 16 When the three men got up to leave, they looked down into the valley toward the city of Sodom. Abraham was walking with them to say "Farewell" to them.
\v 17 Yahweh said to himself, "It is not right for me to prevent Abraham from knowing what I plan to do.
\v 18 Abraham's descendants will become a great and powerful people group. And people of all people groups will be blessed because of what I do for him.
\v 19 I have chosen him in order that he will direct his children and their families so that they will obey me and do what is right and fair, so that I will do for Abraham what I have promised to do for him."
\s5
\v 20 So Yahweh said to Abraham, "I have heard the terrible things that some people have been saying about the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Their sins are very great.
\v 21 So I will go down now, and I will see if all the terrible things that I have heard are true or not true."
\s5
\v 22 Then the two other men turned and started walking toward Sodom. But Abraham kept standing in front of Yahweh.
\v 23 Abraham came closer to him and said, "Will you really destroy people who have done nothing wrong along with the wicked ones?
\s5
\v 24 What will you do if there are fifty people in the city who have done nothing wrong? Will you really destroy them all, and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people who have done nothing wrong?
\v 25 Certainly you would not do such a thing, to kill good people along with wicked ones, and treat good people and wicked people the same way. You could not do that, because you, who are the judge of everyone on the earth, will certainly do what is right regarding the people of Sodom!"
\v 26 Yahweh replied, "If I find fifty people in Sodom who have done nothing wrong, I will spare the whole place for their sake."
\s5
\v 27 Abraham replied, "I should not be bold like this and speak to you, my Lord, because I am as worthless as dust and ashes.
\v 28 But what will you do if there are only forty-five people who have done nothing wrong? Will you destroy everyone in the whole city because there are only forty-five and not fifty good people?" Yahweh replied, "I will not destroy it if I find that there are forty-five good people."
\s5
\v 29 Abraham continued to speak to him like this, saying, "What will you do if you find that there are only forty good people there?" Yahweh replied, "I will not destroy them all, for the sake of the forty."
\v 30 Abraham said, "Please do not be angry now. Let me speak again. What will you do if there are only thirty good people?" He replied, "I will not do it if I find that there are thirty there."
\v 31 Abraham said, "I should not be bold and speak to you like this, my Lord. But what will you do if you find that there are only twenty good people there?" He replied, "I will not destroy the whole city, for the sake of those twenty."
\s5
\v 32 Finally, Abraham said, "My Lord, do not be angry now. Just let me speak one time more. What will you do if you find that there are only ten good people there?" Yahweh answered, "I will not destroy the city for the sake of those ten."
\v 33 Abraham said no more. As soon as Yahweh finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham went home.
\s5
\c 19
\p
\v 1 That evening, the two angels arrived in Sodom. Lot was sitting at the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to greet them and prostrated himself with his face on the ground.
\v 2 He said to them, "Gentlemen, please stay in my house tonight. You can wash your feet, and early tomorrow you can continue your journey." But they said, "No, we will just sleep in the city square."
\v 3 But Lot kept insisting strongly that they sleep in his house. So they entered his house with him, and he prepared a meal for them. He baked some bread without yeast, and they ate it.
\s5
\v 4 After they finished eating, before they went to bed, the men of the city of Sodom, all of them, from the young ones to the old ones, surrounded the house.
\v 5 They called out to Lot, saying, "Where are the men who came to your house this evening? Bring them out, so that we can sleep with them!"
\s5
\v 6 Lot went outside the house and shut the door behind him, so that they could not go inside.
\v 7 He said to them, "My friends, do not do such an evil thing!
\v 8 Listen to me. I have two daughters who have never slept with any man. Let me bring them out to you now, and you can do with them whatever pleases you. But do not do anything to these men, because they are guests in my house, so I must protect them!"
\s5
\v 9 But they replied, "Get out of our way! You are a foreigner; so you have no right to tell us what is right! We will do worse things to you than we will do to them!" Then they lunged toward Lot, and tried forcefully to break down the door.
\s5
\v 10 But the two angels opened the door carefully, reached out their hands, and pulled Lot inside the house. Then they quickly shut the door.
\v 11 Then they caused all the men who were outside the door of the house, young and old, to become blind, so that they could not find the door.
\s5
\v 12 Then the two angels said to Lot, "Who else is with you here? If you have sons or sons-in-law or daughters or anyone else in the city who is related to you, take them out of the city,
\v 13 because we are going to destroy this place. Yahweh has heard many terrible things that some people have said about this city, and he has sent us to destroy it."
\s5
\v 14 So Lot went and spoke to the men who had pledged to marry his daughters. He said to them, "Hurry! Get out of this city, because Yahweh is about to destroy it!" But his future sons-in-law thought he was joking.
\v 15 As it was about to dawn the next morning, the two angels urged Lot, saying, "Get up quickly! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here with you and leave! If you do not, you will be swept away when we destroy the city!"
\s5
\v 16 When Lot hesitated, the angels grasped his hand and his wife's hand and the hands of his two daughters. They led them outside the city safely. The angels did that because Yahweh was acting mercifully toward them.
\v 17 When they were outside the city, one of the angels said, "If you want to stay alive, run away quickly! Do not look back! And do not stop anywhere in the valley! Flee to the hills! If you do not, you will die!"
\s5
\v 18 But Lot said to one of them, "No, sir, do not make me do that!
\v 19 Please, listen. You have been pleased with me and have been very kind to me and spared my life. But I cannot flee to the mountain. If I try to do that, I will die in this disaster.
\v 20 Listen to me. There is a town nearby. Let me run there now. It is only a small town, and if you do not destroy it, our lives will be saved if we go there."
\s5
\v 21 One of the angels said to Lot, "I will allow you to do what you have requested. And I will not destroy the town you are talking about.
\v 22 But hurry! Run there, because I cannot destroy anything until you arrive." People later called the name of the town Zoar, which means 'not-important,' because Lot said that it was a small village.