The Holy Bible The New Jerusalem Bible NJB Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created heaven and earth. Gen 1:2 Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep, with a divine wind sweeping over the waters. Gen 1:3 God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. Gen 1:4 God saw that light was good, and God divided light from darkness. Gen 1:5 God called light 'day', and darkness he called 'night'. Evening came and morning came: the first day. Gen 1:6 God said, 'Let there be a vault through the middle of the waters to divide the waters in two.' And so it was. Gen 1:7 God made the vault, and it divided the waters under the vault from the waters above the vault. Gen 1:8 God called the vault 'heaven'. Evening came and morning came: the second day. Gen 1:9 God said, 'Let the waters under heaven come together into a single mass, and let dry land appear.' And so it was. Gen 1:10 God called the dry land 'earth' and the mass of waters 'seas', and God saw that it was good. Gen 1:11 God said, 'Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants, and fruit trees on earth, bearing fruit with their seed inside, each corresponding to its own species.' And so it was. Gen 1:12 The earth produced vegetation: the various kinds of seed-bearing plants and the fruit trees with seed inside, each corresponding to its own species. God saw that it was good. Gen 1:13 Evening came and morning came: the third day. Gen 1:14 God said, 'Let there be lights in the vault of heaven to divide day from night, and let them indicate festivals, days and years. Gen 1:15 Let them be lights in the vault of heaven to shine on the earth.' And so it was. Gen 1:16 God made the two great lights: the greater light to govern the day, the smaller light to govern the night, and the stars. Gen 1:17 God set them in the vault of heaven to shine on the earth, Gen 1:18 to govern the day and the night and to divide light from darkness. God saw that it was good. Gen 1:19 Evening came and morning came: the fourth day. Gen 1:20 God said, 'Let the waters be alive with a swarm of living creatures, and let birds wing their way above the earth across the vault of heaven.' And so it was. Gen 1:21 God created great sea-monsters and all the creatures that glide and teem in the waters in their own species, and winged birds in their own species. God saw that it was good. Gen 1:22 God blessed them, saying, 'Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas; and let the birds multiply on land.' Gen 1:23 Evening came and morning came: the fifth day. Gen 1:24 God said, 'Let the earth produce every kind of living creature in its own species: cattle, creeping things and wild animals of all kinds.' And so it was. Gen 1:25 God made wild animals in their own species, and cattle in theirs, and every creature that crawls along the earth in its own species. God saw that it was good. Gen 1:26 God said, 'Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all the wild animals and all the creatures that creep along the ground.' Gen 1:27 God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. Gen 1:28 God blessed them, saying to them, 'Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all the living creatures that move on earth.' Gen 1:29 God also said, 'Look, to you I give all the seed-bearing plants everywhere on the surface of the earth, and all the trees with seed-bearing fruit; this will be your food. Gen 1:30 And to all the wild animals, all the birds of heaven and all the living creatures that creep along the ground, I give all the foliage of the plants as their food.' And so it was. Gen 1:31 God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good. Evening came and morning came: the sixth day. Gen 2:1 Thus heaven and earth were completed with all their array. Gen 2:2 On the seventh day God had completed the work he had been doing. He rested on the seventh day after all the work he had been doing. Gen 2:3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on that day he rested after all his work of creating. Gen 2:4 Such was the story of heaven and earth as they were created. At the time when Yahweh God made earth and heaven Gen 2:5 there was as yet no wild bush on the earth nor had any wild plant yet sprung up, for Yahweh God had not sent rain on the earth, nor was there any man to till the soil. Gen 2:6 Instead, water flowed out of the ground and watered all the surface of the soil. Gen 2:7 Yahweh God shaped man from the soil of the ground and blew the breath of life into his nostrils, and man became a living being. Gen 2:8 Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden, which is in the east, and there he put the man he had fashioned. Gen 2:9 From the soil, Yahweh God caused to grow every kind of tree, enticing to look at and good to eat, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Gen 2:10 A river flowed from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided to make four streams. Gen 2:11 The first is named the Pishon, and this winds all through the land of Havilah where there is gold. Gen 2:12 The gold of this country is pure; bdellium and cornelian stone are found there. Gen 2:13 The second river is named the Gihon, and this winds all through the land of Cush. Gen 2:14 The third river is named the Tigris, and this flows to the east of Ashur. The fourth river is the Euphrates. Gen 2:15 Yahweh God took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden to cultivate and take care of it. Gen 2:16 Then Yahweh God gave the man this command, 'You are free to eat of all the trees in the garden. Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are not to eat; for, the day you eat of that, you are doomed to die.' Gen 2:18 Yahweh God said, 'It is not right that the man should be alone. I shall make him a helper.' Gen 2:19 So from the soil Yahweh God fashioned all the wild animals and all the birds of heaven. These he brought to the man to see what he would call them; each one was to bear the name the man would give it. Gen 2:20 The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of heaven and all the wild animals. But no helper suitable for the man was found for him. Gen 2:21 Then, Yahweh God made the man fall into a deep sleep. And, while he was asleep, he took one of his ribs and closed the flesh up again forthwith. Gen 2:22 Yahweh God fashioned the rib he had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man. Gen 2:23 And the man said: This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh! She is to be called Woman, because she was taken from Man. Gen 2:24 This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and they become one flesh. Gen 2:25 Now, both of them were naked, the man and his wife, but they felt no shame before each other. Gen 3:1 Now, the snake was the most subtle of all the wild animals that Yahweh God had made. It asked the woman, 'Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?' Gen 3:2 The woman answered the snake, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. Gen 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, "You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death." ' Gen 3:4 Then the snake said to the woman, 'No! You will not die! Gen 3:5 God knows in fact that the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good from evil.' Gen 3:6 The woman saw that the tree was good to eat and pleasing to the eye, and that it was enticing for the wisdom that it could give. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Gen 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realised that they were naked. So they sewed fig- leaves together to make themselves loin-cloths. Gen 3:8 The man and his wife heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. Gen 3:9 But Yahweh God called to the man. 'Where are you?' he asked. Gen 3:10 'I heard the sound of you in the garden,' he replied. 'I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.' Gen 3:11 'Who told you that you were naked?' he asked. 'Have you been eating from the tree I forbade you to eat?' Gen 3:12 The man replied, 'It was the woman you put with me; she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.' Gen 3:13 Then Yahweh God said to the woman, 'Why did you do that?' The woman replied, 'The snake tempted me and I ate.' Gen 3:14 Then Yahweh God said to the snake, 'Because you have done this, Accursed be you of all animals wild and tame! On your belly you will go and on dust you will feed as long as you live. Gen 3:15 I shall put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; it will bruise your head and you will strike its heel.' Gen 3:16 To the woman he said: I shall give you intense pain in childbearing, you will give birth to your children in pain. Your yearning will be for your husband, and he will dominate you. Gen 3:17 To the man he said, 'Because you listened to the voice of your wife and ate from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat, Accursed be the soil because of you! Painfully will you get your food from it as long as you live. Gen 3:18 It will yield you brambles and thistles, as you eat the produce of the land. Gen 3:19 By the sweat of your face will you earn your food, until you return to the ground, as you were taken from it. For dust you are and to dust you shall return.' Gen 3:20 The man named his wife 'Eve' because she was the mother of all those who live. Gen 3:21 Yahweh God made tunics of skins for the man and his wife and clothed them. Gen 3:22 Then Yahweh God said, 'Now that the man has become like one of us in knowing good from evil, he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and pick from the tree of life too, and eat and live for ever!' Gen 3:23 So Yahweh God expelled him from the garden of Eden, to till the soil from which he had been taken. Gen 3:24 He banished the man, and in front of the garden of Eden he posted the great winged creatures and the fiery flashing sword, to guard the way to the tree of life. Gen 4:1 The man had intercourse with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. 'I have acquired a man with the help of Yahweh,' she said. Gen 4:2 She gave birth to a second child, Abel, the brother of Cain. Now Abel became a shepherd and kept flocks, while Cain tilled the soil. Gen 4:3 Time passed and Cain brought some of the produce of the soil as an offering for Yahweh, Gen 4:4 while Abel for his part brought the first-born of his flock and some of their fat as well. Yahweh looked with favour on Abel and his offering. Gen 4:5 But he did not look with favour on Cain and his offering, and Cain was very angry and downcast. Gen 4:6 Yahweh asked Cain, 'Why are you angry and downcast? Gen 4:7 If you are doing right, surely you ought to hold your head high! But if you are not doing right, Sin is crouching at the door hungry to get you. You can still master him.' Gen 4:8 Cain said to his brother Abel, 'Let us go out'; and while they were in the open country, Cain set on his brother Abel and killed him. Gen 4:9 Yahweh asked Cain, 'Where is your brother Abel?' 'I do not know,' he replied. 'Am I my brother's guardian?' Gen 4:10 'What have you done?' Yahweh asked. 'Listen! Your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground. Gen 4:11 Now be cursed and banned from the ground that has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood at your hands. Gen 4:12 When you till the ground it will no longer yield up its strength to you. A restless wanderer you will be on earth.' Gen 4:13 Cain then said to Yahweh, 'My punishment is greater than I can bear. Gen 4:14 Look, today you drive me from the surface of the earth. I must hide from you, and be a restless wanderer on earth. Why, whoever comes across me will kill me!' Gen 4:15 'Very well, then,' Yahweh replied, 'whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.' So Yahweh put a mark on Cain, so that no one coming across him would kill him. Gen 4:16 Cain left Yahweh's presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Gen 4:17 Cain had intercourse with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. He became the founder of a city and gave the city the name of his son Enoch. Gen 4:18 Enoch fathered Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael; Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. Gen 4:19 Lamech married two women: the name of the first was Adah and the name of the second was Zillah. Gen 4:20 Adah gave birth to Jabal: he was the ancestor of tent-dwelling herdsmen. Gen 4:21 His brother's name was Jubal: he was the ancestor of all who play the harp and the pipe. Gen 4:22 As for Zillah, she gave birth to Tubal-Cain: he was the ancestor of all who work copper and iron. Tubal-Cain's sister was Naamah. Gen 4:23 Lamech said to his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice, wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I killed a man for wounding me, a boy for striking me. Gen 4:24 Sevenfold vengeance for Cain, but seventy-sevenfold for Lamech. Gen 4:25 Adam had intercourse with his wife, and she gave birth to a son whom she named Seth, 'because God has granted me other offspring', she said, 'in place of Abel, since Cain has killed him.' Gen 4:26 A son was also born to Seth, and he named him Enosh. This man was the first to invoke the name Yahweh. Gen 5:1 This is the roll of Adam's descendants: On the day that God created Adam he made him in the likeness of God. Gen 5:2 Male and female he created them. He blessed them and gave them the name Man, when they were created. Gen 5:3 When Adam was a hundred and thirty years old he fathered a son, in his likeness, after his image, and he called him Seth. Gen 5:4 Adam lived for eight hundred years after the birth of Seth and he fathered sons and daughters. Gen 5:5 In all, Adam lived for nine hundred and thirty years; then he died. Gen 5:6 When Seth was a hundred and five years old he fathered Enosh. Gen 5:7 After the birth of Enosh, Seth lived for eight hundred and seven years, and he fathered sons and daughters. Gen 5:8 In all, Seth lived for nine hundred and twelve years; then he died. Gen 5:9 When Enosh was ninety years old he fathered Kenan. Gen 5:10 After the birth of Kenan, Enosh lived for eight hundred and fifteen years and he fathered sons and daughters. Gen 5:11 In all, Enosh lived for nine hundred and five years; then he died. Gen 5:12 When Kenan was seventy years old he fathered Mahalalel. Gen 5:13 After the birth of Mahalalel, Kenan lived for eight hundred and forty years and he fathered sons and daughters. Gen 5:14 In all, Kenan lived for nine hundred and ten years; then he died. Gen 5:15 When Mahalalel was sixty-five years old he fathered Jared. Gen 5:16 After the birth of Jared, Mahalalel lived for eight hundred and thirty years and he fathered sons and daughters. Gen 5:17 In all, Mahalalel lived for eight hundred and ninety-five years; then he died. Gen 5:18 When Jared was a hundred and sixty-two years old he fathered Enoch. Gen 5:19 After the birth of Enoch, Jared lived for eight hundred years and he fathered sons and daughters. Gen 5:20 In all, Jared lived for nine hundred and sixty-two years; then he died. Gen 5:21 When Enoch was sixty-five years old he fathered Methuselah. Gen 5:22 Enoch walked with God. After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived for three hundred years and he fathered sons and daughters. Gen 5:23 In all, Enoch lived for three hundred and sixty-five years. Gen 5:24 Enoch walked with God, then was no more, because God took him. Gen 5:25 When Methuselah was a hundred and eighty-seven years old he fathered Lamech. Gen 5:26 After the birth of Lamech, Methuselah lived for seven hundred and eighty-two years and he fathered sons and daughters. Gen 5:27 In all, Methuselah lived for nine hundred and sixty-nine years; then he died. Gen 5:28 When Lamech was a hundred and eighty-two years old he fathered a son. Gen 5:29 He gave him the name Noah because, he said, 'Here is one who will give us, in the midst of our toil and the labouring of our hands, a consolation out of the very soil that Yahweh cursed.' Gen 5:30 After the birth of Noah, Lamech lived for five hundred and ninety-five years and fathered sons and daughters. Gen 5:31 In all, Lamech lived for seven hundred and seventy-seven years; then he died. Gen 5:32 When Noah was five hundred years old he fathered Shem, Ham and Japheth. Gen 6:1 When people began being numerous on earth, and daughters had been born to them, Gen 6:2 the sons of God, looking at the women, saw how beautiful they were and married as many of them as they chose. Gen 6:3 Yahweh said, 'My spirit cannot be indefinitely responsible for human beings, who are only flesh; let the time allowed each be a hundred and twenty years.' Gen 6:4 The Nephilim were on earth in those days (and even afterwards) when the sons of God resorted to the women, and had children by them. These were the heroes of days gone by, men of renown. Gen 6:5 Yahweh saw that human wickedness was great on earth and that human hearts contrived nothing but wicked schemes all day long. Gen 6:6 Yahweh regretted having made human beings on earth and was grieved at heart. Gen 6:7 And Yahweh said, 'I shall rid the surface of the earth of the human beings whom I created -- human and animal, the creeping things and the birds of heaven -- for I regret having made them.' Gen 6:8 But Noah won Yahweh's favour. Gen 6:9 This is the story of Noah: Noah was a good man, an upright man among his contemporaries, and he walked with God. Gen 6:10 Noah fathered three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. Gen 6:11 God saw that the earth was corrupt and full of lawlessness. Gen 6:12 God looked at the earth: it was corrupt, for corrupt were the ways of all living things on earth. Gen 6:13 God said to Noah, 'I have decided that the end has come for all living things, for the earth is full of lawlessness because of human beings. So I am now about to destroy them and the earth. Gen 6:14 Make yourself an ark out of resinous wood. Make it of reeds and caulk it with pitch inside and out. Gen 6:15 This is how to make it: the length of the ark is to be three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. Gen 6:16 Make a roof to the ark, building it up to a cubit higher. Put the entrance in the side of the ark, which is to be made with lower, second and third decks. Gen 6:17 'For my part I am going to send the flood, the waters, on earth, to destroy all living things having the breath of life under heaven; everything on earth is to perish. Gen 6:18 But with you I shall establish my covenant and you will go aboard the ark, yourself, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives along with you. Gen 6:19 From all living creatures, from all living things, you must take two of each kind aboard the ark, to save their lives with yours; they must be a male and a female. Gen 6:20 Of every species of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that creeps along the ground, two must go with you so that their lives may be saved. Gen 6:21 For your part, provide yourself with eatables of all kinds, and lay in a store of them, to serve as food for yourself and them.' Gen 6:22 Noah did this; exactly as God commanded him, he did. Gen 7:1 Yahweh said to Noah, 'Go aboard the ark, you and all your household, for you alone of your contemporaries do I see before me as an upright man. Gen 7:2 Of every clean animal you must take seven pairs, a male and its female; of the unclean animals you must take one pair, a male and its female Gen 7:3 (and of the birds of heaven, seven pairs, a male and its female), to preserve their species throughout the earth. Gen 7:4 For in seven days' time I shall make it rain on earth for forty days and forty nights, and I shall wipe every creature I have made off the face of the earth.' Gen 7:5 Noah did exactly as Yahweh commanded him. Gen 7:6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came, the waters over the earth. Gen 7:7 Noah with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives boarded the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Gen 7:8 (Of the clean animals and the animals that are not clean, of the birds and all that creeps along the ground, Gen 7:9 one pair boarded the ark with Noah, one male and one female, as God had commanded Noah.) Gen 7:10 Seven days later the waters of the flood appeared on earth. Gen 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, and on the seventeenth day of the month, that very day all the springs of the great deep burst through, and the sluices of heaven opened. Gen 7:12 And heavy rain fell on earth for forty days and forty nights. Gen 7:13 That very day Noah and his sons Shem, Ham and Japheth boarded the ark, with Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons, Gen 7:14 and with them every species of wild animal, every species of cattle, every species of creeping things that creep along the ground, every species of bird, everything that flies, everything with wings. Gen 7:15 One pair of all that was alive and had the breath of life boarded the ark with Noah, Gen 7:16 and those that went aboard were a male and female of all that was alive, as God had commanded him. Then Yahweh shut him in. Gen 7:17 The flood lasted forty days on earth. The waters swelled, lifting the ark until it floated off the ground. Gen 7:18 The waters rose, swelling higher above the ground, and the ark drifted away over the waters. Gen 7:19 The waters rose higher and higher above the ground until all the highest mountains under the whole of heaven were submerged. Gen 7:20 The waters reached their peak fifteen cubits above the submerged mountains. Gen 7:21 And all living things that stirred on earth perished; birds, cattle, wild animals, all the creatures swarming over the earth, and all human beings. Gen 7:22 Everything with the least breath of life in its nostrils, everything on dry land, died. Gen 7:23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out, people, animals, creeping things and birds; they were wiped off the earth and only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. Gen 7:24 The waters maintained their level on earth for a hundred and fifty days. Gen 8:1 But God had Noah in mind, and all the wild animals and all the cattle that were with him in the ark. God sent a wind across the earth and the waters began to subside. Gen 8:2 The springs of the deep and the sluices of heaven were stopped up and the heavy rain from heaven was held back. Gen 8:3 Little by little, the waters ebbed from the earth. After a hundred and fifty days the waters fell, Gen 8:4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Gen 8:5 The waters gradually fell until the tenth month when, on the first day of the tenth month, the mountain tops appeared. Gen 8:6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark Gen 8:7 and released a raven, which flew back and forth as it waited for the waters to dry up on earth. Gen 8:8 He then released a dove, to see whether the waters were receding from the surface of the earth. Gen 8:9 But the dove, finding nowhere to perch, returned to him in the ark, for there was water over the whole surface of the earth; putting out his hand he took hold of it and brought it back into the ark with him. Gen 8:10 After waiting seven more days, he again released the dove from the ark. Gen 8:11 In the evening, the dove came back to him and there in its beak was a freshly-picked olive leaf! So Noah realised that the waters were receding from the earth. Gen 8:12 After waiting seven more days, he released the dove, and now it returned to him no more. Gen 8:13 It was in the six hundred and first year of Noah's life, in the first month and on the first of the month, that the waters began drying out on earth. Noah lifted back the hatch of the ark and looked out. The surface of the ground was dry! Gen 8:14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. Gen 8:15 Then God said to Noah, Gen 8:16 'Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons' wives with you. Gen 8:17 Bring out all the animals with you, all living things, the birds, the cattle and all the creeping things that creep along the ground, for them to swarm on earth, for them to breed and multiply on earth.' Gen 8:18 So Noah came out with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives. Gen 8:19 And all the wild animals, all the cattle, all the birds and all the creeping things that creep along the ground, came out of the ark, one species after another. Gen 8:20 Then Noah built an altar to Yahweh and, choosing from all the clean animals and all the clean birds he presented burnt offerings on the altar. Gen 8:21 Yahweh smelt the pleasing smell and said to himself, 'Never again will I curse the earth because of human beings, because their heart contrives evil from their infancy. Never again will I strike down every living thing as I have done. Gen 8:22 As long as earth endures: seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.' Gen 9:1 God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, 'Breed, multiply and fill the earth. Gen 9:2 Be the terror and the dread of all the animals on land and all the birds of heaven, of everything that moves on land and all the fish of the sea; they are placed in your hands. Gen 9:3 Every living thing that moves will be yours to eat, no less than the foliage of the plants. I give you everything, Gen 9:4 with this exception: you must not eat flesh with life, that is to say blood, in it. Gen 9:5 And I shall demand account of your life-blood, too. I shall demand it of every animal, and of man. Of man as regards his fellow-man, I shall demand account for human life. Gen 9:6 He who sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God was man created. Gen 9:7 Be fruitful then and multiply, teem over the earth and subdue it!' Gen 9:8 God spoke as follows to Noah and his sons, Gen 9:9 'I am now establishing my covenant with you and with your descendants to come, Gen 9:10 and with every living creature that was with you: birds, cattle and every wild animal with you; everything that came out of the ark, every living thing on earth. Gen 9:11 And I shall maintain my covenant with you: that never again shall all living things be destroyed by the waters of a flood, nor shall there ever again be a flood to devastate the earth.' Gen 9:12 'And this', God said, 'is the sign of the covenant which I now make between myself and you and every living creature with you for all ages to come: Gen 9:13 I now set my bow in the clouds and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Gen 9:14 When I gather the clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, Gen 9:15 I shall recall the covenant between myself and you and every living creature, in a word all living things, and never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all living things. Gen 9:16 When the bow is in the clouds I shall see it and call to mind the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth, that is, all living things.' Gen 9:17 'That', God told Noah, 'is the sign of the covenant I have established between myself and all living things on earth.' Gen 9:18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth-Ham being the father of Canaan. Gen 9:19 These three were Noah's sons, and from these the whole earth was peopled. Gen 9:20 Noah, a tiller of the soil, was the first to plant the vine. Gen 9:21 He drank some of the wine, and while he was drunk, he lay uncovered in his tent. Gen 9:22 Ham, father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. Gen 9:23 Shem and Japheth took a cloak and they both put it over their shoulders, and walking backwards, covered their father's nakedness; they kept their faces turned away, and they did not look at their father naked. Gen 9:24 When Noah awoke from his stupor he learned what his youngest son had done to him, Gen 9:25 and said: Accursed be Canaan, he shall be his brothers' meanest slave. Gen 9:26 He added: Blessed be Yahweh, God of Shem, let Canaan be his slave! Gen 9:27 May God make space for Japheth, may he live in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his slave! Gen 9:28 After the flood Noah lived three hundred and fifty years. Gen 9:29 In all, Noah's life lasted nine hundred and fifty years; then he died. Gen 10:1 These are the descendants of Noah's sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, to whom sons were born after the flood: Gen 10:2 Japheth's sons: Gomer, Magog, the Medes, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, Tiras. Gen 10:3 Gomer's sons: Ashkenaz, Riphath, Togarmah. Gen 10:4 Javan's sons: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim, the Dananites. Gen 10:5 From these came the dispersal to the islands of the nations. These were Japheth's sons, in their respective countries, each with its own language, by clan and nation. Gen 10:6 Ham's sons: Cush, Mizraim, Put, Canaan. Gen 10:7 Cush's sons: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, Sabteca. Raamah's sons: Sheba, Dedan. Gen 10:8 Cush fathered Nimrod who was the first potentate on earth. Gen 10:9 He was a mighty hunter in the eyes of Yahweh, hence the saying, 'Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter in the eyes of Yahweh'. Gen 10:10 The mainstays of his empire were Babel, Erech and Accad, all of them in the land of Shinar. Gen 10:11 From this country came Asshur, and he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, Gen 10:12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (this being the capital). Gen 10:13 Mizraim fathered the people of Lud, of Anam, Lehab, Naphtuh, Gen 10:14 Pathros, Casluh and Caphtor, from which the Philistines came. Gen 10:15 Canaan fathered Sidon, his first-born, then Heth, Gen 10:16 and the Jebusites, the Amorites, Girgashites, Gen 10:17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Gen 10:18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. Later, the Canaanite clans spread out. Gen 10:19 The Canaanite frontier stretched from Sidon all the way to Gerar near Gaza, and all the way to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim near Lesha. Gen 10:20 These were Ham's sons, by clans and languages, by countries and nations. Gen 10:21 Shem too fathered sons, being ancestor of all the sons of Eber and Japheth's elder brother. Gen 10:22 Shem's sons: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, Aram. Gen 10:23 Aram's sons: Uz, Hul, Gether and Mash. Gen 10:24 Arpachshad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber. Gen 10:25 To Eber were born two sons: the first was called Peleg, because it was in his time that the earth was divided, and his brother was called Joktan. Gen 10:26 Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Gen 10:27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Gen 10:28 Obal, Abima-El, Sheba, Gen 10:29 Ophir, Havilah, Jobab; all these were sons of Joktan. Gen 10:30 They occupied a stretch of country from Mesha all the way to Sephar, the eastern mountain range. Gen 10:31 These were Shem's sons, by clans and languages, by countries and nations. Gen 10:32 Such were the clans of Noah's descendants, listed by descent and nation. From them, other nations branched out on earth after the flood. Gen 11:1 The whole world spoke the same language, with the same vocabulary. Gen 11:2 Now, as people moved eastwards they found a valley in the land of Shinar where they settled. Gen 11:3 They said to one another, 'Come, let us make bricks and bake them in the fire.' For stone they used bricks, and for mortar they used bitumen. Gen 11:4 'Come,' they said, 'let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top reaching heaven. Let us make a name for ourselves, so that we do not get scattered all over the world.' Gen 11:5 Now Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower that the people had built. Gen 11:6 'So they are all a single people with a single language!' said Yahweh. 'This is only the start of their undertakings! Now nothing they plan to do will be beyond them. Gen 11:7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they cannot understand one another.' Gen 11:8 Yahweh scattered them thence all over the world, and they stopped building the city. Gen 11:9 That is why it was called Babel, since there Yahweh confused the language of the whole world, and from there Yahweh scattered them all over the world. Gen 11:10 These are Shem's descendants: When Shem was a hundred years old he fathered Arpachshad, two years after the flood. Gen 11:11 After the birth of Arpachshad, Shem lived five hundred years and fathered sons and daughters. Gen 11:12 When Arpachshad was thirty-five years old he fathered Shelah. Gen 11:13 After the birth of Shelah, Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years and fathered sons and daughters. Gen 11:14 When Shelah was thirty years old he fathered Eber. Gen 11:15 After the birth of Eber, Shelah lived four hundred and three years and fathered sons and daughters. Gen 11:16 When Eber was thirty-four years old he fathered Peleg. Gen 11:17 After the birth of Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years and fathered sons and daughters. Gen 11:18 When Peleg was thirty years old he fathered Reu. Gen 11:19 After the birth of Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years and fathered sons and daughters. Gen 11:20 When Reu was thirty-two years old he fathered Serug. Gen 11:21 After the birth of Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years and fathered sons and daughters. Gen 11:22 When Serug was thirty years old he fathered Nahor. Gen 11:23 After the birth of Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years and fathered sons and daughters. Gen 11:24 When Nahor was twenty-nine years old he fathered Terah. Gen 11:25 After the birth of Terah, Nahor lived a hundred and nineteen years and fathered sons and daughters. Gen 11:26 When Terah was seventy years old he fathered Abram, Nahor and Haran. Gen 11:27 These are Terah's descendants: Terah fathered Abram, Nahor and Haran. Haran fathered Lot. Gen 11:28 Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in his native land, Ur of the Chaldaeans. Gen 11:29 Abram and Nahor both married: Abram's wife was called Sarai, Nahor's wife was called Milcah daughter of Haran, father of Milcah and Iscah. Gen 11:30 Sarai was barren, having no child. Gen 11:31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law the wife of Abram, and made them leave Ur of the Chaldaeans to go to the land of Canaan. But on arrival in Haran they settled there. Gen 11:32 Terah's life lasted two hundred and five years; then he died at Haran. Gen 12:1 Yahweh said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your kindred and your father's house for a country which I shall show you; Gen 12:2 and I shall make you a great nation, I shall bless you and make your name famous; you are to be a blessing! Gen 12:3 I shall bless those who bless you, and shall curse those who curse you, and all clans on earth will bless themselves by you.' Gen 12:4 So Abram went as Yahweh told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Gen 12:5 Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had amassed and the people they had acquired in Haran. They set off for the land of Canaan, and arrived there. Gen 12:6 Abram passed through the country as far as the holy place at Shechem, the Oak of Moreh. The Canaanites were in the country at the time. Gen 12:7 Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, 'I shall give this country to your progeny.' And there, Abram built an altar to Yahweh who had appeared to him. Gen 12:8 From there he moved on to the mountainous district east of Bethel, where he pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to Yahweh and invoked the name of Yahweh. Gen 12:9 Then Abram made his way stage by stage to the Negeb. Gen 12:10 There was a famine in the country, and Abram went down to Egypt to stay there for a time, since the famine in the country was severe. Gen 12:11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, 'Look, I know you are a beautiful woman. Gen 12:12 When the Egyptians see you they will say, "That is his wife," and they will kill me but leave you alive. Gen 12:13 Therefore please tell them you are my sister, so that they may treat me well because of you and spare my life out of regard for you.' Gen 12:14 When Abram arrived in Egypt the Egyptians did indeed see that the woman was very beautiful. Gen 12:15 When Pharaoh's officials saw her they sang her praises to Pharaoh and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's household. Gen 12:16 And Abram was very well treated because of her and received flocks, oxen, donkeys, men and women slaves, she-donkeys and camels. Gen 12:17 But Yahweh inflicted severe plagues on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. Gen 12:18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, 'What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me she was your wife? Gen 12:19 Why did you say, "She is my sister," so that I took her to be my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!' Gen 12:20 And Pharaoh gave his people orders about him; they sent him on his way with his wife and all his possessions. Gen 13:1 From Egypt Abram returned to the Negeb with his wife and all he possessed, and Lot with him. Gen 13:2 Abram was very rich in livestock, silver and gold. Gen 13:3 By stages he went from the Negeb to Bethel, where he had first pitched his tent, between Bethel and Ai, Gen 13:4 at the place where he had formerly erected the altar. There Abram invoked the name of Yahweh. Gen 13:5 Lot, who was travelling with Abram, had flocks and cattle of his own, and tents too. Gen 13:6 The land was not sufficient to accommodate them both at once, for they had too many possessions to be able to live together. Gen 13:7 Dispute broke out between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and those of Lot. (The Canaanites and Perizzites were living in the country at the time.) Gen 13:8 Accordingly Abram said to Lot, 'We do not want discord between us or between my herdsmen and yours, for we are kinsmen. Gen 13:9 Is not the whole land open before you? Go in the opposite direction to me: if you take the left, I shall go right; if you take the right, I shall go left.' Gen 13:10 Looking round, Lot saw all the Jordan plain, irrigated everywhere -- this was before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah-like the garden of Yahweh or the land of Egypt, as far as Zoar. Gen 13:11 So Lot chose all the Jordan plain for himself and moved off eastwards. Thus they parted company: Gen 13:12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan; Lot settled among the cities of the plain, pitching his tents on the outskirts of Sodom. Gen 13:13 Now the people of Sodom were vicious and great sinners against Yahweh. Gen 13:14 Yahweh said to Abram after Lot had parted company from him, 'Look all round from where you are, to north and south, to east and west, Gen 13:15 for all the land within sight I shall give to you and your descendants for ever. Gen 13:16 I shall make your descendants like the dust on the ground; when people succeed in counting the specks of dust on the ground, then they will be able to count your descendants too! Gen 13:17 On your feet! Travel the length and breadth of the country, for I mean to give it to you.' Gen 13:18 So Abram moved his tent and went to settle at the Oak of Mamre, at Hebron, and there he built an altar to Yahweh. Gen 14:1 When Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedor-Laomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of the Goiim, Gen 14:2 made war on Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar), Gen 14:3 all the latter joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (now the Salt Sea). Gen 14:4 For twelve years they had been under the yoke of Chedor-Laomer, but in the thirteenth year they revolted. Gen 14:5 In the fourteenth year Chedor-Laomer arrived and the kings who had allied themselves with him. They defeated the Rephaim at Ashteroth-Carnaim, the Zuzim at Ham, the Emim in the Plain of Kiriathaim, Gen 14:6 the Horites in the mountainous district of Seir near El-Paran, which is on the edge of the desert. Gen 14:7 Wheeling round, they came to the Spring of Judgement (that is, Kadesh); they conquered all the territory of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-Tamar. Gen 14:8 Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and engaged them in the Valley of Siddim: Gen 14:9 Chedor-Laomer king of Elam, Tidal king of the Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar: four kings against five. Gen 14:10 Now there were many bitumen wells in the Valley of Siddim, and in their flight the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fell into them, while the rest fled into the hills. Gen 14:11 The conquerors seized all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and made off. Gen 14:12 They also took Lot (the nephew of Abram) and his possessions and made off; he had been living at Sodom. Gen 14:13 A survivor came to tell Abram, and Aner the Hebrew, who was living at the Oak of the Amorite Mamre, the brother of Eshcol; these were allies of Abram. Gen 14:14 When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he mustered his retainers born in his own household, numbering three hundred and eighteen, and gave chase as far as Dan. Gen 14:15 He and his retainers deployed against them under cover of dark, defeated them and pursued them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. Gen 14:16 He recaptured all the goods as well as his kinsman Lot and his possessions, together with the women and people. Gen 14:17 When Abram returned from defeating Chedor-Laomer and the kings who had been on his side, the king of Sodom came to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the Valley of the King). Gen 14:18 Melchizedek king of Salem brought bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High. Gen 14:19 He pronounced this blessing: Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High for putting your enemies into your clutches. Gen 14:20 And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. Gen 14:21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, 'Give me the people and take the possessions for yourself.' Gen 14:22 But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, 'I swear by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth: Gen 14:23 not one thread, not one sandal strap, will I take of what is yours, for you to be able to say, "I made Abram rich." Gen 14:24 For myself, nothing -- except what the troops have used up, and the share due to the men who came with me, Eshcol, Aner and Mamre; let them take their share.' Gen 15:1 Some time later, the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram! I am your shield and shall give you a very great reward. Gen 15:2 'Lord Yahweh,' Abram replied, 'what use are your gifts, as I am going on my way childless? . . . Gen 15:3 Since you have given me no offspring,' Abram continued, 'a member of my household will be my heir.' Gen 15:4 Then Yahweh's word came to him in reply, 'Such a one will not be your heir; no, your heir will be the issue of your own body.' Gen 15:5 Then taking him outside, he said, 'Look up at the sky and count the stars if you can. Just so will your descendants be,' he told him. Gen 15:6 Abram put his faith in Yahweh and this was reckoned to him as uprightness. Gen 15:7 He then said to him, 'I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldaeans to give you this country as your possession.' Gen 15:8 'Lord Yahweh,' Abram replied, 'how can I know that I shall possess it?' Gen 15:9 He said to him, 'Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon.' Gen 15:10 He brought him all these, split the animals down the middle and placed each half opposite the other; but the birds he did not divide. Gen 15:11 And whenever birds of prey swooped down on the carcases, Abram drove them off. Gen 15:12 Now, as the sun was on the point of setting, a trance fell on Abram, and a deep dark dread descended on him. Gen 15:13 Then Yahweh said to Abram, 'Know this for certain, that your descendants will be exiles in a land not their own, and be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. Gen 15:14 But I shall bring judgement on the nation that enslaves them and after this they will leave, with many possessions. Gen 15:15 For your part, you will join your ancestors in peace; you will be buried at a happy old age. Gen 15:16 In the fourth generation they will come back here, for until then the iniquity of the Amorites will not have reached its full extent.' Gen 15:17 When the sun had set and it was dark, there appeared a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passing between the animals' pieces. Gen 15:18 That day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram in these terms: 'To your descendants I give this country, from the River of Egypt to the Great River, the River Euphrates, Gen 15:19 the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, Gen 15:20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, Gen 15:21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.' Gen 16:1 Abram's wife Sarai had borne him no child, but she had an Egyptian slave-girl called Hagar. Gen 16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, 'Listen, now! Since Yahweh has kept me from having children, go to my slave-girl. Perhaps I shall get children through her.' And Abram took Sarai's advice. Gen 16:3 Thus, after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan for ten years, Sarai took Hagar her Egyptian slave- girl and gave her to Abram as his wife. Gen 16:4 He went to Hagar and she conceived. And once she knew she had conceived, her mistress counted for nothing in her eyes. Gen 16:5 Then Sarai said to Abram, 'This outrage done to me is your fault! It was I who put my slave-girl into your arms but, now she knows that she has conceived, I count for nothing in her eyes. Yahweh judge between me and you!' Gen 16:6 'Very well,' Abram said to Sarai, 'your slave-girl is at your disposal. Treat her as you think fit.' Sarai accordingly treated her so badly that she ran away from her. Gen 16:7 The angel of Yahweh found her by a spring in the desert, the spring on the road to Shur. Gen 16:8 He said, 'Hagar, slave-girl of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?' 'I am running away from my mistress Sarai,' she replied. Gen 16:9 The angel of Yahweh said to her, 'Go back to your mistress and submit to her.' Gen 16:10 The angel of Yahweh further said to her, 'I shall make your descendants too numerous to be counted.' Gen 16:11 Then the angel of Yahweh said to her: Now, you have conceived and will bear a son, and you shall name him Ishmael, for Yahweh has heard your cries of distress. Gen 16:12 A wild donkey of a man he will be, his hand against every man, and every man's hand against him, living his life in defiance of all his kinsmen. Gen 16:13 Hagar gave a name to Yahweh who had spoken to her, 'You are El Roi,' by which she meant, 'Did I not go on seeing here, after him who sees me?' Gen 16:14 This is why the well is called the well of Lahai Roi; it is between Kadesh and Bered. Gen 16:15 Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave his son borne by Hagar the name Ishmael. Gen 16:16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael. Gen 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old Yahweh appeared to him and said, 'I am El Shaddai. Live in my presence, be perfect, Gen 17:2 and I shall grant a covenant between myself and you, and make you very numerous.' Gen 17:3 And Abram bowed to the ground. God spoke to him as follows, Gen 17:4 'For my part, this is my covenant with you: you will become the father of many nations. Gen 17:5 And you are no longer to be called Abram; your name is to be Abraham, for I am making you father of many nations. Gen 17:6 I shall make you exceedingly fertile. I shall make you into nations, and your issue will be kings. Gen 17:7 And I shall maintain my covenant between myself and you, and your descendants after you, generation after generation, as a covenant in perpetuity, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. Gen 17:8 And to you and to your descendants after you, I shall give the country where you are now immigrants, the entire land of Canaan, to own in perpetuity. And I shall be their God.' Gen 17:9 God further said to Abraham, 'You for your part must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you, generation after generation. Gen 17:10 This is my covenant which you must keep between myself and you, and your descendants after you: every one of your males must be circumcised. Gen 17:11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and that will be the sign of the covenant between myself and you. Gen 17:12 As soon as he is eight days old, every one of your males, generation after generation, must be circumcised, including slaves born within the household or bought from a foreigner not of your descent. Gen 17:13 Whether born within the household or bought, they must be circumcised. My covenant must be marked in your flesh as a covenant in perpetuity. Gen 17:14 The uncircumcised male, whose foreskin has not been circumcised -- that person must be cut off from his people: h...