1In the
beginning God created heaven and earth. 2The
earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep water. The
spirit of God was hovering over the water. 3 Then
God said, "Let there be light!" So there was light. 4God saw the light was good. So God
separated the light from the darkness. 5God
named the light day, and the darkness he named night. There was
evening, then morning-the first day. 6Then
God
said, “Let
there be a horizon in the middle of the water in order to separate the
water.” 7So God made the
horizon and separated the water above and below the horizon. And so it
was.
8God named [what
was
above] the horizon sky. There was evening, then morning—a second day. 9Then
God said, "Let the water under the sky come together in one area, and
let the dry land appear." 10God
named the dry land earth. The water which came together he named sea.
God saw that it was good. 11Then
God said,"let the earth produce vegetation: plants bearing seeds, each
according to its own type, and fruit bearing trees bearing fruit with
seeds, each according to its own type." And so it was. 12The earth produced vegetation: plant
bearing seeds, each according to its own type, and trees bearing fruit
with seeds, each according to its own type. God saw that they were
good. 13 There
was evening, then morning-a third day. 14Then God
said,"Let there be lights in the sky to seperate the day from the
night. They will be signs and mark religious festivals, days, and
years. 15They will be lights
in the sky to shine on the earth." And so it was. 16God made the two bright lights: the bigger
light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night. He also
made the stars. 17God put them
in the sky to mske light to the earth, 18To
donate the day and the night, and and to seperate the light from the
darkness. God saw that they were good. 19There
was evening, than morning-a fourth day. 20Then God said, "Let
the water swarm with swimming creatures, and let birds fly through the
sky over the earth." 21So God
created the large sea creatures, every type of creature that swims
around in the water and every type of flying bird. God saw that they
were good. 22God blessed them
and said,"Be fertile, increase in number, fill the sea, and let there
be many birds on the earth." 23There
was evening, then morning a-fifth day. 24Then God said,"Let
the earth produce every type of living creature: every type of domestic
animal, crawling animal, and wild animal." And so it was. 25God
made
every type of wild animal, every type of domestic animal, and every
type of living creature that crawls on the ground. God saw that they
were good. 26Then God said,"Let
us make humans in our image, in our likeness. Let them rule the fish
in the sea, the birds in the sky, the domestic animals all over the
earth, and all the animals that crawl on the earth." 27So God created
humans in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created
them male and female. 28God blessed them and
said, "Be fertile, increase in number, fill the earth, and be its
master. Rule the fish, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that
crawl on the earth." 29God said,"I have
given you every plant with seeds on the face of the earth and every
tree that has fruit with seeds. This will be your food. 30I have given all green plants as food to
every land animal, every bird in the sky, and every animal that crawls
on the earth-every living, breathing animal," And so it was. 31And God saw
everything that he had made and that it was very good. There was
evening, then morning- the sixth day.
Genesis 2:1-24 (GOD'S WORD)
1Heaven and
earth and everything in them were finished. 2By the seventh day God had finished the
work he had been doing.On the seventh day he stoped the work he
had been doing. 3Then God blessed the seventh day and set it
apart as holy, because on that day he stopped all his work of creation. 4This is the
account of heaven and earth when they were created, at the time when
the LORD God made earth and heaven. 5Wild bushes
and plants were not on the earth yet because the LORD God hadn’t sent
rain on the earth. Also, there was no one to farm the land. 6Instead,
underground water would come up from the earth and water the entire
surface of the ground. 7Then the LORD
God formed the man from the dust of the earth and blew the breath of
life into his nostrils. The man became a living being. 8The LORD God
planted a garden in Eden, in the east. That’s where he put the man whom
he had formed. 9The LORD God made all the trees grow out of
the ground. These trees were nice to look at, and their fruit was good
to eat. The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
grew in the middle of the garden. 10A river
flowed
from
Eden to water the garden. Outside the garden it divided into four
rivers.
11The name of the first river is
Pishon.
This is the one that winds throughout Havilah where there is gold. 12
(The gold of that land is pure. Bdellium and onyx are also {found}
there.)
13The name of the second river is
Gihon.
This is the one that winds throughout Sudan. 14
The name of the third river is Tigris. This is the one that flows east
of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.15Then
the
LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to farm the
land and to take care of it.16The
LORD God commanded the man.
He
said, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden. 17But
you must never eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
because
when you eat from it, you will certainly die."18 Then the Lord God said, It is not good
for the man to be alone.I will make a helper who is right for him."19The Lord God had formed all the animals
and all the birds out of the ground. Then he brought them to the man to
see what he would call them. Whatever the man called each creature
became it's name.20 So the man
named all the domestic animals, all the birds, and all the wild
animals.But the man found no helper who was right for him. 21 So the LORD Godcaused him to fall into a deep sleep.
While the man was sleeping, the LORD God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed
up the flesh at that place. 22Then the LORD God formed a woman from the rib
that he had taken from the man. He brought her to the man.
23The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones and
flesh of my flesh.
She will be
named woman
because she was taken from man."
24 That is why a man will leave his father and
mother and will unite with his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Genesis 2:15-17 (GOD'S WORD)
15Then the
LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to farm the
land and to take care of it.16The
LORD God commanded the man.
He
said, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden. 17But
you must never eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
because
when you eat from it, you will certainly die."
Genesis 2:21-23 (GOD'S WORD)
21 So the LORD Godcaused him to fall into a deep sleep.
While the man was sleeping, the LORD God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed
up the flesh at that place. 22Then the LORD God formed a woman from the rib
that he had taken from the man. He brought her to the man.
23The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones and
flesh of my flesh.
She will be
named woman
because she was taken from man.”
Genesis 3 (GOD'S WORD)
1The
snake was more clever than all the wild
animals the LORD God had made. He asked the woman, “Did God really say,
‘You must never eat the fruit of any tree in the garden’?” 2The woman
answered the snake, “We’re allowed to eat the fruit from any tree in
the garden 3except the tree in
the middle of the garden. God said, ‘You must never eat it or touch it.
If you do, you will die!’ ” 4“You
certainly won’t die!” the serpent told the woman. 5“God knows that when you eat it your eyes
will be opened. You’ll be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6The woman
saw that the tree had fruit that was good to eat, nice to look at, and
desirable for making someone wise. So she took some of the fruit and
ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate
it. 7Then
their eyes were opened, and they both realized that they were naked.
They sewed fig leaves together and made clothes for themselves. 8In
the cool of the evening, the man and his wife heard the LORD God
walking around in the garden. So they hid from the LORD God among the
trees in the garden. 9The
LORD God called to the man and asked him,
“Where are you?” 10He answered, “I
heard you in the garden. I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” 11God
asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat fruit from the
tree I commanded you not to eat from?” 12The man
answered, “That woman, the one you gave me, gave me some fruit from the
tree, and I ate it.” 13Then the
LORD God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The snake deceived me,
and I ate,” the woman answered. 14So the
LORD God said to the snake, “Because you have done this, You are cursed
more than all the wild or domestic animals. You will crawl on your
belly.
You will be the lowest of animals as long as you live. 15 I will
make you and the woman hostile toward each other. I will make your
descendants and her descendant hostile toward each other. He will crush
your head, and you will bruise his heel.” 16He said
to the woman, “I will increase your pain and your labor when you give
birth to children. Yet, you will long for your husband, and he will
rule you.” 17Then he
said to the man, “You listened to your wife and ate fruit from the
tree, although I commanded you, ‘You must never eat its fruit.’ The
ground is cursed because of you.
Through hard work you will eat bfood that comesn from it every day of
your life. 18 The
ground will grow thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat wild
plants. 19 By the
sweat of your brow, you will produce food to eat until you return to
the ground, because you were taken from it. You are dust, and you will
return to dust.” 20Adam
named his wife Eve [Life] because she became the mother of every living
person. 21The LORD
God made clothes from animal skins for the man and his wife and dressed
them. 22Then the
LORD God said, “The man has become like one of us, since he knows good
and evil. He must not reach out and take the fruit from the tree of
life and eat. Then he would live forever.” 23So
the
LORD God sent the man out of the Garden of Eden to farm the ground from
which the man had been formed. 24After
he sent the man out, God placed angels and a flaming sword that turned
in all directions east of the Garden of Eden. He placed
them there to guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 3:16 (GOD'S WORD)
16 He
said to the woman,
“I will
increase your pain and your labor
when you give birth to children.
Yet, you will long for
your husband,
and he will
rule you.”
Genesis 3:17-24 (GOD'S WORD)
17Then he said
to
the man, "You listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree,
although
I commanded you, 'You must never eat its fruit.'
The ground is cursed because of you.
Through hard work you will eat {food that comes} from it
every day of your life. 18
The ground will grow thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat wild plants. 19
By the sweat of your brow, you will produce food to eat
until you return to the ground,
because you were taken from it.
You are dust, and you will return to dust." 20Adam
named his wife Eve [Life] because she became the mother of every living
person. 21The LORD
God made clothes from animal skins for the man and his wife and dressed
them. 22Then the
LORD God said, “The man has become like one of us, since he knows good
and evil. He must not reach out and take the fruit from the tree of
life and eat. Then he would live forever.” 23So
the LORD God sent the man out of the Garden of Eden to farm the ground
from which the man had been formed. 24After
he sent the man out, God placed angelsa and a flaming sword that turned
in all directions east of the Garden of Eden. He placed them there to
guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 3:22-24 (GOD'S WORD)
22Then the LORD God
said,
"The man has become like one of us, since he knows good and evil. He
must
not reach out and take the fruit from the tree of life and eat.
Then
he would live forever." 23So
the
LORD God sent the man out of the Garden of Eden to farm the ground from
which the man had been formed. 24
After he sent the man out, God placed angels and a flaming sword that
turned
in all directions east of the Garden of Eden. He placed them there to
guard
the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 4:1-8 (GOD'S WORD)
1 Adam made
love to his wife Eve. She became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She
said, “I have gotten the man that the LORD promised.” 2Then she gave
birth to another child, Abel, Cain’s brother. Abel was a shepherd, and
Cain was a farmer. 3Later Cain brought some crops from the land
as an offering to the LORD. 4Abel also brought some choice parts of the
firstborn animals from his flock. The LORD approved of Abel and his
offering, 5but he didn’t approve of Cain and his
offering. So Cain became very angry and was disappointed. 6Then the
LORD asked Cain, “Why are you angry, and why do you look disappointed? 7If you do
well, won’t you be accepted? But if you don’t do well, sin is lying
outside your door ready to attack. It wants to control you, but you
must master it.” 8Cain talked to his brother Abel. Later,
when they were in the fields, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed
him.
Genesis 6:1-22 (GOD'S WORD)
1 The number
of people increased all over the earth, and daughters were born to them. 2The sons of God saw that the daughters of
other humans were beautiful.
So they married any woman they chose. 3Then the LORD
said, “My Spirit will not struggle with humans forever, because they are flesh and blood. They will
live 120 years.” 4The Nephilim
were on the earth in those days, as well as later, when the sons of God slept with the daughters of
other humans and had children by them. These children were famous long
ago. 5The Lord saw
how
evil humans had become on the earth. All day long their deepest
thoughts
were nothing but evil. 6The
Lord
was sorry that he had made humans on the earth, and he was heartbroken.
7So
he said, "I will wipe off the face of the earth these humans that I
created.
I will wipe out not only humans, but also domestic animals, crawling
animals,
and birds. I'm sorry that I made them." 8But
the Lord was pleased with Noah.
Noah's Family and the Ship
9This
is the account of Noah and his descendants. Noah had God's approval and was a man of
integrity
among the people of his time. He walked with God. 10
He had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11The
world was corrupt in God's sight and full of violence. 12God
saw the world and how corrupt it was because all people on earth lived
evil lives. 13God said
to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to all people because the earth
is full of their violence. Now I’m going to destroy them along with the
earth. 14Make yourself a ship
of cypress wood.a Make rooms in the ship and coat it
inside and out
with tar. 15This is how you
should build it: the ship is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45
feet high. 16Make a roof for
the ship, and leave an 18-inch-high opening at the top. Put a door in
the side of the ship. Build the ship with lower, middle, and upper
decks. 17I’m about to send a
flood on the earth to destroy all people under the sky—every living,
breathing human. Everything on earth will die. 18“But I
will make my promisec to you. You, your sons, your wife, and your sons’
wives will go into the ship. 19Bring
two of every living creature into the ship in order to keep them alive
with you. They must be male and female. 20Two of
every type of bird, every type of domestic animal, and every type of
creature that crawls on the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21Take every kind of food that can be eaten
and store it. It will be food for you and the animals.” 22Noah did
this. He did everything that God had commanded him.
a 6:14 Or "teakwood."
Genesis 7:1-24 (GOD'S WORD)
1The LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ship
with your whole family because I have seen that you alone are righteous
among the people of today. 2Take with you seven pairs of every kind of
clean animal (a male and a female of each) and one pair of every kind
of uncleana animal (a male and a
female). 3Also, take seven pairs of every kind of
bird (a male and a female of each) to preserve animal life all over the
earth after the flood. 4In seven days I will send rain to the earth
for 40 days and 40 nights. I will wipe off the face of the earth every
living creature that I have made.” 5So Noah did everything that the LORD
commanded him. 6Noah was 600 years old when the flood came
to the earth. 7Noah, his sons, his wife and his sons'
wives went into the ship to escape the floodwaters. 8Clean and
unclean animals, birds and creatures that crawl on the ground 9came to Noah
to go into the ship in pairs (a male and female of each) as God had
commanded Noah. 10Seven days later the flood came on
the earth. 11On the seventeenth day of the second month
of the hundreth year of Noah's life, all the deep springs burst
open. The sky opened, 12and rain came pouring down on the earth for
40 days and 40 nights. 13On that same day Noah and his sons Shem,
Ham, amd Japheth, as well as Noah's wife and his three daughters-in-law
went into the ship. 14They had with them every type of wild
animal, every type of domestic animal, every type of creature that
crawls on the earth, and every type of bird (every creature with
wings). 15A pair of every living, breathing animal
came to
Noah to go into the ship. 16A male and female of every animal went in
as God had cammanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind them. 17The flood continued for 40 days on the
earth. The water increased and lifted the ship so that it rose high
above the ground. 18As the water rose and became very deep,
the ship floated on top of the water. 19The water rose very high above the earth.
It covered all the high mountains everywhere under the sky. 20It rose 23
feet above the mountain tops. 21Every creature that crawls on the earth
died, including birds, domestic and wild animals, and everything that
swarms over the earth, along with every human. 22Everything
on dry land (every living, breathing creature) died. 23Every
living creature on the face of the earth was wiped out. Humans,
domestic animals, crawling creatures, and birds were wiped off the
earth. Only Noah and those with him in the ship were left. 24The floodwaters were on the earth for 150
days.
Genesis 7:10-12 (GOD'S WORD)
10Seven days later the flood came on the
earth.11On the seventeenth day of the second month
of the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, all the deep springs burst open. The sky opened, 12and rain
came pouring down on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.
Genesis 8:13-19 (GOD'S WORD)
13By
the first day of the first month Noah's six hundred and first year, the
water on the land had dried up. Noah opened the top of the ship, looked
out, and saw the surface of the ground. 14By
the twenty-seventh day of the secend month the land was dry. 15Then
God spoke to Noah, 16"Come
out of the ship with your wife, your sons, and your sons' wives. 17Bring out every animal that's with you:
birds, domestic animals, and every creature that crawls on the earth.
Be fertile, increase in number, and spread over the earth." 18So
Noah came out with his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives. 19Every animal, crawling creature, and
birds-everything that moves on the earth-came out of the ship, one kind
after another.
Genesis 9:1-7 (GOD'S WORD)
1 God blessed
Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fertile, increase in number,
and fill the earth. 2All the
wild animals and all the birds will fear you and be terrified of you.
Every creature that crawls on the ground and all the fish in the sea
have been put under your control. 3Everything
that lives and moves will be your food. I gave you green plants as
food; I now give you everything else. 4“But you
are not to eat meat with blood in it. (Blood is life.) 5In addition, I will demand your blood for
your life. I will demand it from any animal or from any person. I
will demand the life of any person {who kills} another person. 6 Whoever
sheds human blood,
by humans his blood will be shed,
because in the
image of God, God made humans. 7 Be fertile, and increase in
number. Spread over the earth, and increase.”
Genesis 9:8-17 (GOD'S WORD)
8God also said
to Noah and his sons, 9"I am
going to make my promise to you, your descendents, 10and every living being that is with you --
birds, domestic animals, and all the wild animals, all those that came
out of the ship -- every living thing on earth. 11I am making my promise to you. Never again
will all life be killed by floodwaters. Never again will there be a
flood that destroys the earth." 12God said, “This
is the sign of the promise I am giving to you and every living being
that is with you for generations to come. 13I
will put my rainbow in the clouds to be a sign of my promise to the
earth. 14Whenever I form clouds over
the earth, a rainbow will appear in the clouds. 15Then
I will remember my promise to you and every living animal. Never again
will water become a flood to destroy all life. 16Whenever
the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember my
everlasting promise to every living animal on earth.” 17So God said to
Noah, “This is the sign of the promise I am making to all life on
earth.”
Genesis 10:6-20 (GOD'S WORD)
6Ham’s
descendants were Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. 7Cush’s
descendants were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. Raamah’s
descendants were Sheba and Dedan. 8Cush was
the father of Nimrod, the first mighty warrior on the earth. 9He was a mighty hunter whom the LORD
blessed. That’s why people used to say, “He’sn like Nimrod, a mighty
hunter whom the LORD blessed.” 10The
first cities in his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh in
Shinar [Babylonia]. 11He went
from that land to
Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, 12and
Resen, the great city
between Nineveh and Calah. 13Egypt
was the ancestor of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 14Pathrusites, Casluhites (from whom the
Philistines came), and the Caphtorites.15Canaan
was the father of
Sidon his firstborn, then Heth, 16also
the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17the
Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18the
Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites.
Later the Canaanite families scattered. 19The
border of the Canaanites extended from Sidon toward Gerar as far as
Gaza and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim as far as
Lasha. 20These
were Ham’s descendants by families and languages within their countries
and nations.
Genesis 11:1-9 (GOD'S WORD)
1 The whole
world had one language with a common vocabulary. 2As people moved toward the east,a they
found a plain in Shinar [Babylonia]
and settled there. 3They said
to one another, “Let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used
bricks as stones and tarb as mortar. 4Then they
said, “Let’s build a city for ourselves and a tower with its top in the
sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves so that we won’t become scattered
all over the face of the earth.” 5The LORD
came down to see the city and the tower that the descendants of Adam
were building. 6The LORD
said, “They are one people with one language. This is only the
beginning of what they will do! Now nothing they plan to do will be too
difficult for them. 7Let us
go down there and mix up their language so that they won’t understand
each other.” 8So the
LORD scattered them all over the face of the earth, and they stopped
building the city. 9This is
why it was named Babel, because there the LORD turned the language of
the whole earth into babble. From that place the LORD scattered them
all over the face of the earth.
Genesis 12:1-3 (GOD'S WORD)
1The
Lord said to Abram,
"Leave your land,
your relatives, and
your father's house.
Go to the land that I will show you. 2I
will make you a great nation,
I will bless you.
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing. 3I will
bless those that will bless you,
and whoever curses you, I
will curse.
Through you
every family on earth will be blessed."
Genesis 14:21-24 (GOD'S WORD)
21 The king of
Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, and keep everything else for
yourself.” 22But
Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I now raise my hand and solemnly
swear to the LORD God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth, 23that I won’t take a thread or a sandal
strap. I won’t take anything that is yours so that you will never be
able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ 24I
won’t take one single thing except what my men have eaten. But let my
allies Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”
Genesis 15:1 (GOD'S WORD)
1Later the
Lord spoke
his word to Abram in a vision. He said, "Abram, don't be afraid. I am your shield. Your reward will be very
great."
Genesis 16:3-14 (GOD'S WORD)
3 After Abram
had lived in Canaan for ten years, Abram’s wife Sarai took her Egyptian
slave Hagar and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. 4He slept with Hagar, and she became
pregnant. When Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to be
disrespectful to Sarai, her owner. 5 So Sarai
complained to Abram, “I’m being treated unfairly! And it’s your fault!
I know that I gave my slave to you, but now that she’s pregnant, she’s
being disrespectful to me. May the LORD decide who is right—you or me.”
- Abram
answered Sarai, “Here, she’s your slave. Do what you like with her.”
Then Sarai mistreated Hagar so much that she ran away. 7 The
Messenger of the LORD found her by a spring in the desert, the spring
on the way to Shur. 8He said,
“Hagar, Sarai’s slave, where have you come from, and where are you
going?”
She answered, “I’m running away from my owner
Sarai.” 9The Messenger of the
LORD said to her, “Go back to your owner, and place yourself under her
authority.” 10The Messenger
of the LORD also said to her, “I will give you many descendants. No one
will be able to count them because there will be so many.” 11Then the Messenger of the LORD said
to her,
“You are pregnant,
and you will
give birth to a son.
You will name him Ishmael [God
Hears],
because the
LORD has heard your cry of distress. 12 He will
be as free and wild as an untamed donkey
He will fight with
everyone, and everyone will fight with him.
He will have conflicts with
all his relatives.”
13Hagar
named the LORD, who had been speaking to her, “You Are the God Who
Watches Over Me.” She said, “This is the place where I watched [the
one] who watches over me.” 14This
is why the well is named Beer Lahai Roi [Well of the Living One Who
Watches Over Me]. It is still there between Kadesh and Bered.
Genesis 17:1-8 (God's Word)
1 When Abram
was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. He said to Abram, “I am God Almighty. Live in my
presence with integrity. 2I will give you my promise, and I will give you
very many descendants.” 3Immediately, Abram bowed with his face
touching the ground, and again God spoke to him, 4“My promise
is still with you. You will become the father of many nations. 5So your name will no longer be Abram
[Exalted Father], but Abraham
[Father of Many] because I have made you a father of many nations. 6I will give
you many descendants. Many nations and kings will come from you. 7I will make my promise to you and your
descendants for generations to come
as an everlasting promise. I will be your God and the God of your
descendants. 8I am also giving this land where you are
living—all of Canaan—to you
and your descendants as your permanent possession. And I will be your God.”
Genesis 18:22-33 (GOD'S WORD)
22From there the men turned and went on toward
Sodom, but Abraham remained standing in front of the LORD.23Abraham came
closer and asked, "Are you really going to sweep away the innocent with
the guilty? 24What if there
are 50 innocent people in the city? Are you really going to sweep them
away? Won't you spare that place for the sake of the 50 innocent people
who are in it? 25It would be
unthinkable for you to do such a thing, to treat the innocent and the
guilty alike and to kill the innocent with the guilty. That would be
unthinkable! Won't the judge of the whole earth do what is fair? 26The LORD
said, “If I find 50 innocent people inside the city of Sodom, I will
spare the whole place for their sake.” 27Abraham
asked, “Consider now, if I may be so bold as to ask you, although I’m
bonlyn dust and ashes, 28what
if there are 45 innocent people? Will you destroy the whole city
because of 5 fewer people?” The LORD answered, “I will not destroy it
if I find 45 there.” 29Abraham
asked him again, “What if 40 are found there?” He answered, “For the
sake of the 40 I will not do it.” 30“Please
don’t be angry if I speak again,” Abraham said. “What if 30 are found
there?” He answered, “If I find 30 there, I will not do it.” 31“Look
now, if I may be so bold as to ask you,” Abraham said. “What if 20 are
found there?” He answered, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the
20.” 32“Please
don’t be angry if I speak only one more time,” Abraham said. “What if
10 are found there?” He answered, “I will not destroy it for the sake
of the 10.” 33When
the LORD finished speaking to Abraham, he left. Abraham returned home?"
Genesis 19:1-11 (GOD'S WORD)
1 The two
angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gateway.
When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed with his face
touching the ground. 2He
said, “Please, gentlemen, why don’t you come to my home and spend the
night? {You can} wash your feet there. Then early tomorrow morning you
can continue your journey.”
“No,” they answered, “we’d rather spend the night in
the city square.” 3But he
insisted so strongly that they came with him and went into his home. He
prepared a special dinner for them, baked some
unleavened bread, and they ate. 4Before they had gone to bed, all the young
and old male citizens of Sodom surrounded the house. 5They called to Lot, “Where are the men who
came to {stay with} you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can
have sex with them.” 6Then Lot
went outside and shut the door behind him. 7“Please,
my friends, don’t be so wicked,” he said. 8“Look,
I have two daughters who have never had sex. Why don’t you let me bring
them out to you? Do whatever you like with them. But don’t do anything
to these men, since I’m responsible for them.” 9But the
men yelled, “Get out of the way! This man came here to stay awhile. Now
he wants to be our judge! We’re going to treat you worse than
those men.” They pushed hard against Lot and lunged forward to break
down the door. 10The men
{inside} reached out, pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the
door. 11Then they struck all
the men who were in the doorway of the house, young and old alike, with
blindness so that they gave up trying to find the door.
Genesis 19:23-29 (GOD'S WORD)
23 The sun had
just risen over the land as Lot came to Zoar. 24Then
the LORD made burning sulfur and fire rain out of heaven on Sodom and
Gomorrah. 25He destroyed
those cities, the whole plain, all who lived in the cities, and
whatever grew on the ground. 26Lot’s
wife looked back and turned into a column of salt. 27 Early
the next morning Abraham came to the place where he had stood in front
of the LORD. 28When he looked
toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land in the plain, he saw smoke
rising from the land like the thick smoke of a furnace. 29 When
God destroyed the cities on the plain, he remembered Abraham. Lot was
allowed to escape from the destruction that came to the cities where he
was living.
Genesis 34:18-31 (GOD'S WORD)
18 Their
proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19The young man didn’t waste any time in
doing what they said because he took such pleasure in Jacob’s daughter.
He was the most honored person in all his father’s family. 20So Hamor
and his son Shechem went to their city gate to speak to the men of
their city. They said, 21“These
people are friendly toward us, so let
them live in our land and move about freely in the area. Look, there’s
plenty of room in this land for them. We can marry their daughters and
let them marry ours. 22These
people will consent to live with us and become one nation on one
condition: Every male must be circumcised as they are. 23Won’t their livestock, their personal
property, and all their animals be ours? We only need to agree to do
this for them. Then they’ll live with us.” 24All the
men who had come out to the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son
Shechem. So they were all circumcised at the city gate. 25Two days
later, while the men were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon
and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and boldly attacked the
city. They killed every man 26including
Hamor and his son Shechem. They took Dinah from Shechem’s home and
left. 27Then Jacob’s sons
stripped the corpses and looted the city where their sister had been
dishonored. 28They took the
sheep and goats, cattle, donkeys, and whatever else was in the city or
out in the fields. 29They
carried off all the wealth and all the women and children and looted
everything in the houses. 30Then
Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have caused me a lot of trouble!
You’ve made the people living in the area, the Canaanites and the
Perizzites, hate me. There are only a few of us. If they join forces
against me and attack me, my family and I will be wiped out.” 31Simeon
and Levi asked, “Should Shechem have been allowed to treat our sister
like a prostitute?”
Genesis 37:1-11 (GOD'S WORD)
1Jacob
continued to live in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived. 2This is
the account of Jacob and his descendants. Joseph was a
seventeen-year-old young man. He took care of the flocks with the sons
of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph told his father about
the bad things his brothers were doing. 3Israel
loved Joseph more than all his sons because Joseph had been born in
Israel’s old age. So he made Joseph a special robe with long sleeves. 4Joseph’s brothers saw that their father
loved him more than any of them. They hated Joseph and couldn’t speak
to him on friendly terms.5Joseph
had a
dream and when he told his brothers, they hated him even more. 6He said to them, “Please listen to the
dream I had. 7We were tying
grain into bundles out in the field, and suddenly mine stood up. It
remained standing while your bundles gathered around my bundle and
bowed down to it.” 8Then his
brothers asked him, “Are you going to be our king or rule us?” They
hated him even more for his dreams and his words. 9Then he
had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said,
“I had another dream: I saw the sun, the moon, and 11 stars bowing down
to me.” 10When he
told his father and his brothers, his father criticized him by asking,
“What’s this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers
come and bow down in front of you?” 11So
his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept thinking about
these things.
Genesis 37:29-36 (GOD'S WORD)
29 When Reuben
came back to the cistern and saw that Joseph was no longer there, he
tore his clothes in grief. 30He
went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there! What am I
going to do?” 31So they
took Joseph’s robe, killed a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. 32Then they brought the special robe with
long sleeves to their father
and said, “We found this. You better examine it to see whether it’s
your son’s robe or not.” 33He
recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! A wild animal has eaten
him! Joseph must have been torn to pieces!” 34Then,
to show his grief, Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his
waist, and mourned for his son a long time. 35All
his other sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be
comforted. He said, “No, I will mourn for my son until I die.” This is
how Joseph’s father cried over him. 36Meanwhile,
in Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s
officials and captain of the guard.
Genesis 44:14-17 (GOD'S WORD)
14Judah and
his brothers
arrived at Joseph's house while Joseph was still there. Immediately,
they
bowed with their faces touching the ground. 15Joseph
asked them, "What have you done? Don't you know that a man like me can
find things out because he knows the future? 16"Sir,
what can we say to you?" Judah asked. "How else can we explain it? How
can we prove we're innocent? God has uncovered our guilt. Now all of us
are your slaves, including the one who had the cup." 17But
Joseph said, "I would never think of doing that! Only the man who had
the
cup will be my slave. The rest of you can go back to your father in
peace."
Genesis 49:1,8-12 (GOD'S WORD)
1Jacob called
for
his sons and said, "Come here, and let me tell you what will happen to
you in the days to come.
8
"JUDAH, your brothers will praise you.
Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's
sons will bow down to you. 9
Judah, you are a lion cub.
You have come back from the kill, my son. He lies down
and rests like a lion. He is like
a lioness. Who dares to disturb him? 10
A scepter will never depart from Judah
nor a ruler's staff from between his feet
until Shiloh comes
and the people obey him. 11
He will tie his donkey to a grapevine,
his colt to the best vine. He will wash
his clothes in wine,
his garments in the blood of grapes. 12 His
eyes are darker than wine. His teeth are
whiter
than milk.
Genesis 49:3-4 (GOD'S WORD)
3 “Reuben, you
are my firstborn,
my strength,
the very first son I had,
first in majesty and first in power. 4 You will
no longer be first
because you
were out of control like a flood
and you climbed into your father’s bed.
Then you
dishonored it.
He climbed up on my couch.
Genesis 49:5-7 (GOD'S WORD)
5 “Simeon and
Levi are brothers.
Their swords
are weapons of violence.
6 Do not let me attend their secret meetings.
Do not let me join their assembly.
In their anger
they murdered men.
At their whim
they crippled cattle.
7 May their anger be cursed because it’s so fierce.
May their fury be cursed because
it’s so cruel.
I will divide
them among the sons of Jacob
and scatter them among the tribes of Israel.
Genesis 49:13 (GOD'S WORD)
13 “Zebulun
will live by the coast.
He will have ships by the coast.
His border
will go as far as Sidon.
Genesis 49:14-15 (GOD'S WORD)
14 “Issachar
is a strong donkey,
lying down
between the saddlebags. 15 When he
sees that his resting place is good
and that the
land is pleasant,
he will bend his back to the burden
and will become a slave laborer.
Genesis 49:19 (GOD'S WORD)
19 “Gad will
be attacked by a band of raiders,“
but he will strike back at their heels.
Genesis 49:20 (GOD'S WORD)
20 “Asher’s
food will be rich.
He will
provide delicacies fit for a king.
Genesis 49:21 (GOD'S WORD)
21 “Naphtali
is a doe set free
that has
beautiful fawns.
Genesis 49:22-26 (GOD'S WORD)
22 “Joseph is
a fruitful tree,
a fruitful
tree by a spring,
with branches climbing over a wall. 23 Archers
provoked him,
shot at him,
and attacked him. 24 But his
bow stayed steady, and his arms remained limber
because of the
help of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the
name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, 25
because of the God of your father who helps you,
because of the
Almighty who gives you
blessings from the heavens above,
blessings from the deep springs below the ground,
blessings from breasts and womb. 26 The
blessings of your father are greater than
the blessings
of the oldest mountains
and the riches of the ancient hills.
May these blessings rest on the
head of Joseph,
on the crown
of the prince among his brothers.
Genesis 49:27 (GOD'S WORD)
27 “Benjamin
is a ravenous wolf.
In the morning
he devours his prey.
In the evening
he divides the plunder.”