Genesis is a book about things that happened a long time ago. It tells us about the lives of many important people. It tells us about Adam and Eve; Cain, Abel and Noah. It also tells us about Abraham and Sarah; Isaac and Ishmael; Jacob; and Joseph and his brothers. We can learn from those people's lives.
The Book of Genesis also teaches us many important things that we need to know. It teaches us about the world, about ourselves, and about God.
It explains that God made the world. It tells us that God filled the world with beautiful plants and animals. It tells us that he made men and women like him. And everything was very good.
It explains how the first man and woman refused to obey God. And it explains that everyone has trouble and pain because of this.
It also tells us about God’s promise to forgive people and to bless them. And it tells us that God decided to send Jesus to the world.
1 In the beginning, God began to make the earth and the heavens and everything in them.
2 The earth was without shape. Nothing was alive on it. Deep water covered the earth. There was no light. Everywhere was dark. The Spirit of God moved above the water. 3 God said ‘I want light to appear.’ And there was light.
4 God looked at the light. And he saw that it was good. He separated the light from the dark.
5 God called the light ‘day’. He called the dark ‘night’. Evening passed and morning came. This was the first (1st) day. 6 Then God said ‘A wide space will appear between the waters. So the waters will separate. Some of the water will stay above the space. The rest of the water will stay below the space.’
7 So God made a wide space. He separated the water under the space from the water above it. And what God said happened.
8 God called the wide space ‘sky’. Evening passed and then it was morning. This was the second (2nd) day.
9 God said ‘The water under the sky will gather in one place. And dry ground will appear.’ And what God said happened.
10 God called the dry ground ‘land’. He called the water (that he put in one place) ‘sea’. God looked at what he had made. And he saw that it was good.
11 God said ‘Plants will grow in the land. They will make seeds. And fruit trees will grow, with seeds inside the fruit. Then they can make more plants and trees. These plants and trees will be the same as the plants and trees that they have come from.’ And it was like that.
12 So plants and trees began to grow in the ground. The plants and trees made seeds, so that more of the same plants and trees could grow. God looked at what he had made. And he saw that it was good.
13 Evening passed, and then it was morning. This was the third (3rd) day.
14 God said ‘There will be lights in the sky. They will separate the day from the night. They will show the seasons, days and years.
15 The lights in the sky will give light to the earth.’ And this happened.
16 God made two great lights. The brightest light ruled over the day. The less bright light ruled over the night. God also made the stars.
17 God put the lights and stars in the sky to give light on the earth.
18 They were to rule over the day and night. And they separated the light from dark. God looked at what he had made. And he saw that it was good.
19 Evening passed, and then it was morning. This was the fourth (4th) day. 20 God said ‘The waters will be filled with fish and other living things. And birds will appear and fly in the sky, above the earth.’
21 So God made big animals to live in the sea. He made every different living thing that filled the sea. God made every different bird and flying thing in the sky. God looked at what he made. And he saw that it was good.
22 God blessed them. He said ‘Have many young ones, and grow in number. Fill the water in the seas. And let the birds also have many young ones so that they will grow in number on the earth.’
23 Evening passed and then it was morning. This was the fifth (5th) day. 24 God said ‘I will make different animals come up from the ground. I will make livestock and wild animals. There will be other small animals to move along the ground. I will make many different animals to live on the earth.’ And what God said happened.
25 So God made the different wild animals and the different livestock. He made all the different animals that move along the ground. God looked at what he had made. And he saw that it was good. 26 God said ‘We will make man. Men and women will be like us. They will rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky. They will rule over the livestock. And they will rule over the earth. They will rule over the animals that move along the ground.’ 27 So God made man. He made man to be like God. God made them. He made some males, and some females.
28 God blessed them. He said, ‘Grow in number. Fill the earth and rule over it. Rule over the fish of the seas and over the birds of the sky. Rule over every different living animal that moves on the ground.’ 29 Then God said, ‘Look! I give you every plant on the earth that has seeds in it. I give you every tree that has fruit with a seed in it. They are yours. The seeds and fruits will be food for you.
30 And they will be food for all the animals on the earth. They will be food for all the birds in the sky and for all the animals that move along the ground. Everything that has life can eat every green plant.’ And what God said happened.
31 God looked at everything that he had made. And he saw that it was very good. Evening passed. And then it was morning. This was the sixth (6th) day.
1 So God finished making the earth and everything in it. He made the whole world.
2 The seventh (7th) day came. And God stopped working, because he had finished making the earth. God rested on the 7th day.
3 God blessed the 7th day. He made it a special day, because he had finished making the earth. God did not work on that day. God makes a man and a woman
4 This is what happened when God made the earth and everything in it. 5 there were no plants or trees growing on it. That was because God had not sent any rain. And there was no man to work and care for the ground. There was no man to care for things that grow from the ground.
6 But streams came up from the earth. And they made all the top of the ground wet.
7 Then the Lord God made a man from the ground. He gave life to the man. He put air from himself into the nose of the man. And the man became alive. 8 The Lord God planted a garden. This was east of Israel. It was in a place called Eden. And he put the man that he made in the garden.
9 And the Lord God made different trees grow from the ground. These trees were good to look at. The fruit from the trees was good to eat. In the middle of the garden were two trees. One was the tree that lets you live for ever. And the other was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 10 A river began in Eden. It went through Eden. And it gave water for the ground. It separated into four smaller rivers.
11 The name of the first river is the Pishon. It goes through the whole of the land of Havilah. There is gold in this land.
12 The gold there is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also in Havilah. 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It goes through the whole of the land of Cush.
14 The name of the third river is the Tigris. It goes along the east side of the Asshur. The name of the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God put the man into the Garden of Eden. The man was to work on the ground and work in the garden.
16 Then the Lord God told the man, ‘You can eat the fruit from any tree in the garden.
17 But you must not eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The day when you eat this fruit you will die.’
18 Then the Lord God said, ‘The man should not be alone. I will make a helper for him.’ 19 The Lord God had made all the animals and birds. He made them from the ground. And he brought them to the man to hear what names the man would give them. Whatever the man called each living thing would be its name.
20 So the man gave names to the livestock, the birds of the air, and all the other animals. 21 So the Lord God made the man go to sleep. While the man was sleeping, the Lord God took a rib from the man. Then he closed up the place that he took the rib from. He closed up that part of the man’s body with skin.
22 Then the Lord God made a woman.
23 Then the man said to God, ‘At last, this is one like me. She has bones taken from my bones. And her body is from my body. I will call her ‘woman’ because God took her out of a man.’
24 Because of this, a man will leave his father and mother to be with his wife. And the two people will become like one person. 25 The man and his wife did not wear any clothes. But they did not feel ashamed.
1 God made many wild animals. But the snake was the most cunning (clever and evil) of them all. The snake asked the woman, ‘Did God really say, “Both of you must not eat from any tree in the garden”?’
2 The woman replied, ‘We can eat fruit from the trees in the garden.
3 But God said, “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden And you must not touch it. You will die if you touch that fruit.” ’
4 But the snake said to the woman, ‘You will not die.
5 God knows that when you eat the fruit from this tree you will be like him. You will understand. And you will know good and evil.’ 6 The woman looked at the fruit. She saw that it was good to eat. And she thought that it would be good to know about good and evil. So, she took some fruit and ate it. She gave some to her husband who was with her. And he ate it.
7 Then they saw that they had no clothes. And they felt ashamed. So, they joined leaves from fig trees together to cover their bodies. 8 In the evening the man and the woman heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden. They hid behind the trees. They hid because they did not want the Lord God to see them.
9 The Lord God called out to the man. He asked ‘Where are you?’
10 The man replied, ‘I heard you in the garden. I was afraid because I had no clothes. So I hid from you.’
11 The Lord God said, ‘Who told you that you had no clothes? Have you eaten from the tree that I told you not to eat from?’
12 The man said, ‘The woman that you put here – she gave me some fruit from the tree. So I ate it.’ 13 The Lord God asked the woman, ‘What have you done?’ The woman replied, ‘The snake told me that I would not die if I ate the fruit. So I ate the fruit.’ 14 The Lord God said to the snake, ‘Because you have done this, out of all the livestock and wild animals I will only curse you. I tell you that you will move across the ground on your stomach. And you will eat dust. You will do this for the whole of your life.
15 I will make you and the woman enemies. Your descendant and her descendant will always be enemies. He will hit your head and you will hurt his foot.’ 16 The Lord God said to the woman, ‘I will make it more painful for you while you are pregnant. And I will make it very painful for you when you give birth. You will still want to be with your husband. He will rule over you and be like a master.’ 17 The Lord God said to Adam, ‘You listened to your wife. You ate the fruit from the tree after I said, “You must not eat from this tree.” Because you did this, I will curse the ground. You will have to work for a long time before any food plants grow from it. It will be like this for the whole of your life.
18 Thistles and thorns will grow out of the ground. You will eat the plants that grow in the fields.
19 But you will have to work for a long time before you have any food to eat. You will do this until you return to the ground. This is where you came from. I made you from the ground. And you will return to the ground.’ 20 Adam gave the woman a name. He called her Eve. This was because she would be the mother of all people. 21 The Lord God made clothes for Adam and Eve to wear. He made them from animal skins.
22 The Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us. He understands good and evil. He must not eat the fruit from the tree that lets him live for ever. If he does, he will live for ever. He will not die.’
23 So, the Lord God sent Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden. Adam had to work on the ground that he came from. They could not return to the garden.
24 Then God put cherubim and a sword of fire at the east of the garden. The sword went from side to side. So, no one could go near to the tree that lets him live for ever. 1 Adam had sex with his wife Eve. And she became pregnant. Some time passed and she gave birth to Cain. She said, ‘With the help of the Lord I have given birth to a son.’ 2 After some time had passed, Eve gave birth to Cain’s brother. She called him Abel. When they had grown, Abel kept sheep. And Cain worked on the land.
3 Some time passed. Then one day Cain brought to God some of the fruit that he had grown. The fruits were an offering to the Lord God.
4 But Abel brought fat pieces from some of the first young ones of the animals that he kept. The Lord God was happy with Abel and his offering.
5 But the Lord God was not happy with Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry. His face looked sad. 6 Then God said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why do you look sad?
7 If you do what is right, I will be happy with you. But if you do wrong things, sin will be like a wild animal at your door. It will be like an animal that wants to eat you. But you must be its master. 8 One day Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let us go out to the field.’ While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel. And he killed him.
9 Some time passed and God said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel, your brother?’ Cain replied, ‘I do not know. Must I always keep my brother safe?’ 10 Then the Lord God said, ‘What have you done? Listen! The blood of your brother is like a dead person calling out to me from the ground.’ 11 Then God said, ‘I have cursed you. I will not let you grow food in the ground. This is because it is wet with your brother’s blood. This is because you killed your brother.
12 When you work on the land, no plants will grow in it. There will be no plants that you can eat. You will travel from place to place. You will not live in one place.’ 13 Cain said to the Lord, ‘What you are doing to me is too much.
14 From today, you will not let me work on the land. You will not be with me. I will be like a traveller without a home. If someone sees me, they will kill me.’ 15 But God said to Cain, ‘I will not let anyone kill you. If anyone kills Cain, I will hurt that person 7 times more.’ Then the Lord God put a mark on Cain. This was to let other people know that they must not kill Cain.
16 Cain went away from God. He went to live in the land of Nod, which is East of Eden.
17 Cain had sex with his wife. After some time she gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city. He called the city Enoch because it was his son’s name.
18 Enoch was the father of Irad. Irad was the father of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael. Methushael was the father of Lamech.
19 Lamech married 2 women. One was called Adah and one was called Zillah.
20 Adah gave birth to Jabal. Jabal was the father of the people who live in tents and keep livestock. 21 Jabal had a brother called Jubal. Jubal was the father of the people who play the harp and flute. 22 A son was born to Zillah. His name was Tubal-Cain. He made tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain had a sister. Her name was Naamah. 23 Lamech said to his wives, ‘Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech hear my words. A man hurt me, so I killed him. I killed a young man because he hurt me.
24 If a man kills Cain, then God will hurt him 7 times more. So I will hurt the man who hurts me 77 times more.’ 25 Adam had sex with Eve. And she gave birth to a son. She called him Seth. Eve said, ‘God has given me another child because Cain killed Abel.’
26 Seth became the father of Enosh. 1 This is a report of Adam’s family. When God made man, he made him like God.
2 God made both male and female. He blessed them. When God made them, he called them ‘man’. 3 When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son. The son was like Adam. Adam called him Seth.
4 After Seth was born, Adam was alive for 800 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters.
5 Adam was 930 years old when he died.
6 When Seth was 105 years old, he had a son. He called him Enosh.
7 After Seth became the father of Enosh, Seth was alive for 807 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters.
8 Seth was 912 years old when he died.
9 When Enosh was 90 years old, he had a son. He called him Kenan.
10 Enosh was alive for 815 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters.
11 Enosh was 905 years old when he died.
12 When Kenan was 70 years old, he had a son. He called him Mahalalel.
13 After Kenan became the father of Mahalalel, Kenan was alive for 840 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters.
14 Kenan was 910 years old when he died.
15 When Mahalalel was 65 years old, he had a son. He called him Jared.
16 After he became the father of Jared, Mahalalel was alive for 830 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters.
17 Mahalalel was 895 years old when he died.
18 When Jared was 162 years old, he had a son. He called him Enoch.
19 After Jared became the father of Enoch, Jared was alive for 800 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters.
20 Jared was 962 years old when he died.
21 When Enoch was 65 years old, he had a son. He called him Methuselah.
22 After that, Enoch did as God wanted for 300 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters.
23 Enoch lived on earth for 365 years.
24 Enoch did as God wanted for all this time; then Enoch was no more. God took Enoch to be with him. 25 When Methuselah was 187 years old, he had a son. He called him Lamech. 26 After Methuselah became the father of Lamech, Methuselah was alive for 782 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters.
27 Methuselah was 969 years old when he died.
28 When Lamech was 182 years old, he had a son.
29 He called his son Noah. Lamech said ‘He will help us in our difficult work on the land. Our hands hurt when we work the land. That is because the Lord God cursed it.’
30 After Noah was born, Lamech was alive for 595 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters.
31 Lamech was 777 years old when he died.
32 When Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.
1 People began to grow in number all over the earth. And daughters were born to them.
2 The sons of God saw the daughters. They thought that the daughters of men were beautiful to look at. They took the daughters of men as their wives. They took anyone that they wanted. 3 The Lord said, ‘I will not let men and women live for ever. One day they will die. I will not let them live for more than 120 years. Then they will die.
4 The Nephilim lived on the earth at that time. (They also lived on the earth after this time.) This is when the sons of God had children with the daughters of men. People thought that the Nephilim were great men and leaders.
5 The Lord God saw how bad men and women had become. God saw that they thought only of evil things.
6 He was sad that he had made men and women. And he was sad that he had put them on the earth.
7 So the Lord God said, ‘I made men and women, but I will take them off the earth. I will take men and animals off the earth. I will take animals that move across the ground and the birds in the air off the earth. Because I am very sad that I made them.’
8 But God was happy with Noah. 9 This is a report of Noah. Noah was a good man. He was the only man at that time who obeyed God. The people who lived near him could not find anything wrong with what he did.
10 Noah was the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.
11 God saw that everything on the earth was bad. People began to hurt and kill each other. And they did everything that was wrong.
12 God saw how bad the earth had become. All the people were doing bad things.
13 He said to Noah, ‘I am going to destroy all the people. The earth is bad because of them. I am going to destroy the people and the earth.
14 Make yourself a boat. Use wood from cypress trees. Make rooms in the boat. Cover the inside and outside of the boat with pitch.’ 15 ‘This is how you will build the boat. The boat must be 150 metres long, 25 metres wide and 15 metres high.
16 Make a roof for the boat and put windows 45 centimetres high along the top of it. Put a door in the side of the boat. Make 3 floors on top of each other (lower, middle and top floor).
17 I am going to cover the earth with water. I will destroy all life under the heavens. Everything that has my life in it will die.
18 But I will make a covenant with you (Noah). You will go into the boat. You and your sons will go into the boat. And their wives and your wife will go with you.
19 You must bring 2 of all the different animals into the boat. They must be male and female. They will stay alive with you.
20 Bring 2 of every different bird. And bring 2 of every different animal and 2 of every different animal that moves along the ground. All these will come to you, and they will stay alive with you.
21 You must take every different food on the earth. Store this for food for you and the animals.’
22 Noah did everything that God had told him.
1 Then the Lord said to Noah, ‘Go into the ark (large boat) with your wife and family. I have found you to be righteous in these times.’ 2 God said ‘Take 7 of every different clean animal. Take a male and a female together. Take 2 of every different unclean animal. Take a male and a female together.
3 Take 7 of every kind of bird. Take males and females. Do this so that they will have young ones again. Then the different animals and birds will not die. 4 In 7 days, I will send rain down to the earth. It will rain for 40 days and 40 nights. I will destroy every living thing that I have made on the earth.’
5 Noah did everything that God told him.
6 Noah was 600 years old when God sent the rain to cover the earth with water.
7 Noah and his wife went into the boat. And his sons and their wives went into it. They all went into the boat to be safe from the water that would cover the earth.
8 Pairs of clean and unclean animals came to Noah. Also, pairs of birds and pairs of all the animals that move across the ground came to him.
9 Both males and females came to Noah and went into the ark. Everything happened as God had told Noah.
10 After 7 days had passed, God sent the waters to cover the earth. 11 On the 17th day of the 2nd month all the water below the earth came up and covered the earth. All the water in the heavens came down on the earth. At that time, Noah was 600 years old.
12 Rain fell on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.
13 On the day that the rains began, Noah and his sons went into the boat with their wives. (Noah’s sons are Shem, Ham and Japheth.)
14 With them was every different wild animal and every different livestock animal. They also had with them every kind of animal that moves along the ground, and every different kind of bird and flying thing.
15 Pairs of every animal alive came to Noah and went into the boat. 16 The animals were male and female of every different animal. This happened as God told Noah. Then Noah went into the boat and God shut the door.
17 For 40 days, the waters came on the earth. More water came and lifted the boat high above the ground.
18 The waters rose and covered the earth. The boat was safe on top of the water.
19 More water came and covered every high mountain on the earth.
20 And even more water came. It covered all the mountains. The water was more than 20 feet higher than the top of the mountains.
21 Everything still living on the earth died. Birds, livestock and wild animals died. Every animal that moved across the ground died. All the people living on the earth died.
22 Everything that was alive on the dry land died.
23 Every living thing on the earth died. Men and animals died. The animals that move across the ground and the birds of the air died. God destroyed all of them. Only Noah and his family, and the animals that were in the boat stayed alive.
24 The waters covered the earth for 150 days.
1 Then God thought of Noah, and all the animals in the boat. He sent a wind to blow over the whole world. And the waters began to go down.
2 Water stopped coming up from below the earth. And water stopped coming down from heaven. The rain stopped falling from the sky.
3 The waters went down, and at the end of 150 days the water had almost gone.
4 On the 17th day of the 7th month, the boat settled on the mountains of Ararat.
5 The water continued to go down until the 10th month. On the 1st day of the 10th month the tops of the mountains appeared.
6 After 40 more days, Noah opened the window in the boat.
7 He sent out a raven. The raven flew back to the boat. Then it flew away from it again. It did this several times until the earth was dry.
8 Noah also sent out a dove. He sent the dove to see if the water had gone from the top of the ground.
9 But the dove could not find anywhere to stand. This was because still there was water over all of the ground. So it returned to Noah in the boat. Noah put out his hand and took the dove back into the boat.
10 He waited for 7 days. Then he sent the dove out again.
11 The dove returned to him in the evening. It carried a fresh olive leaf in its mouth. Then Noah knew that the waters had gone down.
12 He waited for 7 more days. Then he sent the dove out again. This time, it did not return to Noah. 13 It was the 1st day of the first month. Noah was now 601 years old. The water that covered the earth was gone. The earth was dry. Noah removed the top of the ark. He saw that the top of the ground was dry.
14 Some time passed. On the 27th day of the 2nd month, the earth was completely dry.
15 God said to Noah,
16 ‘Come out of the boat. Bring your wife, your sons and their wives with you.
17 Bring every different living animal out of the boat. Bring out the birds and the animals. And bring out those animals that move across the ground. Bring them out so that they may have young ones. Then they can grow in number on the earth.’
18 Noah came out of the boat. His wife, and his sons and their wives came too.
19 All the animals came out of the boat. Those that moved across the ground, and the birds came too. Every different animal came out of the boat. God makes a promise to Noah
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of the clean animals and birds. And he sacrificed a burnt offering on the altar. 21 The Lord smelled the sacrifice and was happy with it. He said (in his heart) ‘I will never again curse the ground because of men and women. I will never curse it even when they think of doing wrong. They think of doing wrong from the time that they are children. But still I will never destroy all the living animals again, as I have done.
22 As long as the earth is here, the time for planting will come each year. The time for getting the plants out of the ground will come each year. Cold and heat, and summer and winter will always come. They will never stop. Day and night will never stop.’ 1 God blessed Noah and his sons. He said ‘Have many children and fill the earth with them.
2 Every animal will be afraid of you. All the birds will be afraid of you. And every animal that moves across the ground will be afraid of you. All the fish in the sea will be afraid of you. You will have authority over all of them.
3 All living animals will be food for you. Before, I gave you the green plants to eat. Now I give you everything.
4 But you must not eat meat that still has the blood of life in it.
5 Men must not kill other men. Animals must not kill men. If an animal kills a man, kill the animal. If a man kills another man, kill the man.
6 God made men like himself. So, if anyone kills a man or a woman, a man must kill him.
7 You must have many children, so that the number of people on the earth will grow.’
8 God said to Noah and his sons that were with him,
9 ‘I will make my promise with you, and with all your descendants,
10 and with all the animals on the earth.
11 This is my promise. I will never destroy all life on the earth again. I will never cover the earth with water again.’
12 God said, ‘I will show you that I have made a promise with you, and every living animal. It is a promise for all that live on the earth, now and as long as the earth is here.
13 I have put my rainbow in the sky. It will show you the promise between me and everything on the earth.
14 When I bring clouds over the earth, a rainbow will appear.
15 Then I will remember my promise. Never again will the waters destroy all life.
16 When I see a rainbow in the clouds, I will remember my promise to you. It is for all time. It is a promise between God and every thing that lives on the earth.’
17 God said to Noah, ‘This will show you the promise that I have made. My promise is between me and all life on earth.’
18 The names of Noah’s sons were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Ham had a son called Canaan. They all came out of the ark with Noah.
19 All the people who are on the earth are descendants of Noah’s three sons.
20 Noah worked on the ground. He planted a vineyard.
21 He drank some of the wine that he made. And he became drunk. He lay inside his tent and fell asleep. He was not wearing any clothes.
22 Ham, Canaan’s father, saw that Noah was not wearing any clothes. He went outside. He told his two brothers what he had seen.
23 Shem and Japheth took some clothes and put them across their shoulders. They walked into Noah’s tent. They kept their backs to Noah, so that they could not see him. Then they covered their father with the clothes. They did not look at their father’s body because there were no clothes on it. 24 Noah woke up from his sleep. He found out what his youngest son (Ham) had done.
25 He said ‘Cursed be Canaan! He will be a slave to his brothers.’
26 Noah also said, ‘Blessings to the Lord, the God of Shem! Let Canaan be the slave of Shem.
27 Let God make the land of Japheth grow. Let Japheth receive the good things of Shem. Let Canaan be his slave.’ 28 Noah was alive for 350 years after God covered the earth with water.
29 Noah’s whole life lasted for 950 years. Then he died.
1 This is the story of Shem, Ham and Japheth. They are Noah’s sons. After God covered the earth with water, they had sons. The Japhethites
2 These are the sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras.
3 These are the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.
4 These are the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim and the Rodanim. 5 These people lived by the sea. They lived in groups. Each group went to live in a different place. Each group spoke its own language. The Hamites
6 These are the sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan.
7 These are the sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca.
8 These are the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
9 Cush was the father of Nimrod. Nimrod grew into a great soldier on the earth. Nimrod was a great hunter in front of the Lord. That is why people say ‘Like Nimrod, a great hunter in front of the Lord’. 10 The first of Nimrod’s lands were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in Shinar.
11 From that land he went to Assyria. This is where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir and Calah.
12 He also built Resen. Resen is between Nineveh and Calah, which is a large city.
13 Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites,
14 Pathrusites, Casluhites (this is where Philistines came from) and Caphtorites. 15 Canaan was the father of Sidon, who was born first. Canaan was also the father of the Hittites,
16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites,
17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites,
18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. After some time had passed, the Canaanite families separated,
19 and the land of Canaan went from Sidon to Gerar, as far as Gaza. It went to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
20 These are all descendants of Ham. They lived in groups in their own parts of the land. Each group spoke their own language. The Semites
21 Shem also had sons. Shem’s older brother was Japheth. All the sons of Eber are descendants of Shem.
22 These are the sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.
23 These are the sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshech.
24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah. Shelah was the father of Eber.
25 Eber had 2 sons. He called one Peleg. When he was alive, people began to live in different places on the earth. So he called him Peleg. He called the other son Joktan. 26 Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,
27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,
28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba,
29 Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.
30 The land where they lived went from Mesha to Sephar. This is in the land with hills in the east.
31 These are the descendants of Shem. They lived in groups in their own parts of the land. Each group spoke their own language.
32 All these people (verses 2-13) are descendants of Noah, through many years. They went to live in different parts of the earth. This happened after God covered the earth with water. 1 At this time, everyone who lived on the earth spoke one language.
2 People moved to the East. They reached a large flat piece of land called Shinar. They stayed and lived there.
3 They said to each other, ‘Let us build a city with a tower. We will first make bricks and heat them until they are hard. They used brick instead of stone. They used tar to hold the bricks together. 4 They said, ‘Let us build a city with a tower. The tower will go up into the heavens. Then people will remember us. If we build a tower then we will not have to go and live in different places.’
5 But the Lord came down. He came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.
6 The Lord said, ‘Because they all speak the same language, they can build this tower. What will they do after this?
7 Let us go down. Let us make them speak in different languages. Then they will not understand each other.’
8 So God separated the people, and they went to live in different lands. They stopped building the city.
9 That is why people called the city Babel. It was because the Lord gave the people different languages. They could not understand each other. From that time, the Lord separated the people. They lived in different countries all over the earth. 10 This is the report of the descendants of Shem. Two years after the earth was dry, Shem was 100 years old. He became the father of Arphaxad.
11 After he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem was alive for 500 years. He had other sons and daughters.
12 When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah.
13 After he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad was alive for 403 years. He had other sons and daughters.
14 When Shelah was 30 years old, he became the father of Eber.
15 After he became the father of Eber, Shelah was alive for 403 years. He had other sons and daughters.
16 When Eber was 34 years old, he became the father of Peleg.
17 After he became the father of Peleg, Eber was alive for 430 years. He had other sons and daughters.
18 When Peleg was 30 years old, he became the father of Reu.
19 After he became the father of Reu, Peleg was alive for 209 years. He had other sons and daughters.
20 When Reu was 32 years old, he became the father of Serug.
21 After he became the father of Serug, Reu was alive for 207 years. He had other sons and daughters.
22 When Serug was 30 years old, he became the father of Nahor.
23 After he became the father of Nahor, Serug was alive for 200 years. He had other sons and daughters.
24 When Nahor was 29 years old, he became the father of Terah.
25 After he became the father of Terah, Nahor was alive for 119 years. He had other sons and daughters.
26 When Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
27 This is the report of the descendants of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot.
28 While Terah was alive, Haran died. Haran died in Ur, the land of the Chaldeans. This was where Haran was born.
29 Abram married Sarai. Nahor married Milcah. Milcah was Haran’s daughter. Haran was the father of Milcah and Iscah.
30 Sarai could not give birth to children. She did not have any children.
31 Terah took his son Abram, and Abram’s wife, Sarai. Terah took his grandson Lot. (Lot is the son of Haran.) They all left Ur, the land of the Chaldeans. They began to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they stayed there.
32 Terah was alive for 205 years. He died in Haran.
1 The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your land and your people. Leave your father’s house. Go to the land that I will show you.’ 2 (The Lord said), ‘I will make you the father of many children. I will bless you. Everyone will know your name. You will be a blessing to other people.’
3 ‘I will bless people who bless you. I will curse people who curse you. I will bless all the people on the earth through you.’ 4 Abram left Haran as the Lord told him. Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.
5 Abram took his wife Sarai, and his nephew Lot. Abram took everything that was theirs. He took their slaves and the servants that he had in Haran. They all left to go to the land of Canaan. And they arrived there. 6 Abram walked through the land. He went as far as the big tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time, Canaanites lived in this land.
7 The Lord appeared to Abram. The Lord said ‘I will give this land to your children.’ So Abram built an altar to the Lord because the Lord had appeared to him. 8 Abram left Shechem. He went to the hills. The hills are east of Bethel. This is where he put his tent. Bethel was to the west of his tent. Ai was to the east of his tent. Abram built an altar there to worship the Lord and he prayed to the Lord.
9 Then Abram took his tent and left that place. He began to go to the Negev. 10 There was a famine in the land. So Abram went to live in Egypt for a while. He went there because the famine was very bad. 11 When Abram was going into Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, ‘I know that you are a very beautiful woman.
12 When the people of Egypt see you they will say, “This is his wife.” They will kill me. But they will not kill you.
13 Tell them that you are my sister. Then they will do good things for me because of you. They will not kill me. Because they will think that you are my sister.’ 14 When Abram came to Egypt, the people saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman.
15 Pharaoh’s officers saw her. They said good things about her to Pharaoh. They took Sarai to Pharaoh’s palace. (Pharaoh is the name for all the kings of Egypt.) 16 Pharaoh did good things for Abram because of Sarai. He gave him sheep and cows. He also gave Abram male and female donkeys. And he gave him camels and male servants and female servants. 17 But the Lord made Pharaoh and the people in the palace very ill. The Lord did this because of Abram’s wife Sarai.
18 So Pharaoh called Abram to come before him. Pharaoh said, ‘You have done this to me. You did not tell me that she was your wife!
19 You told me “She is my sister”, so I took her to be my wife. Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!’
20 Pharaoh told his men what to do with Abram. They sent Abram away with his wife and everything that they had. 1 Abram went from Egypt to the Negev. He took his wife and everything that he had. Lot went with him.
2 Abram had many valuable things. He had cows, silver and gold. 3 Abram left the Negev. He went from place to place until he came to Bethel. He came to the place between Bethel and Ai. This is where he had put his tent before.
4 This is where Abram had built an altar to worship God. There, Abram called out to the Lord.
5 Lot was moving from place to place with Abram. Lot also had cows, sheep and tents.
6 The ground could not grow enough food for all the animals to eat. The ground could not grow enough food for Abram’s animals and for Lot’s animals. Abram and Lot could not stay together. They had too many animals and people with them.
7 Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen began to quarrel. At that time, Canaanites and Perizzites also lived in the land. 8 Abram said to Lot, ‘We must not quarrel with each other. Your herdsmen and my herdsmen must not quarrel with each other. There must be no more quarrelling because we belong to the same family.’
9 ‘The whole land is in front of you. We must separate. If you go to the left, I will go to the right. If you go to the right, I will go to the left.’
10 Lot looked up. He saw the flat land of Jordan. He saw that it had water. It was like the garden of the Lord. It was like the land of Egypt, towards Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
11 So Lot chose the flat land of Jordan. He went towards the East. 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan. Lot lived in the cities of the land that he had chosen. Lot put his tents near Sodom.
13 The men of Sodom were very bad. They sinned against the Lord.
14 After Lot had gone, the Lord said to Abram, ‘Look up from where you are. Look to the north and south. Look to the east and west.
15 I will give you all the land that you can see. I will give it to you and your descendants for all time.
16 I will make your descendants like the dust of the ground. If anyone can count the pieces of dust, they can count your descendants.’ 17 The Lord said, ‘Go and walk through all this land. Because I am giving it to you.’
18 Abram moved his tents. He went to live near the big trees of Mamre. This is at Hebron. Abram built an altar here. This was so that he could worship the Lord.
5 In the 14th year, Kedorlaomer and the kings with him beat the Rephaites. This was in Ashteroth Karnaim. They beat the Zuzites in Ham. They beat the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim.
6 And they beat the Horites in the country of Seir. This was as far as El Paran near the land of dry sand.
7 They then went back. They went to En Mishpat. (That is Kadesh.) They took the whole land of the Amalekites. They also took the land of the Amorites who were living in Hazezon Tamar.
8 Then, the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is Zoar) went to fight. This was in the Valley of Siddim.
9 They fought against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar. There were 4 kings fighting against 5 kings.
10 The Valley of Siddim had many holes in the ground. The holes were filled with tar. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah ran away. And some of their men fell into the tar. The rest of the men ran away to the hills.
11 The 4 kings took everything in Sodom and Gomorrah. And they took all the food. Then they went away.
12 They also took Abram’s nephew. This is Lot. They took everything that Lot had. That was because Lot lived in Sodom.
13 A man ran away from the kings. He told Abram the Hebrew everything that had happened. Abram lived near the big trees of Mamre the Amorite. Mamre was a brother of Eshcol and Aner. These men would fight with Abram.
14 Abram heard that the kings caught his nephew. He called 318 men. These men knew how to fight. They were born into Abram’s household. Abram and the men went after the men who took Lot. They went as far as Dan. 15 During the night, Abram separated his men into 2 groups. Then they attacked the men who took Lot. Abram followed them as far as Hobah. Hobah is North of Damascus.
16 Abram took back everything that the men took from Sodom. He brought back his nephew Lot. Abram also brought back the women and other people.
17 Abram beat Kedorlaomer and the kings with him. He returned, and the king of Sodom came out to meet Abram. This was in the Valley of Shaveh. (That is the Kings’ valley.)
18 Melchizedek was the king of Salem. He brought out bread and wine. Melchizedek was a priest of God Most High.
19 He blessed Abram. He said ‘Abram is blessed by God Most High who made heaven and earth.
20 Blessed is God Most High. He gave your enemies to you.’ Abram gave king Melchizedek a 10th of everything. 21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘Give me the people. Keep everything else.’
22 But Abram said ‘I have raised my hand to the Lord God Most High. He made heaven and earth. And I have made a promise to him.
23 I promised not to take anything from you. I will not take even a part of your shoe. So you can never say “I made Abram rich.”
24 The men who went with me may take their part. They may take their part of anything that we took. They are Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their part.’ 1 After this, Abram had a dream. God spoke to Abram in this dream. God said, ‘Do not be afraid Abram. I will keep you safe. And I will give you many good things.’
2 But Abram said, ‘Lord, I have no children. I want you to give me a son. You have not given me a son. So Eliezer of Damascus will inherit everything that I have.’ 3 Abram said ‘You have not given me any children. So a servant in my house will inherit everything that I have.’
4 Then the Lord said to him, ‘Eliezer will not inherit everything that you have. You will have your own son. He will inherit everything that you have.’
5 Then the Lord took Abram outside. The Lord said, ‘Look up at the heavens. Count the stars. You cannot count them because there are too many.’ Then the Lord said, ‘This is how many descendants you will have.’
6 Abram believed the Lord. And God said that Abram was righteous. God said this because Abram believed.
7 The Lord also said to Abram, ‘I am the Lord. I brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans. I did this to give you this land. It will be yours to take.’
8 But Abram said, ‘My Lord, how will I know that I can take this land?’
9 The Lord said to Abram, ‘Bring me a young cow, a goat and a male sheep. Each animal must be 3 years old. Also bring a dove and a young pigeon.’ 10 Abram brought all the animals and birds to God. Abram cut each one in half. He put the halves opposite each other. But he did not cut the birds in half.
11 Some other birds came. These birds liked to eat dead animals. But Abram sent them away.
12 The sun went down. Abram fell asleep. It was very dark. He felt afraid.
13 Then the Lord said to Abram, ‘Be sure of this. Your descendants will live in a country which is not their own. They will be strangers there. They will be slaves. People will do bad things to them. This will go on for 400 years.
14 But I will judge the people who made them slaves. After this, your descendants will leave that land. They will take many valuable things.
15 And yet, you will have a long life. You will have a long, good and quiet life. Then you will die very happy.
16 After 4 generations, your descendants will come back here. The Amorites sin against me. But I will not do anything against them. I will not do anything until the 4th generation (of your people).’ 17 The sun went down. It became dark. Abram saw a smoking pot of fire. He also saw a light made of fire. Both of these passed between the halves of the animals. 18 On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram. The Lord said, ‘I give this land to your descendants. I give them the land from the river of Egypt to the River Euphrates.
19 This is the land where these people live: Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.’ 1 Abram’s wife was Sarai. She did not have any children. She had a servant from Egypt. The servant’s name was Hagar.
2 Sarai said to Abram, ‘The Lord has stopped me having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Her children will be mine.’ Abram agreed to do this. 3 Abram had been living in Canaan for 10 years. Sarai took Hagar. She gave Hagar to Abram to be his wife.
4 Abram had sex with Hagar. And Hagar became pregnant. Hagar knew that she was pregnant. Because of this, she would not respect Sarai. 5 Sarai said to Abram, ‘It is because of you that this has happened. What Hagar is doing is wrong. I gave her to you. And now she is pregnant. So now she does not respect me. The Lord will say who is right, you or me.’
6 Abram said to Sarai, ‘Do whatever you think is right. Do what you want to do with Hagar.’ Then Sarai did bad things to Hagar. So Hagar ran away. 7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar. She was by some water in the land of dry sand. The water was by the road to Shur.
8 The angel said, ‘Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from? Where are you going?’ Hagar replied, ‘I am running away from Sarai. I am her servant.’ 9 The angel of the Lord told Hagar, ‘Go back to Sarai. You are her servant. Do whatever she tells you to.’
10 The angel also said, ‘I will make the number of your descendants grow. They will be too many to count.’
11 The angel of the Lord said, 12 He will be a wild man. 13 Hagar said to the Lord ‘You are the God who sees me.’ And she said ‘I have seen the One who sees me. And he has let me live.’
14 That is why they called the well ‘Beer Lahai Roi’. The well is between Kadesh and Bered. 15 Some time passed. Hagar had a son. Abram was his father. Abram gave Hagar’s son a name. The name of Hagar’s son was Ishmael.
16 Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.
1 Abram was 99 years old. The Lord appeared to him. The Lord said ‘I am God Almighty. Walk before me. And do nothing wrong.’ 2 ‘I will fix my covenant. My covenant will be between me and you. I will make the number of your descendants grow.’ 3 Abram fell to the ground. He put his face to the ground. God said to him,
4 ‘This is what I will do. This is my covenant to you. You will be the father of many people.’ 5 ‘Your name is not Abram any longer. Now your name is Abraham. This is because you are the father of many people. I will make this happen.
6 I will give you many descendants. These will make many different groups of people. Some of your descendants will be kings.
7 My covenant will be for all time. It is between me and you. And it will be between me and your descendants and their sons. (It will be for all time.) I will be your God. I will also be the God of all your descendants.
8 You are a foreign person here. This is the land of Canaan. I will give you all of Canaan. I give it to you and all your descendants. And I will be their God.
9 This is what you must do. You must do as I tell you. Then you will keep my covenant. You, and all your descendants must keep it.
10 This is my covenant with you and with all your descendants. This is what you must do to keep my covenant. This is for every male who lives with you. You must circumcise them.
11 You must be circumcised too. This will show that the covenant is between you and me.
12 You must circumcise every generation of males. Do this when they are 8 days old. This is for every male that lives with you. Circumcise servants and slaves bought with money. This includes males that are not your children.
13 They may be born in your household. Or you may have bought them with your money. Circumcise all males. This is my covenant in your body. It will be for all time.’ 14 ‘Circumcise every male. If you do not circumcise someone, I will separate him from his people. Because my covenant is broken.’ 15 God also said to Abraham, ‘As for your wife Sarai, you must not call her Sarai. Her name will be Sarah.
16 I will bless her. I will give you a son through her. I will bless her. And she will be the mother of many descendants. Some of her descendants will be kings.’
17 Abraham fell to the ground. He put his face to the ground. Abraham laughed. He said to himself, ‘I am 100 years old. That is too old to have a son. Sarah is 90 years old. That is too old to have a child.’
18 Abraham said to God, ‘If only Ishmael may have your blessing.’
19 God said to Abraham, ‘No, your wife Sarah will have a child. You must call him Isaac. I will make my covenant with him. It will be for all time. My covenant will be for him and all his descendants.’ 20 God said, ‘I have heard what you want for Ishmael. I will bless him. He will have many descendants. 12 rulers will come from his descendants. His descendants will be great people.
21 But I will make my covenant with Isaac. Isaac will be Sarah’s child. He will be born before one year has passed.’
22 God had finished speaking to Abraham. So God left Abraham. 23 On that day, Abraham went to Ishmael. He also went to all the males born into his household. Also, he went to every male that he had bought with money. Abraham went to every male in his household. He circumcised them. He did this because God had told him to do it.
24 Abraham’s circumcision happened when he was 99 years old.
25 Ishmael’s circumcision happened when he was 13 years old.
26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day.
27 Abraham circumcised every male living in his household. This included males bought with money. It also included foreign males living in Abraham’s household. He circumcised them all on that day.
1 The Lord appeared to Abraham. This happened near the big trees of Mamre. Abraham was sitting by the door of his tent.
2 Abraham looked up. He saw 3 men. He hurried to meet them. He bowed to the ground. 3 Abraham said to them, ‘If it makes you happy, my lords, do not go past me.
4 ‘Let us bring some water for you. Then you can all wash your feet. Then you can rest under this tree.’
5 Abraham said, ‘Let me get you some bread. Then you will be ready to continue with your journey. I will do this now because you have come to me.’ The men replied, ‘Very well, do as you have said.’
6 Abraham hurried to the tent. This is where Sarah was. He said to her, ‘Quick, get some good flour. Make bread with it.’
7 Then Abraham ran to his cows. He chose a baby cow. He gave it to a servant. The servant quickly prepared it for the men to eat.
8 Then Abraham brought some butter, milk and the meat from the cow. He put all these in front of the men. The men ate the food. And Abraham stood near them. He stood under a tree.
9 The men asked Abraham ‘Where is Sarah, your wife?’ Abraham replied, ‘She is in the tent.’
10 Then the Lord said, ‘I will return to you at this time, after one year has passed. And you and Sarah your wife will have a son.’ Sarah was in the tent. She heard what the Lord said. She heard it because the tent was behind him.
11 Abraham and Sarah were very old. Sarah was past the age of giving birth to a child.
12 So Sarah laughed to herself. She thought ‘I am too old. And my husband is too old. I cannot have this baby now.’
13 The Lord said to Abraham, ‘Sarah laughed. She said, “I am too old to have a child.” ’
14 The Lord said, ‘Nothing is too difficult for the Lord. At this time next year, I will return to you. I will return to you and Sarah will have a son.’
15 Sarah was afraid. So she did not say what was true. She said, ‘I did not laugh.’ But the Lord said, ‘Yes, you did laugh.’
16 The men got up. They were leaving. They looked down in the direction of Sodom. Abraham walked with them. He walked with them for part of their journey.
17 Then the Lord said, ‘Will I tell Abraham my plan?’
18 ‘Abraham’s descendants will be great people. They will be very powerful. Because of him, everyone on the earth will receive my blessing.’ 19 ‘I chose him. Then he will teach his children and everyone in his household. He will teach them to know me. He will teach them to do what is right. Then I will keep the promise that I made to him.’
20 The Lord said to Abraham, ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. The people who live there are evil.’
21 ‘I will go down to Sodom and Gomorrah. I will see what they have done. I will see if it is as bad as the outcry against them. Then I will know how badly they have sinned.’
22 The men turned away. They went towards Sodom. But Abraham remained with the Lord.
23 Then Abraham went near to the Lord. Abraham asked, ‘Will you kill your people with the evil people?
24 There might be 50 people who know you in the city. Will you still destroy the city? Or will you let the people live, because of the 50 people who know you?
25 The ruler of all the earth will do what is right! So, you will not kill the people who know you. You will not kill them along with the evil people. You will not do the same thing to the people who know you, as you do to the evil people. I know that you would not do such a thing!’ 26 The Lord said, ‘Because of 50 people who know me in the city of Sodom, I will not destroy that place and everybody in it.’
27 Then Abraham spoke again. ‘I have been brave enough to speak to the Lord. I know that I am nothing but dust and ashes.’ 28 Then Abraham asked, ‘What if there are 45 people in the city who know you. Will you destroy the city, because there are only 45 good people there?’ The Lord said, ‘Because of 45 people who know me in the city, I will not destroy it.’
29 Abraham spoke to God again. ‘What will you do if only 40 good people are there?’ The Lord said, ‘Because of 40 good people I will not destroy the city.’
30 Then Abraham said ‘Please do not be angry. Let me speak. What if there are only 30 people who know you there?’ The Lord answered, ‘I will not destroy the city if I find 30 good people in the city.’
31 Abraham said ‘I have been brave. I have spoken to the Lord. What if only 20 good people are there?’ The Lord said, ‘Because of 20 good people I will not destroy the city.’
32 Abraham said, ‘Please do not be angry. Let me speak once more. What if only 10 good people live there?’ The Lord answered, ‘Because of 10 good people I will not destroy the city.’
33 The Lord had finished speaking with Abraham. So the Lord left him. And Abraham returned home. 1 The 2 angels arrived at Sodom. It was evening. Lot was sitting at the city gate. Lot saw the angels. He got up to meet them. He bowed down. He put his face to the ground.
2 Lot said ‘My lords, please come to my house. You can wash your feet and stay the night there. You can continue your journey early in the morning.’ The angels replied, ‘No, we will stay the night in the square.’ 3 But Lot asked them to stay with him again. So they went with Lot. The angels went to Lot’s house. Lot prepared a meal for them. He made special bread. The angels ate the food. 4 They had not yet gone to bed. All the men from every part of Sodom came to the house. Old and young men came. They were all outside the house.
5 The men said ‘Where are the men who are staying with you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them’
6 Lot went outside to the men. He shut the door of his house.
7 Lot said, ‘No, my friends. Do not do this bad thing.
8 I have 2 daughters. They have never had sex with a man. Let me bring them out to you. You can do whatever you want with them. But do not do anything to these men. They are staying at my house. I cannot let anyone hurt them.’
9 The men from the city said ‘Get out of our way. You are a foreign person in this city. Now you are telling us what to do! We will do worse things to you.’ They pushed Lot. They began to break the door of his house.
10 The 2 men inside the house pulled Lot. They pulled him back into his house. They shut the door.
11 Then they made the men outside blind. They made the young men blind. They also made the old men blind. This was so that they could not find the door to the house. 12 The 2 men spoke to Lot. They said, ‘Do you have any people belonging to you here? Do you have men who are going to marry your daughters? Do you have sons or daughters? Do you have any people belonging to you in the city? If you do, get them out of here.
13 We are going to destroy this city. The outcry against this city is great. God has sent us to destroy it.’
14 Lot went out. He spoke to the men who were going to marry his daughters. Lot said to them, ‘Hurry! Leave this place because the Lord is going to destroy this city.’ But the men laughed.
15 At dawn, the angels said to Lot, ‘Hurry! Take your wife. And take your 2 daughters that are here. If not, you will all be killed when the city is destroyed.’
16 Lot did not go with the angels at once. So the angels held on to Lot’s hand. And they held the hands of his wife and his 2 daughters. The angels led them away from the city, because the Lord was merciful to them. 17 As soon as the angel brought them out he said, ‘Run! Your life is in danger. Do not look back. Do not stop anywhere on this land. Run to the mountains or you will die.’
18 But Lot said, ‘No! Please, my lords!
19 You are happy with me, your servant. You have been very kind to me. You have saved my life. But I cannot run to the mountains. This evil will over take me. Then I will die.’
20 Lot said, ‘Look! Here is a town. It is near. I can run to it. And the town is small. Let me run to it. The town is very small. Then I will stay alive.’
21 The angel said to Lot, ‘Very well, I will let you do what you have asked. I will not destroy the town of which you speak.
22 But run to the town quickly. I cannot do anything until you get to the town.’ (The name of the town was Zoar.)
23 The sun had risen in the sky. Then Lot reached Zoar.
24 Then the Lord made it rain. He made it rain burning sulphur on Sodom and Gomorrah. The burning sulphur came from the Lord. It came out of the heavens. 25 So the Lord destroyed those cities. He killed everyone who lived in those cities. And he killed all the plants that grew on that land.
26 But Lot’s wife looked back at the city. And she changed into a large piece of salt. 27 Early the next morning, Abraham returned to where he had stood before God.
28 He looked down towards Sodom and Gomorrah. And he looked down towards all the land near the cities. He saw thick smoke. It was rising from the land. It was the smoke from a big fire.
29 God destroyed the cities of that land. And Lot lived in these cities. But God had remembered Abraham. God brought Lot out of the cities, before he destroyed them.
30 Lot was afraid to live in Zoar. So, he and his 2 daughters stayed in the mountains. Lot and his 2 daughters lived in the rocks in the side of the mountain.
31 The oldest daughter said to the youngest daughter, ‘Our father is old. And there is no other man here. So, we will not have any man to marry us. Then we will not have children. Everyone on the earth wants to have children.
32 Let us cause our father to drink wine. Then we will have sex with him. Then our family will continue.’
Verse 5 Light appeared when it was morning. It was dark at night. One day is a time of light and a time of dark.
Wild animals do not live near people. They sometimes kill other animals to eat. Some of them eat plants and fruit.
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The man and woman turn away from God
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Cain and Abel
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The descendants of Adam and Eve
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God Destroys his Creatures
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The water goes away
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