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Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each bearing fruit with seed according to its kind.” And it was so.

The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

And God said, “Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.”

So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every winged bird after its kind. And God saw that it was good.

So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh.

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.

So He drove out the man and stationed cherubim on the east side of the Garden of Eden, along with a whirling sword of flame to guard the way to the tree of life.

And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said.

And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said.

…while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock. And the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,

And Cain had relations with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain built a city and named it after his son Enoch.

And Adam again had relations with his wife, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another seed in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”

And after he had become the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

Enoch walked with God, and then he was no more, because God had taken him away.

So the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.”

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of old, men of renown.

This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.

Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark and coat it with pitch inside and out.

But I will establish My covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.

But I will establish My covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.

And you are to bring two of every living creature into the ark—male and female—to keep them alive with you.

You are to take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate; a pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate;

And Noah and his wife, with his sons and their wives, entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood.

On that very day Noah entered the ark, along with his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and his wife, and the three wives of his sons—

They came to Noah to enter the ark, two by two of every creature with the breath of life.

And every living thing on the face of the earth was destroyed—man and livestock, crawling creatures and birds of the air; they were blotted out from the earth, and only Noah and those with him in the ark remained.

But God remembered Noah and all the animals and livestock that were with him in the ark. And God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters began to subside.

And behold, the dove returned to him in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.

“Come out of the ark, you and your wife, along with your sons and their wives.

Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, and everything that crawls upon the ground—so that they can spread out over the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon it.”

So Noah came out, along with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives.

But you must not eat meat with its lifeblood still in it.

Then God said to Noah and his sons with him,

“Behold, I now establish My covenant with you and your descendants after you,

…and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth—every living thing that came out of the ark.

…and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth—every living thing that came out of the ark.

And I establish My covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:

“Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”

So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.

The LORD, however, afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai.

Then Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning Abram, and they sent him away with his wife and all his possessions.

So Abram went up out of Egypt into the Negev—he and his wife and all his possessions—and Lot was with him.

Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.

In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim,

He retrieved all the goods, as well as his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the rest of the people.

After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).

I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share for the men who went with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. They may take their portion.”

And the LORD said to him, “Bring Me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon.”

But I will judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will depart with many possessions.

On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—

And he slept with Hagar, and she conceived. But when Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.

Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me.”

“Here,” said Abram, “your servant is in your hands. Do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she fled from her.

“As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.

This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised.

But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”

When He had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or purchased with his money—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised them, just as God had told him.

And all the men of Abraham’s household—both servants born in his household and those purchased from foreigners—were circumcised with him.

When the men got up to leave, they looked out over Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them off.

Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, He departed, and Abraham returned home.

They called out to Lot, saying, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have relations with them!”

Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them to you, and you can do to them as you please. But do not do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

But the men inside reached out, pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.

And they struck the men at the entrance, young and old, with blindness, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the door.

One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us, as is the custom over all the earth.

Come, let us get our father drunk with wine so we can sleep with him and preserve his line.”

Come, let us get our father drunk with wine so we can sleep with him and preserve his line.”

So that night they got their father drunk with wine, and the firstborn went in and slept with her father; he was not aware when she lay down or when she got up.

So that night they got their father drunk with wine, and the firstborn went in and slept with her father; he was not aware when she lay down or when she got up.

The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Look, I slept with my father last night. Let us get him drunk with wine again tonight so you can go in and sleep with him and we can preserve our father’s line.”

The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Look, I slept with my father last night. Let us get him drunk with wine again tonight so you can go in and sleep with him and we can preserve our father’s line.”

The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Look, I slept with my father last night. Let us get him drunk with wine again tonight so you can go in and sleep with him and we can preserve our father’s line.”

So again that night they got their father drunk with wine, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him; he was not aware when she lay down or when she got up.

So again that night they got their father drunk with wine, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him; he was not aware when she lay down or when she got up.

Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did not let you touch her.

And he said to Sarah, “See, I am giving your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is your vindication before all who are with you; you are completely cleared.”

Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”

…and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!”

Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.

Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer.

At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.

Now, therefore, swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or descendants. Show to me and to the country in which you reside the same kindness that I have shown to you.”

“Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told his servants. “The boy and I will go over there to worship, and then we will return to you.”

Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all manner of good things from his master in hand. And he set out for Nahor’s hometown in Aram-naharaim.

Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.

Now the girl was very beautiful, a virgin who had not had relations with any man. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up again.

Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’

And he told me, ‘The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you may take a wife for my son from my kindred and from my father’s house.

And before I had finished praying in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’

Then he and the men with him ate and drank and spent the night there. When they got up the next morning, he said, “Send me on my way to my master.”

But her brother and mother said, “Let the girl remain with us ten days or so. After that, she may go.”

They called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?” “I will go,” she replied.

So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men.