Genèse (NAB) 1







Book of


GENESIS


Six Days of Creation and the Sabbath

1 1 In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters.
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Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.4 God saw how good the light was. God then separated the light from the darkness.5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." Thus evening came, and morning followed-- the first day.
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Then God said, "Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other." And so it happened:7 God made the dome, and it separated the water above the dome from the water below it.8 God called the dome "the sky." Evening came, and morning followed-- the second day.
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Then God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin, so that the dry land may appear." And so it happened: the water under the sky was gathered into its basin, and the dry land appeared.10 God called the dry land "the earth," and the basin of the water he called "the sea." God saw how good it was.11 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it." And so it happened:12 the earth brought forth every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. God saw how good it was.13 Evening came, and morning followed-- the third day.
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Then God said: "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky, to separate day from night. Let them mark the fixed times, the days and the years,15 and serve as luminaries in the dome of the sky, to shed light upon the earth." And so it happened:16 God made the two great lights, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night; and he made the stars.17 God set them in the dome of the sky, to shed light upon the earth,18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw how good it was.19 Evening came, and morning followed-- the fourth day.
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Then God said, "Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky." And so it happened:21 God created the great sea monsters and all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems, and all kinds of winged birds. God saw how good it was,22 and God blessed them, saying, "Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth."23 Evening came, and morning followed-- the fifth day.
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Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals of all kinds." And so it happened:25 God made all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of cattle, and all kinds of creeping things of the earth. God saw how good it was.
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Then God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground."
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God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.
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God blessed them, saying: "Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth."
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God also said: "See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food;30 and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground, I give all the green plants for food." And so it happened.
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God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed-- the sixth day.


2 1 Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.2 Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing, he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.


Another Account of the Creation

4 Such is the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation. At the time when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens--
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while as yet there was no field shrub on earth and no grass of the field had sprouted, for the LORD God had sent no rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the soil,6 but a stream was welling up out of the earth and was watering all the surface of the ground-- 7 the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being.
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Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and he placed there the man whom he had formed. 9 Out of the ground the LORD God made various trees grow that were delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and bad.10 A river rises in Eden to water the garden; beyond there it divides and becomes four branches. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it is the one that winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.12 The gold of that land is excellent; bdellium and lapis lazuli are also there.13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it is the one that winds all through the land of Cush.14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it is the one that flows east of Asshur. The fourth river is the Euphrates.15 The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.16 The LORD God gave man this order: "You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden17 except the tree of knowledge of good and bad. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die."
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The LORD God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him."19 So the LORD God formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each of them would be its name.20 The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.21 So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.22 The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man,
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the man said: "This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called 'woman,' for out of 'her man' this one has been taken." 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.
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The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.


The First Sin and Its Punishment

3 1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals that the LORD God had made. The serpent asked the woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?"2 The woman answered the serpent: "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;3 it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, 'You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.'"4 But the serpent said to the woman: "You certainly will not die!5 No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad."
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The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
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When they heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 The LORD God then called to the man and asked him, "Where are you?"10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself."11 Then he asked, "Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!"12 The man replied, "The woman whom you put here with me-- she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it."13 The LORD God then asked the woman, "Why did you do such a thing?" The woman answered, "The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it."
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Then the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; On your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life.
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I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel."
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To the woman he said: "I will intensify the pangs of your childbearing; in pain shall you bring forth children. Yet your urge shall be for your husband, and he shall be your master."
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To the man he said: "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat, "Cursed be the ground because of you! In toil shall you eat its yield all the days of your life.
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Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you, as you eat of the plants of the field.
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By the sweat of your face shall you get bread to eat, Until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; For you are dirt, and to dirt you shall return."
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The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living. 21 For the man and his wife the LORD God made leather garments, with which he clothed them.22 Then the LORD God said: "See! The man has become like one of us, knowing what is good and what is bad! Therefore, he must not be allowed to put out his hand to take fruit from the tree of life also, and thus eat of it and live forever."23 The LORD God therefore banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he had been taken.24 When he expelled the man, he settled him east of the garden of Eden; and he stationed the cherubim and the fiery revolving sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.


Cain Murders Abel

4 1 The man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have produced a man with the help of the LORD." 2 Next she bore his brother Abel. Abel became a keeper of flocks, and Cain a tiller of the soil.
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In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit of the soil,4 while Abel, for his part, brought one of the best firstlings of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,5 but on Cain and his offering he did not. Cain greatly resented this and was crestfallen.6 So the LORD said to Cain: "Why are you so resentful and crestfallen?7 If you do well, you can hold up your head; but if not, sin is a demon lurking at the door: his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master."
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Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out in the field." When they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.9 Then the LORD asked Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" He answered, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"10 The LORD then said: "What have you done! Listen: your brother's blood cries out to me from the soil!11 Therefore you shall be banned from the soil that opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.12 If you till the soil, it shall no longer give you its produce. You shall become a restless wanderer on the earth."13 Cain said to the LORD: "My punishment is too great to bear.14 Since you have now banished me from the soil, and I must avoid your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, anyone may kill me at sight."15 "Not so!" the LORD said to him. "If anyone kills Cain, Cain shall be avenged sevenfold." So the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest anyone should kill him at sight. 16 Cain then left the LORD'S presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.


Beginnings of Civilization

17 Cain had relations with his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. Cain also became the founder of a city, which he named after his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad became the father of Mehujael; Mehujael became the father of Methusael, and Methusael became the father of Lamech.19 Lamech took two wives; the name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second Zillah.20 Adah gave birth to Jabal, the ancestor of all who dwell in tents and keep cattle.21 His brother's name was Jubal; he was the ancestor of all who play the lyre and the pipe.22 Zillah, on her part, gave birth to Tubalcain, the ancestor of all who forge instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.
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Lamech said to his wives: "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, listen to my utterance: I have killed a man for wounding me, a boy for bruising me.
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If Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold."
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Adam again had relations with his wife, and she gave birth to a son whom she called Seth. "God has granted me more offspring in place of Abel," she said, "because Cain slew him." 26 To Seth, in turn, a son was born, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to invoke the LORD by name.


Adam's Descendants to Noah and His Sons

5 1 This is the record of the descendants of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God; 2 he created them male and female. When they were created, he blessed them and named them "man."
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Adam was one hundred and thirty years old when he begot a son in his likeness, after his image; and he named him Seth.4 Adam lived eight hundred years after the birth of Seth, and he had other sons and daughters.5 The whole lifetime of Adam was nine hundred and thirty years; then he died.
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When Seth was one hundred and five years old, he became the father of Enosh.7 Seth lived eight hundred and seven years after the birth of Enosh, and he had other sons and daughters.8 The whole lifetime of Seth was nine hundred and twelve years; then he died.
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When Enosh was ninety years old, he became the father of Kenan.10 Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years after the birth of Kenan, and he had other sons and daughters.11 The whole lifetime of Enosh was nine hundred and five years; then he died.
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When Kenan was seventy years old, he became the father of Mahalalel.13 Kenan lived eight hundred and forty years after the birth of Mahalalel, and he had other sons and daughters.14 The whole lifetime of Kenan was nine hundred and ten years; then he died.
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When Mahalalel was sixty-five years old, he became the father of Jared.16 Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years after the birth of Jared, and he had other sons and daughters.17 The whole lifetime of Mahalalel was eight hundred and ninety-five years; then he died.
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When Jared was one hundred and sixty-two years old, he became the father of Enoch.19 Jared lived eight hundred years after the birth of Enoch, and he had other sons and daughters.20 The whole lifetime of Jared was nine hundred and sixty-two years; then he died.
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When Enoch was sixty-five years old, he became the father of Methuselah.22 Enoch lived three hundred years after the birth of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters.23 The whole lifetime of Enoch was three hundred and sixty-five years.24 Then Enoch walked with God, and he was no longer here, for God took him.
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When Methuselah was one hundred and eighty-seven years old, he became the father of Lamech.26 Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years after the birth of Lamech, and he had other sons and daughters.27 The whole lifetime of Methuselah was nine hundred and sixty-nine years; then he died.28 When Lamech was one hundred and eighty-two years old, he begot a son29 and named him Noah, saying, "Out of the very ground that the LORD has put under a curse, this one shall bring us relief from our work and the toil of our hands." 30 Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years after the birth of Noah, and he had other sons and daughters.31 The whole lifetime of Lamech was seven hundred and seventy-seven years; then he died.
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When Noah was five hundred years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.


The Wickedness of Humankind

6 1 When men began to multiply on earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of heaven saw how beautiful the daughters of man were, and so they took for their wives as many of them as they chose. 3 Then the LORD said: "My spirit shall not remain in man forever, since he is but flesh. His days shall comprise one hundred and twenty years."
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At that time the Nephilim appeared on earth (as well as later), after the sons of heaven had intercourse with the daughters of man, who bore them sons. They were the heroes of old, the men of renown.
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When the LORD saw how great was man's wickedness on earth, and how no desire that his heart conceived was ever anything but evil, 6 he regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was grieved.7 So the LORD said: "I will wipe out from the earth the men whom I have created, and not only the men, but also the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air, for I am sorry that I made them."8 But Noah found favor with the LORD.


Noah Pleases God

9 These are the descendants of Noah. Noah, a good man and blameless in that age,10 for he walked with God, begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.11 In the eyes of God the earth was corrupt and full of lawlessness.12 When God saw how corrupt the earth had become, since all mortals led depraved lives on earth,
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he said to Noah: "I have decided to put an end to all mortals on earth; the earth is full of lawlessness because of them. So I will destroy them and all life on earth.14 "Make yourself an ark of gopherwood, put various compartments in it, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you shall build it: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 Make an opening for daylight in the ark, and finish the ark a cubit above it. Put an entrance in the side of the ark, which you shall make with bottom, second and third decks.
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I, on my part, am about to bring the flood (waters) on the earth, to destroy everywhere all creatures in which there is the breath of life; everything on earth shall perish.18 But with you I will establish my covenant; you and your sons, your wife and your sons' wives, shall go into the ark.19 Of all other living creatures you shall bring two into the ark, one male and one female, that you may keep them alive with you.20 Of all kinds of birds, of all kinds of beasts, and of all kinds of creeping things, two of each shall come into the ark with you, to stay alive.21 Moreover, you are to provide yourself with all the food that is to be eaten, and store it away, that it may serve as provisions for you and for them."22 This Noah did; he carried out all the commands that God gave him.


The Great Flood

7 1 Then the LORD said to Noah: "Go into the ark, you and all your household, for you alone in this age have I found to be truly just.2 Of every clean animal, take with you seven pairs, a male and its mate; and of the unclean animals, one pair, a male and its mate;3 likewise, of every clean bird of the air, seven pairs, a male and a female, and of all the unclean birds, one pair, a male and a female. Thus you will keep their issue alive over all the earth.4 Seven days from now I will bring rain down on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and so I will wipe out from the surface of the earth every moving creature that I have made."5 Noah did just as the LORD had commanded him.
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Noah was six hundred years old when the flood waters came upon the earth.
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Together with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives, Noah went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.8 Of the clean animals and the unclean, of the birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground,9 (two by two) male and female entered the ark with Noah, just as the LORD had commanded him.10 As soon as the seven days were over, the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
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In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month: it was on that day that All the fountains of the great abyss burst forth, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. 12 For forty days and forty nights heavy rain poured down on the earth.13 On the precise day named, Noah and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of Noah's sons had entered the ark,14 together with every kind of wild beast, every kind of domestic animal, every kind of creeping thing of the earth, and every kind of bird.15 Pairs of all creatures in which there was the breath of life entered the ark with Noah.16 Those that entered were male and female, and of all species they came, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.
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The flood continued upon the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark, so that it rose above the earth.18 The swelling waters increased greatly, but the ark floated on the surface of the waters.19 Higher and higher above the earth rose the waters, until all the highest mountains everywhere were submerged,20 the crest rising fifteen cubits higher than the submerged mountains.
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All creatures that stirred on earth perished: birds, cattle, wild animals, and all that swarmed on the earth, as well as all mankind.22 Everything on dry land with the faintest breath of life in its nostrils died out.23 The LORD wiped out every living thing on earth: man and cattle, the creeping things and the birds of the air; all were wiped out from the earth. Only Noah and those with him in the ark were left.
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The waters maintained their crest over the earth for one hundred and fifty days,


The Flood Subsides

8 1 and then God remembered Noah and all the animals, wild and tame, that were with him in the ark. So God made a wind sweep over the earth, and the waters began to subside.2 The fountains of the abyss and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the downpour from the sky was held back.3 Gradually the waters receded from the earth. At the end of one hundred and fifty days, the waters had so diminished4 that, in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters continued to diminish until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains appeared.
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At the end of forty days Noah opened the hatch he had made in the ark, 7 and he sent out a raven, to see if the waters had lessened on the earth. It flew back and forth until the waters dried off from the earth.8 Then he sent out a dove, to see if the waters had lessened on the earth.9 But the dove could find no place to alight and perch, and it returned to him in the ark, for there was water all over the earth. Putting out his hand, he caught the dove and drew it back to him inside the ark.10 He waited seven days more and again sent the dove out from the ark.11 In the evening the dove came back to him, and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf! So Noah knew that the waters had lessened on the earth.12 He waited still another seven days and then released the dove once more; and this time it did not come back.
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In the six hundred and first year of Noah's life, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water began to dry up on the earth. Noah then removed the covering of the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was drying up.14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.
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Then God said to Noah:16 "Go out of the ark, together with your wife and your sons and your sons' wives.17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you-- all bodily creatures, be they birds or animals or creeping things of the earth-and let them abound on the earth, breeding and multiplying on it."18 So Noah came out, together with his wife and his sons and his sons' wives;19 and all the animals, wild and tame, all the birds, and all the creeping creatures of the earth left the ark, one kind after another.


God's Promise to Noah

20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and choosing from every clean animal and every clean bird, he offered holocausts on the altar.21 WHEN the LORD smelled the sweet odor, he said to himself: "Never again will I doom the earth because of man, since the desires of man's heart are evil from the start; nor will I ever again strike down all living beings, as I have done.
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As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."


The Covenant with Noah

9 1 God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: "Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth.2 Dread fear of you shall come upon all the animals of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon all the creatures that move about on the ground and all the fishes of the sea; into your power they are delivered.3 Every creature that is alive shall be yours to eat; I give them all to you as I did the green plants. 4 Only flesh with its lifeblood still in it you shall not eat. 5 For your own lifeblood, too, I will demand an accounting: from every animal I will demand it, and from man in regard to his fellow man I will demand an accounting for human life.
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If anyone sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; For in the image of God has man been made.7 Be fertile, then, and multiply; abound on earth and subdue it."
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God said to Noah and to his sons with him:9 "See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you10 and with every living creature that was with you: all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals that were with you and came out of the ark.11 I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth."
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God added: "This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you:13 I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.14 When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds,15 I will recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings.16 As the bow appears in the clouds, I will see it and recall the everlasting covenant that I have established between God and all living beings-- all mortal creatures that are on earth."17 God told Noah: "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all mortal creatures that are on earth."


Noah and His Sons

18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was peopled.
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Now Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard.21 When he drank some of the wine, he became drunk and lay naked inside his tent.22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness, and he told his two brothers outside about it.23 Shem and Japheth, however, took a robe, and holding it on their backs, they walked backward and covered their father's nakedness; since their faces were turned the other way, they did not see their father's nakedness.24 When Noah woke up from his drunkenness and learned what his youngest son had done to him,
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he said: "Cursed be Caanan! The lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers."
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He also said: "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! Let Canaan be his slave.
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May God expand Japheth, so that he dwells among the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his slave."
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Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood.29 The whole lifetime of Noah was nine hundred and fifty years; then he died.


Nations Descended from Noah

10 1 These are the descendants of Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, to whom sons were born after the flood.
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The descendants of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 The descendants of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The descendants of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim, and the Rodanim. 5 These are the descendants of Japheth, and from them sprang the maritime nations, in their respective lands-- each with its own language-- by their clans within their nations.6 The descendants of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 7 The descendants of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The descendants of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.8 Cush became the father of Nimrod, who was the first potentate on earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter by the grace of the LORD; hence the saying, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter by the grace of the LORD."10 The chief cities of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, and Accad, all of them in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went forth to Asshur, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, and Calah, 12 as well as Resen, between Nineveh and Calah, the latter being the principal city. 13 Mizraim became the father of the Ludim, the Anamim, the Lehabim, the Naphtuhim,14 the Pathrusim, the Casluhim, and the Caphtorim from whom the Philistines sprang. 15 Canaan became the father of Sidon, his first-born, and of Heth; 16 also of the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites,17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward, the clans of the Canaanites spread out,19 so that the Canaanite borders extended from Sidon all the way to Gerar, near Gaza, and all the way to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, near Lasha. 20 These are the descendants of Ham, according to their clans and languages, by their lands and nations.
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To Shem also, Japheth's oldest brother and the ancestor of all the children of Eber, sons were born.22 The descendants of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.23 The descendants of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.24 Arpachshad became the father of Shelah, and Shelah became the father of Eber.25 To Eber two sons were born: the name of the first was Peleg, for in his time the world was divided; and the name of his brother was Joktan. 26 Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba,29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were descendants of Joktan.30 Their settlements extended all the way to Sephar, the eastern hill country.31 These are the descendants of Shem, according to their clans and languages by their lands and nations.
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These are the groupings of Noah's sons, according to their origins and by their nations. From these the other nations of the earth branched out after the flood.


The Tower of Babel

11 1 The whole world spoke the same language, using the same words. 2 While men were migrating in the east, they came upon a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to one another, "Come, let us mold bricks and harden them with fire." They used bricks for stone, and bitumen for mortar.4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky, and so make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered all over the earth."
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The LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men had built.6 Then the LORD said: "If now, while they are one people, all speaking the same language, they have started to do this, nothing will later stop them from doing whatever they presume to do.7 Let us then go down and there confuse their language, so that one will not understand what another says."8 Thus the LORD scattered them from there all over the earth, and they stopped building the city.9 That is why it was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the speech of all the world. It was from that place that he scattered them all over the earth.


Descendants of Shem

10 This is the record of the descendants of Shem. When Shem was one hundred years old, he became the father of Arpachshad, two years after the flood. 11 Shem lived five hundred years after the birth of Arpachshad, and he had other sons and daughters.12 When Arpachshad was thirty-five years old, he became the father of Shelah. 13 Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years after the birth of Shelah, and he had other sons and daughters.14 When Shelah was thirty years old, he became the father of Eber.15 Shelah lived four hundred and three years after the birth of Eber, and he had other sons and daughters.16 When Eber was thirty-four years old, he became the father of Peleg. 17 Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after the birth of Peleg, and he had other sons and daughters.18 When Peleg was thirty years old, he became the father of Reu.19 Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after the birth of Reu, and he had other sons and daughters.20 When Reu was thirty-two years old, he became the father of Serug.21 Reu lived two hundred and seven years after the birth of Serug, and he had other sons and daughters.22 When Serug was thirty years old, he became the father of Nahor.23 Serug lived two hundred years after the birth of Nahor, and he had other sons and daughters.24 When Nahor was twenty-nine years old, he became the father of Terah.25 Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years after the birth of Terah, and he had other sons and daughters.26 When Terah was seventy years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.


Descendants of Terah

27 This is the record of the descendants of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran became the father of Lot.28 Haran died before his father Terah, in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 Abram and Nahor took wives; the name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.30 Sarai was barren; she had no child.31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and brought them out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to go to the land of Canaan. But when they reached Haran, they settled there. 32 The lifetime of Terah was two hundred and five years; then Terah died in Haran.


The Call of Abram


Genèse (NAB) 1