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¹And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

²The fear and the terror of you shall be [instinctive] in every animal of the land and in every bird of the air; and together with everything that moves on the ground, and with all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hand.

³Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; I give you everything, as I gave you the green plants and vegetables.

⁴But you shall not eat meat along with its life, that is, its blood.

⁵For your lifeblood I will most certainly require an accounting; from every animal [that kills a person] I will require it. And from man, from every man's brother [that is, anyone who murders] I will require the life of man.

⁶"Whoever sheds man's blood [unlawfully], By man (judicial government) shall his blood be shed, For in the image of God He made man.

⁷"As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it."

⁸Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,

⁹"Now behold, I am establishing My covenant (binding agreement, solemn promise) with you and with your descendants after you

¹⁰and with every living creature that is with you—the birds, the livestock, and the wild animals of the earth along with you, of everything that comes out of the ark—every living creature of the earth.

¹¹I will establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the water of a flood, nor shall there ever again be a flood to destroy and ruin the earth."

¹²And God said, "This is the token (visible symbol, memorial) of the [solemn] covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations;

¹³I set My rainbow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.

¹⁴It shall come about, when I bring clouds over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the clouds,

¹⁵and I will [compassionately] remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again will the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.

¹⁶When the rainbow is in the clouds and I look at it, I will [solemnly] remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."

¹⁷And God said to Noah, "This [rainbow] is the sign of the covenant (solemn pledge, binding agreement) which I have established between Me and all living things on the earth."

¹⁸The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth. Ham would become the father of Canaan.

¹⁹These are the three sons of Noah, and from these [men] the whole earth was populated and scattered with inhabitants.

²⁰And Noah began to farm and cultivate the ground and he planted a vineyard.

²¹He drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he was uncovered and lay exposed inside his tent.

²²Ham, the father of Canaan, saw [by accident] the nakedness of his father, and [to his father's shame] told his two brothers outside.

²³So Shem and Japheth took a robe and put it on both their shoulders, and walked backwards and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away so that they did not see their father's nakedness.

²⁴When Noah awoke from his wine [induced stupor], he knew what his younger son [Ham] had done to him.

²⁵So he said, "Cursed be Canaan [the son of Ham]; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers."

²⁶He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.

²⁷"May God enlarge [the land of] Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant."

²⁸Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood.

²⁹So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.

¹These are the records of the generations (descendants) of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and the sons born to them after the flood:

²the sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras;

³the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah;

⁴the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

⁵From these, [the people of] the coastlands of the nations were separated and spread into their lands, every one according to his own language, according to their constituent groups (families), and into their nations:

⁶the sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim [from whom descended the Egyptians], Put, and Canaan;

⁷the sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah; Sheba and Dedan.

⁸Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth.

⁹He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD."

¹⁰The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar [in Babylonia].

¹¹From that land Nimrod went to Assyria, and built Nineveh, and Rehoboth-Ir, and Calah,

¹²and [Nimrod built] Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah; all these [combined to form] the great city [Nineveh].

¹³Mizraim [the ancestor of the Egyptians] became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim

¹⁴and Pathrusim and Casluhim—from whom came the Philistines—and Caphtorim.

¹⁵Canaan became the father of Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth

¹⁶and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite

¹⁷and the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite

¹⁸and the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanite were spread abroad.

¹⁹The territory of the Canaanite extended from Sidon as one goes to Gerar, as far as Gaza; and as one goes to Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

²⁰These are the descendants of Ham according to their constituent groups, according to their languages, by their lands, and by their nations.

²¹Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber [including the Hebrews], the older brother of Japheth, children were born.

²²The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud and Aram;

²³the sons of Aram [ancestor of the Syrians]: Uz, Hul, Gether and Mash.

²⁴Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber.

²⁵Two sons were born to Eber; the name of one was Peleg (division), for [the inhabitants of] the earth were divided in his days; and his brother's name was Joktan.

²⁶Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,

²⁷and Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,

²⁸and Obal, Abimael, Sheba,

²⁹and Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan.

³⁰Now their territory extended from Mesha as one goes toward Sephar, to the hill country of the east.

³¹These are Shem's descendants according to their constituent groups (families), according to their languages, by their lands, according to their nations.

³²These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their descendants, by their nations; and from these [people] the nations were separated and spread abroad on the earth after the flood.

¹Now the whole earth spoke one language and used the same words (vocabulary).

²And as people journeyed eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and they settled there.

³They said one to another, "Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly [in a kiln, to harden and strengthen them]." So they used brick for stone [as building material], and they used tar (bitumen, asphalt) for mortar.

⁴They said, "Come, let us build a city for ourselves, and a tower whose top will reach into the heavens, and let us make a [famous] name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered [into separate groups] and be dispersed over the surface of the entire earth [as the LORD instructed]."

⁵Now the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.

⁶And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one [unified] people, and they all have the same language. This is only the beginning of what they will do [in rebellion against Me], and now no evil thing they imagine they can do will be impossible for them.

⁷Come, let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) go down and there confuse and mix up their language, so that they will not understand one another's speech."

⁸So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the surface of the entire earth; and they stopped building the city.

⁹Therefore the name of the city was Babel—because there the LORD confused the language of the entire earth; and from that place the LORD scattered and dispersed them over the surface of all the earth.

¹⁰These are the records of the generations of Shem [from whom Abraham descended]. Shem was a hundred years old when he became the father of Arpachshad, two years after the flood.

¹¹And Shem lived five hundred years after Arpachshad was born, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹²When Arpachshad had lived thirty-five years, he became the father of Shelah.

¹³Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years after Shelah was born, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹⁴When Shelah had lived thirty years, he became the father of Eber.

¹⁵Shelah lived four hundred and three years after Eber was born, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹⁶When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he became the father of Peleg.

¹⁷And Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after Peleg was born, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹⁸When Peleg had lived thirty years, he became the father of Reu.

¹⁹And Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after Reu was born, and he had other sons and daughters.

²⁰When Reu had lived thirty-two years, he became the father of Serug.

²¹And Reu lived two hundred and seven years after Serug was born, and he had other sons and daughters.

²²When Serug had lived thirty years, he became the father of Nahor.

²³And Serug lived two hundred years after Nahor was born, and he had other sons and daughters.

²⁴When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he became the father of Terah.

²⁵And Nahor lived a hundred and nineteen years after Terah was born, and he had other sons and daughters.

²⁶After Terah had lived seventy years, he became the father of Abram and Nahor and Haran [his firstborn].

²⁷Now these are the records of the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram (Abraham), Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot.

²⁸Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

²⁹Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai (later called Sarah), and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.

³⁰But Sarai was barren; she did not have a child.

³¹Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went out together to go from Ur of the Chaldeans into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran [about five hundred and fifty miles northwest of Ur], they settled there.

³²Terah lived two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.

¹Now [in Haran] the LORD had said to Abram, "Go away from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you;

²And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you [abundantly], And make your name great (exalted, distinguished); And you shall be a blessing [a source of great good to others];

³And I will bless (do good for, benefit) those who bless you, And I will curse [that is, subject to My wrath and judgment] the one who curses (despises, dishonors, has contempt for) you. And in you all the families (nations) of the earth will be blessed."

⁴So Abram departed [in faithful obedience] as the LORD had directed him; and Lot [his nephew] left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

⁵Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had acquired, and the people (servants) which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,

⁶Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the [great] terebinth (oak) tree of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time.

⁷Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your descendants." So Abram built an altar there to [honor] the LORD who had appeared to him.

⁸Then he moved on from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD [in worship through prayer, praise, and thanksgiving].

⁹Then Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev (the South country of Judah).

¹⁰Now there was a famine in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt to live temporarily, for the famine in the land was oppressive and severe.

¹¹And when he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, "Listen: I know that you are a beautiful woman;

¹²so when the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife'; and they will kill me [to acquire you], but they will let you live.

¹³Please tell them that you are my sister so that things will go well for me for your sake, and my life will be spared because of you."

¹⁴And when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was very beautiful.

¹⁵Pharaoh's princes (officials) also saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken [for the purpose of marriage] into Pharaoh's house (harem).

¹⁶Therefore Pharaoh treated Abram well for her sake; he acquired sheep, oxen, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

¹⁷But the LORD punished Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.

¹⁸Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?

¹⁹Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her and go!"

²⁰So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they escorted him on his way, with his wife and all that he had.