Cain and Abel

1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten¹ a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of ^uthe fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of ^vthe firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord ^whad regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but ^xfor Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 ^yIf you do well, will you not be accepted?² And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. ^zIts desire is contrary to³ you, but you must rule over it.”

8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother.⁴ And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and ^akilled him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, ^b“I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood ^cis crying to me from the ground. 11 And now ^dyou are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My ^epunishment is greater than I can bear.⁵ 14 Behold, ^fyou have driven me today away from the ground, and ^gfrom your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, ^hand whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him ⁱsevenfold.” And the Lord ^jput a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod,⁶ east of Eden.

17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 19 And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22 Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

23 Lamech said to his wives:

25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed⁷ for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 To ^lSeth also a son was born, and he called his name ^mEnosh. At that time people began ⁿto call upon the name of the Lord.

Adam’s Descendants to Noah

1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, ^ohe made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man⁸ when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and ^pnamed him Seth. 4 ^qThe days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. 5 Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, ^rand he died.

6 When Seth had lived 105 years, ^she fathered Enosh. 7 Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.

9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. 10 Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died.

12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. 13 Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died.

15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. 16 Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died.

18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered ^tEnoch. 19 Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died.

21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch ^uwalked with God⁹ after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch ^uwalked with God, and he was not,^{10 v}for God took him.

25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.

28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground ^wthat the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief¹¹ from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” 30 Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died.

32 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered ^xShem, Ham, and ^yJapheth.

Increasing Corruption on Earth

1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, ^z“My Spirit shall not abide in¹² man forever, ^afor he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim¹³ were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

5 ^bThe Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every ^cintention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And ^dthe Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it ^egrieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah ^ffound favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah and the Flood

9 These are the generations of Noah. ^gNoah was a righteous man, ^hblameless in his generation. Noah ⁱwalked with God. 10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God ^jsaw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, ^kfor all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, ^l“I have determined to make an end of all flesh,¹⁴ for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood.¹⁵ Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits,¹⁶ its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16 Make a roof¹⁷ for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 ^mFor behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But ⁿI will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. 21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” 22 ^oNoah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

The Visit of the Wise Men

1 Now ^hafter Jesus was born in ⁱBethlehem of Judea ^jin the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men¹ from ^kthe east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born ^lking of the Jews? For we saw ^mhis star when it rose² and have come to ⁿworship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where ^othe Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, ^rthey offered him gifts, ^sgold and ^tfrankincense and ^umyrrh. 12 And ^vbeing warned ^win a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

The Flight to Egypt

13 Now when they had departed, behold, ^xan angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. ^yThis was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ^z“Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Herod Kills the Children

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 ^aThen was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

The Return to Nazareth

19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for ^dthose who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and ^ebeing warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called ^fNazareth, ^gso that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.