In the Beginning
An EasyEnglish Version with Notes (1200 word vocabulary) of the Book of Genesis
Christine Muir
The translated Bible text has been through Advanced Checking.
Words in boxes are comments on the text.
A word list at the end explains words with a *star by them.
v1 In the beginning, God began to make the earth and the *heavens and everything in them. v2 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.
God was present before he made the earth. He made everything.
v3 God said ‘I want light to appear.’ And there was light. v4 God looked at the light. And he saw that it was good. He separated the light from the dark. v5 God called the light ‘day’. He called the dark ‘night’. Evening passed and morning came. This was the first (1st) day.
Verse 3 God spoke and told the light to appear.
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.
v6 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.’ v7 So God made a wide space. He separated the water under the space from the water above it. And what God said happened. v8 God called the wide space ‘sky’. Evening passed and then it was morning. This was the second (2nd) day.
v9 God said ‘The water under the sky will gather in one place. And dry ground will appear.’ And what God said happened. v10 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.
v11 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. v12 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. v13 Evening passed, and then it was morning. This was the third (3rd) day.
v14 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. v15 The lights in the sky will give light to the earth.’ And this happened. v16 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. v17 God put the lights and stars in the sky to give light on the earth. v18 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. v19 Evening passed, and then it was morning. This was the fourth (4th) day.
‘Lights’ mean something bright that shines. (That is not the same as the light in verse 3.)
v20 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.’ v21 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. v22 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.’ v23 Evening passed and then it was morning. This was the fifth (5th) day.
‘Birds’ means any living thing that can fly (for example insects).
Everything that God made would have young ones. These would be the same as the parents.
v24 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. v25 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.
*Livestock in verse 24 are animals that are not wild. For example, cows kept for milk. *Livestock usually live in a village or farm. They live near people, and people feed them.
Wild animals do not live near people. They sometimes kill other animals to eat. Some of them eat plants and fruit.
v26 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.’
‘Man’ means people. In verse 26 ‘man’ does not mean one person. It means the first people that God made to live on the earth.
When God uses ‘us’, he is speaking as the *Trinity. That is, the three persons of God. They are God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the *Holy Spirit. All were present when God made the earth.
v27 So God made man. He made man to be like God. God made them. He made some males, and some females. v28 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.’
God made men and women to be ‘like’ him. This means that people could think. And they could understand what God wanted them to do. God *blesses men and women.
God tells the man and woman to grow in number. He means that they are to have many children. He tells the man and woman to rule over the earth. This means that they have authority over all the earth and everything in it. But they are to *care for everything.
v29 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. v30 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.
v31 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.
v1 So God finished making the earth and everything in it. He made the whole world.
v2 The seventh (7th) day came. And God stopped working, because he had finished making the earth. God rested on the 7th day. v3 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.
v4 This is what happened when God made the earth and everything in it.
When the *Lord God made the *heavens and the earth, v5 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. v6 But streams came up from the earth. And they made all the top of the ground wet. v7 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.
*Lord is a special name for God. It means that he is above all other things. And it means that he has authority over everything.
‘Man’ in verse 7 means one man. It is the report of how God made the first man.
v8 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. v9 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.
Eden was a very good place to live. It had everything that the man needed in it.
*Knowledge means to know or understand something. *Evil is the opposite of good. It is bad. There is nothing good in *evil.
v10 A river began in Eden. It went through Eden. And it gave water for the ground. It separated into four smaller rivers. v11 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. v12 The gold there is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also in Havilah.
Bdellium is something that smells nice. It comes out from certain trees when you cut them. Onyx is a valuable stone.
v13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It goes through the whole of the land of Cush. v14 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.
v15 The *Lord God put the man into the Garden of Eden. The man was to work on the ground and work in the garden. v16 Then the *Lord God told the man, ‘You can eat the fruit from any tree in the garden. v17 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.’
v18 Then the *Lord God said, ‘The man should not be alone. I will make a helper for him.’
The helper was someone to live with the man and help him.
v19 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. v20 So the man gave names to the *livestock, the birds of the air, and all the other animals.
But the man did not find a helper. v21 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. v22 Then the *Lord God made a woman.
v23 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.’ v24 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.
The *Lord God made the man sleep. This is not the same as the man going to sleep because he wants to. The man will not wake up until God lets him.
A rib is a bone inside the middle of the body. God made woman from the rib that he took from the man. And he brought the woman to the man. Verse 24 God wanted men to leave their mother and father. He wanted them to marry a woman. The man and the woman would become a separate family.
v25 The man and his wife did not wear any clothes. But they did not feel ashamed.
v1 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”?’
v2 The woman replied, ‘We can eat fruit from the trees in the garden. v3 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.” ’
v4 But the snake said to the woman, ‘You will not die. v5 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.’
*Satan is in the snake. Cunning means that the snake will not always say what is true. *Satan wants to stop the woman believing what God said. He wants the woman to *disobey God. The woman tells the snake that they must not touch the tree in the middle of the garden. God did not tell the woman this. God told the woman that she must not eat the fruit from it. *Satan tells the woman that she will not die if she eats the fruit from the Tree of *knowledge of good and *evil. This is not true. *Satan tells the woman that if she eats the fruit she will be like God.
If the man and the woman eat the fruit, they will be like God. They will understand what good and *evil is. That is how they will be like God. When God made the man and the woman, he did not put anything bad into them. So they did not know about *evil.
v6 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. v7 Then they saw that they had no clothes. And they felt ashamed. So, they joined leaves from fig trees together to cover their bodies.
Fig trees grew in the Garden of Eden. They are fruit trees.
v8 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. v9 The *Lord God called out to the man. He asked ‘Where are you?’
v10 The man replied, ‘I heard you in the garden. I was afraid because I had no clothes. So I hid from you.’
v11 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?’
v12 The man said, ‘The woman that you put here – she gave me some fruit from the tree. So I ate it.’
The man is saying that the woman was wrong to give him the fruit to eat. And he is saying that God was wrong to put the woman in the garden.
v13 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.’
The woman is saying that the snake told her something that was not true. So, she is saying that the snake was wrong. But the woman was wrong to believe the snake instead of God.
v14 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.
v15 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.’
Verse 14 ‘*Curse’ means make or ask that bad things will happen to someone or something. God is speaking the *curse. So, he does not ask for something bad to happen. He makes what he says happen to the snake.
‘Dust’ is the dry top part of the ground. Many very small pieces of this make ‘dust’.
‘Eat dust’ means that the snake will always have its head low in the dust. And everything that it eats will have dust on it.
Verse 15 God is speaking of ‘the woman’s *descendant’. He means Jesus. Jesus would come and destroy *Satan.
v16 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.’
‘*Pregnant’ is when a baby is growing inside a woman before it is born.
God tells the woman that her husband will have authority over her in the marriage.
v17 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. v18 Thistles and thorns will grow out of the ground. You will eat the plants that grow in the fields. v19 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.’
Adam is the name of the man. It means ‘All people’.
Adam did what his wife said. He did not do as God had said. He ate the fruit. So God *cursed the ground.
Thistles and thorns are plants that are painful to touch. They are not food plants. But they grow quickly, and cover up food plants. Because God has *cursed the ground, Adam will have to work for a very long time to grow food plants. God lets food plants grow for Adam. But he has to work for them.
Verse 19 ‘Until you return to the ground’ means that the man will work for food for his whole life. Then one day he will die. And people will bury his body in the ground.
v20 Adam gave the woman a name. He called her Eve. This was because she would be the mother of all people.
All people on earth are *descendants of Adam and Eve.
v21 The *Lord God made clothes for Adam and Eve to wear. He made them from animal skins.
v22 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.’ v23 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. v24 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.
Cherubim are *angels. They are God’s servants. A *sword is like a long knife. God put *swords at the east of the Garden of Eden. He made the swords of fire. No one could go past the cherubim and *swords of fire. No one could ever go back into the Garden of Eden.
v1 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.’
Eve knows that God has authority over life and death.
v2 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.
v3 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. v4 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. v5 But the *Lord God was not happy with Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry. His face looked sad.
Abel chose the first-born young animals to give to God. He killed them, and then he gave God the fat pieces. This is the best part of the meat from the animal.
Cain is angry because God is not happy with him and his *offering. But God is happy with Abel and his offering.
Instead of trying to please God, Cain shows God that he is angry.
v6 Then God said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why do you look sad? v7 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.
God is telling Cain this. If he does wrong things, *sin will destroy him. *Sin is bad. It came into the world (and into people) when Adam and Eve went against God in the Garden of Eden. God is telling Cain that Cain must have authority over *sin. Then Cain will not do wrong things. Then God will be happy with Cain and his *offering.
v8 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.
v9 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?’
God’s question sounds like the question that he asked Adam and Eve. That was when they hid in the Garden. God knows that Cain has killed Abel. God is giving Cain time to say what is true. (He is giving him time to say that he killed Abel.) But Cain does not tell God what he has done.
v10 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.’
God is saying that Abel’s blood is like a person. It is crying out to God to *punish Cain for the death of Abel.
v11 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. v12 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.’
Cain would have to travel from place to place to find food. The ground will not let any plants grow when Cain works on it. This is because of God’s *curse.
v13 Cain said to the *Lord, ‘What you are doing to me is too much. v14 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.’
Cain is not sorry that he killed his brother. He did not tell God what he had done. He is not sorry about that either. Cain thinks that God is doing too much to him. That is why he is sorry.
v15 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. v16 Cain went away from God. He went to live in the land of Nod, which is East of Eden.
v17 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. v18 Enoch was the father of Irad. Irad was the father of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael. Methushael was the father of Lamech.
v19 Lamech married 2 women. One was called Adah and one was called Zillah. v20 Adah gave birth to Jabal. Jabal was the father of the people who live in *tents and keep *livestock.
Lamech went against what God wanted by marrying 2 women. As more people were born, *sin came into their lives.
People can live in *tents. In *Old Testament times, they were made of material or animal skins. You can take *tents down and move them. Then you put them back up in another place.
v21 Jabal had a brother called Jubal. Jubal was the father of the people who play the harp and flute.
People use harps and flutes to make music.
v22 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.
Bronze and iron are both metals.
v23 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. v24 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.’
Because Adam and Eve went against God, *sin has come into *humans. As time passes, *sin becomes worse. Lamech is happy because he killed the young man. He wants to tell people what he has done. He does not think that he has done anything wrong.
v25 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.’ v26 Seth became the father of Enosh.
At this time, men began to *worship and to *praise the name of God.
v1 This is a report of Adam’s family. When God made man, he made him like God. v2 God made both male and female. He *blessed them. When God made them, he called them ‘man’.
‘Man’ in verse 2 means both males and females.
v3 When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son. The son was like Adam. Adam called him Seth. v4 After Seth was born, Adam was alive for 800 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters. v5 Adam was 930 years old when he died.
v6 When Seth was 105 years old, he had a son. He called him Enosh. v7 After Seth became the father of Enosh, Seth was alive for 807 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters. v8 Seth was 912 years old when he died.
v9 When Enosh was 90 years old, he had a son. He called him Kenan. v10 Enosh was alive for 815 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters. v11 Enosh was 905 years old when he died.
v12 When Kenan was 70 years old, he had a son. He called him Mahalalel. v13 After Kenan became the father of Mahalalel, Kenan was alive for 840 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters. v14 Kenan was 910 years old when he died.
v15 When Mahalalel was 65 years old, he had a son. He called him Jared. v16 After he became the father of Jared, Mahalalel was alive for 830 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters. v17 Mahalalel was 895 years old when he died.
v18 When Jared was 162 years old, he had a son. He called him Enoch. v19 After Jared became the father of Enoch, Jared was alive for 800 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters. v20 Jared was 962 years old when he died.
v21 When Enoch was 65 years old, he had a son. He called him Methuselah. v22 After that, Enoch did as God wanted for 300 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters. v23 Enoch lived on earth for 365 years. v24 Enoch did as God wanted for all this time; then Enoch was no more. God took Enoch to be with him.
Verse 24 God took Enoch to be with him. So Enoch did not die.
v25 When Methuselah was 187 years old, he had a son. He called him Lamech.
This is not the same Lamech as the one who killed a young man (4:23).
v26 After Methuselah became the father of Lamech, Methuselah was alive for 782 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters. v27 Methuselah was 969 years old when he died.
v28 When Lamech was 182 years old, he had a son. v29 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.’ v30 After Noah was born, Lamech was alive for 595 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters. v31 Lamech was 777 years old when he died.
v32 When Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.
v1 People began to grow in number all over the earth. And daughters were born to them. v2 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.
The sons of God were men who were like gods.
v3 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.
v4 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.
v5 The *Lord God saw how bad men and women had become. God saw that they thought only of *evil things. v6 He was sad that he had made men and women. And he was sad that he had put them on the earth. v7 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.’ v8 But God was happy with Noah.
Men and women have gone against God. God feels very sad. God is always sad when we *sin (go against what God wants). God was happy with Noah. Noah and his family *worshipped God.
v9 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. v10 Noah was the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.
v11 God saw that everything on the earth was bad. People began to hurt and kill each other. And they did everything that was wrong. v12 God saw how bad the earth had become. All the people were doing bad things. v13 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. v14 Make yourself a boat. Use wood from cypress trees. Make rooms in the boat. Cover the inside and outside of the boat with pitch.’
Cypress trees are trees with hard wood. Pitch stops water coming into the boat.
v15 ‘This is how you will build the boat. The boat must be 150 metres long, 25 metres wide and 15 metres high.
v16 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). v17 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. v18 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. v19 You must bring 2 of all the different animals into the boat. They must be male and female. They will stay alive with you. v20 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. v21 You must take every different food on the earth. Store this for food for you and the animals.’
v22 Noah did everything that God had told him.
v1 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.’
*Righteous means that God sees Noah as someone who does what is right. At that time, Noah was telling people that God was going to destroy the earth. Noah told them that they must stop doing wrong. But the people would not listen to him.
v2 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. v3 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.
Clean animals are animals that God accepts as a *sacrifice. *Unclean animals are those that God does not accept as a *sacrifice. God told Noah to take more clean animals so that Noah could make *sacrifices to God.
v4 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.’
v5 Noah did everything that God told him.
v6 Noah was 600 years old when God sent the rain to cover the earth with water. v7 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. v8 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. v9 Both males and females came to Noah and went into the *ark. Everything happened as God had told Noah. v10 After 7 days had passed, God sent the waters to cover the earth.
God told the animals to go to Noah. God did not destroy those animals that went into the *ark. Noah and his family listened to God. And they did what he told them. And God kept them safe.
v11 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. v12 Rain fell on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.
v13 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.) v14 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. v15 Pairs of every animal alive came to Noah and went into the boat.
The things that lived in the sea were safe in the waters. (See 1:21-25.)
v16 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.
v17 For 40 days, the waters came on the earth. More water came and lifted the boat high above the ground.
v18 The waters rose and covered the earth. The boat was safe on top of the water. v19 More water came and covered every high mountain on the earth. v20 And even more water came. It covered all the mountains. The water was more than 20 feet higher than the top of the mountains. v21 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. v22 Everything that was alive on the dry land died. v23 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.
v24 The waters covered the earth for 150 days.
v1 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. v2 Water stopped coming up from below the earth. And water stopped coming down from *heaven. The rain stopped falling from the sky. v3 The waters went down, and at the end of 150 days the water had almost gone. v4 On the 17th day of the 7th month, the boat *settled on the mountains of Ararat. v5 The water continued to go down until the 10th month. On the 1st day of the 10th month the tops of the mountains appeared.
v6 After 40 more days, Noah opened the window in the boat. v7 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. v8 Noah also sent out a dove. He sent the dove to see if the water had gone from the top of the ground. v9 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. v10 He waited for 7 days. Then he sent the dove out again. v11 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. v12 He waited for 7 more days. Then he sent the dove out again. This time, it did not return to Noah.
A raven is a big black bird. A dove is a white bird. Olives are small round fruits. They grow on an olive tree. An olive leaf is a leaf from this tree.
v13 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. v14 Some time passed. On the 27th day of the 2nd month, the earth was completely dry.
v15 God said to Noah, v16 ‘Come out of the boat. Bring your wife, your sons and their wives with you. v17 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.’
v18 Noah came out of the boat. His wife, and his sons and their wives came too. v19 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.
v20 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.
When Noah leaves the *ark, he *worships God. He builds an *altar to do this. He makes a *sacrifice on the *altar. He does this before anything else. He thanks God for keeping them safe.
v21 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.
v22 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.’
As long as the earth is here, the seasons will carry on as before. God made the earth like this.
v1 God *blessed Noah and his sons. He said ‘Have many children and fill the earth with them. v2 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. v3 All living animals will be food for you. Before, I gave you the green plants to eat. Now I give you everything.
v4 But you must not eat meat that still has the blood of life in it.
v5 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.
v6 God made men like himself. So, if anyone kills a man or a woman, a man must kill him. v7 You must have many children, so that the number of people on the earth will grow.’
v8 God said to Noah and his sons that were with him, v9 ‘I will make my promise with you, and with all your *descendants, v10 and with all the animals on the earth. v11 This is my promise. I will never destroy all life on the earth again. I will never cover the earth with water again.’ v12 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. v13 I have put my rainbow in the sky. It will show you the promise between me and everything on the earth. v14 When I bring clouds over the earth, a rainbow will appear. v15 Then I will remember my promise. Never again will the waters destroy all life. v16 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.’ v17 God said to Noah, ‘This will show you the promise that I have made. My promise is between me and all life on earth.’
v18 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. v19 All the people who are on the earth are *descendants of Noah’s three sons.
v20 Noah worked on the ground. He planted a *vineyard.
v21 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. v22 Ham, Canaan’s father, saw that Noah was not wearing any clothes. He went outside. He told his two brothers what he had seen. v23 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.
A *vineyard is a field planted with *grapes. *Grapes are small round fruits that people use to make *wine. *Wine is a drink containing alcohol.
v24 Noah woke up from his sleep. He found out what his youngest son (Ham) had done. v25 He said ‘*Cursed be Canaan! He will be a slave to his brothers.’ v26 Noah also said, ‘*Blessings to the *Lord, the God of Shem! Let Canaan be the slave of Shem. v27 Let God make the land of Japheth grow. Let Japheth receive the good things of Shem. Let Canaan be his slave.’
Noah knows that Shem’s *blessings will come from God. He asks for good things for the *descendants of Japheth and Shem, because they did the right thing. Noah asks for a *curse on the *descendants of Ham because he did the wrong thing.
v28 Noah was alive for 350 years after God covered the earth with water. v29 Noah’s whole life lasted for 950 years. Then he died.
These things happened after the things that we read about in Chapter 11.
v1 This is the story of Shem, Ham and Japheth. They are Noah’s sons. After God covered the earth with water, they had sons.
v2 These are the sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras. v3 These are the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah. v4 These are the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim and the Rodanim.
The Kittim are people who went to live in Cyprus.
v5 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.
v6 These are the sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan. v7 These are the sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca. v8 These are the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. v9 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’.
‘In front of the *Lord’ means, ‘God knew that Nimrod was a great hunter.’ Nimrod beat many groups of people, living in many lands. He became a king.
v10 The first of Nimrod’s lands were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in Shinar. v11 From that land he went to Assyria. This is where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir and Calah. v12 He also built Resen. Resen is between Nineveh and Calah, which is a large city. v13 Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, v14 Pathrusites, Casluhites (this is where Philistines came from) and Caphtorites.
All these groups of people came from the *descendants of Mizraim. They all lived in their own land.
v15 Canaan was the father of Sidon, who was born first. Canaan was also the father of the Hittites, v16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, v17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, v18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. After some time had passed, the Canaanite families separated, v19 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. v20 These are all *descendants of Ham. They lived in groups in their own parts of the land. Each group spoke their own language.
v21 Shem also had sons. Shem’s older brother was Japheth. All the sons of Eber are *descendants of Shem. v22 These are the sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram. v23 These are the sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshech. v24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah. Shelah was the father of Eber. v25 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.
Peleg means to go away from each other.
v26 Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, v27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, v28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, v29 Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. v30 The land where they lived went from Mesha to Sephar. This is in the land with hills in the east. v31 These are the *descendants of Shem. They lived in groups in their own parts of the land. Each group spoke their own language.
v32 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.
People were living in groups. They lived in different parts of the earth. And each group spoke a different language. Chapter 11 shows us why this happened.
The events in verses 1-9 happened before the events that we read about in chapter 10.
v1 At this time, everyone who lived on the earth spoke one language. v2 People moved to the East. They reached a large flat piece of land called Shinar. They stayed and lived there. v3 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.
You use bricks to build things. If you cook them like bread, they go hard. *Tar is black and sticky. It becomes soft when hot and hard when cold.
v4 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.’
v5 But the *Lord came down. He came down to see the city and the *tower that the men were building. v6 The *Lord said, ‘Because they all speak the same language, they can build this *tower. What will they do after this? v7 Let us go down. Let us make them speak in different languages. Then they will not understand each other.’ v8 So God separated the people, and they went to live in different lands. They stopped building the city. v9 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.
A *tower is a very tall building. The name ‘Babel’ means that God confused the people.
v10 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. v11 After he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem was alive for 500 years. He had other sons and daughters.
v12 When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah. v13 After he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad was alive for 403 years. He had other sons and daughters.
v14 When Shelah was 30 years old, he became the father of Eber. v15 After he became the father of Eber, Shelah was alive for 403 years. He had other sons and daughters.
v16 When Eber was 34 years old, he became the father of Peleg. v17 After he became the father of Peleg, Eber was alive for 430 years. He had other sons and daughters.
v18 When Peleg was 30 years old, he became the father of Reu. v19 After he became the father of Reu, Peleg was alive for 209 years. He had other sons and daughters.
v20 When Reu was 32 years old, he became the father of Serug. v21 After he became the father of Serug, Reu was alive for 207 years. He had other sons and daughters.
v22 When Serug was 30 years old, he became the father of Nahor. v23 After he became the father of Nahor, Serug was alive for 200 years. He had other sons and daughters.
v24 When Nahor was 29 years old, he became the father of Terah. v25 After he became the father of Terah, Nahor was alive for 119 years. He had other sons and daughters.
v26 When Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
v27 This is the report of the *descendants of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot. v28 While Terah was alive, Haran died. Haran died in Ur, the land of the Chaldeans. This was where Haran was born. v29 Abram married Sarai. Nahor married Milcah. Milcah was Haran’s daughter. Haran was the father of Milcah and Iscah. v30 Sarai could not give birth to children. She did not have any children.
v31 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. v32 Terah was alive for 205 years. He died in Haran.
v1 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.’
The *Lord spoke to Abram, before Terah took them all to Haran. This is when Abram lived in Ur of the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans did not *worship God. They *worshipped a moon god. Terah (Abram’s father) *worshipped other gods. We can read about this in Joshua 24:2.
v2 (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.’ v3 ‘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.’
Some people will say good things to Abram or do good things for Abram. God will make good things happen to those people. Some people will say bad things to Abram or do bad things for Abram. God will make bad things happen to those people.
But Jesus Christ is a *descendant of Abram. And by Jesus, God will *bless all the people on the earth.
v4 Abram left Haran as the *Lord told him. Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. v5 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.
Abram does what God tells him to do.
Someone’s *nephew is his brother’s son.
v6 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. v7 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.
The people of Canaan did not *worship God. The big tree of Moreh is a place where the Canaanites *worshipped other gods. Abram built an *altar to *worship God. The Canaanites would see Abram *worshipping God. But Abram was not afraid. Abram knew that this place belonged to God.
v8 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. v9 Then Abram took his *tent and left that place. He began to go to the Negev.
The Negev is a dry land. It goes to the South.
v10 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.
A *famine happens because there is no water in the land. And no rain has fallen for a long time. Nothing can grow in the ground because there is no water. So there is no food for people or their animals. Egypt did not often have famines because the River Nile went through the land.
v11 When Abram was going into Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, ‘I know that you are a very beautiful woman. v12 When the people of Egypt see you they will say, “This is his wife.” They will kill me. But they will not kill you. v13 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.’
Pharaoh (this is the name of a king of Egypt) may want to take Sarai as one of his wives. If he knows that she is Abram’s wife, Pharaoh will have to kill Abram.
v14 When Abram came to Egypt, the people saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. v15 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.)
A palace is a large house for a king.
v16 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.
*Donkeys and *camels are animals. People use them to carry things, and to ride on.
v17 But the *Lord made Pharaoh and the people in the palace very ill. The *Lord did this because of Abram’s wife Sarai. v18 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! v19 You told me “She is my sister”, so I took her to be my wife. Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!’ v20 Pharaoh told his men what to do with Abram. They sent Abram away with his wife and everything that they had.
People of Egypt thought it was important to say what was true. Abram did not do this. God made Pharaoh and the people in the palace ill. This was to stop Pharaoh from taking Sarai as his wife. It would be wrong for Pharaoh to take Sarai for his wife. God stopped Pharaoh from doing something wrong.
God had *blessed Abram. God would not let Pharaoh take Abram’s wife. God had made a promise to Abram. This was that Abram would have many *descendants. God always keeps his promise.
v1 Abram went from Egypt to the Negev. He took his wife and everything that he had. Lot went with him.
v2 Abram had many valuable things. He had cows, *silver and gold.
*Silver is a valuable metal.
v3 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. v4 This is where Abram had built an *altar to *worship God. There, Abram called out to the *Lord.
v5 Lot was moving from place to place with Abram. Lot also had cows, sheep and *tents. v6 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. v7 Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen began to quarrel. At that time, Canaanites and Perizzites also lived in the land.
Herdsmen are men who keep cows and other animals safe.
v8 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.’
v9 ‘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.’
v10 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.) v11 So Lot chose the flat land of Jordan. He went towards the East.
The Canaanites and Perizzites did not *worship God. It was not good for them to see people who *worship God quarrelling with each other.
Lot chose the land that he thought was the best.
v12 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. v13 The men of Sodom were very bad. They *sinned against the *Lord.
v14 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. v15 I will give you all the land that you can see. I will give it to you and your *descendants for all time. v16 I will make your *descendants like the dust of the ground. If anyone can count the pieces of dust, they can count your *descendants.’
Dust is the dry top of the ground. No one can count dust on top of the ground. There are too many small parts. God is telling Abram that his *descendants will be too many to count.
v17 The *Lord said, ‘Go and walk through all this land. Because I am giving it to you.’ v18 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.
v1-4 Now there were many kings living in that land, at that time. They fought against each other. One fight was when Kedorlaomer had ruled over the other kings for 12 years. And in the next year, 5 kings made one group like that and fought against him. Kedorlaomer joined with 3 other kings. So, it was 4 kings against 5 other kings.
The 4 kings were Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim. And these fought a war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela. Bela is another name for the town Zoar. They fought in the Valley of Siddim. (That is the Salt Sea.) v5 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. v6 And they beat the Horites in the country of Seir. This was as far as El Paran near the land of dry sand. v7 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. v8 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. v9 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. v10 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. v11 The 4 kings took everything in Sodom and Gomorrah. And they took all the food. Then they went away. v12 They also took Abram’s *nephew. This is Lot. They took everything that Lot had. That was because Lot lived in Sodom.
v13 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. v14 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.
*Household means everyone who lived with Abram. They did not have to be Abram’s family.
v15 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. v16 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.
v17 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.) v18 Melchizedek was the king of Salem. He brought out bread and *wine. Melchizedek was a *priest of God Most High. v19 He *blessed Abram. He said ‘Abram is *blessed by God Most High who made *heaven and earth. v20 *Blessed is God Most High. He gave your enemies to you.’ Abram gave king Melchizedek a 10th of everything.
Abram gave Melchizedek a 10th of everything taken in war. This was a king’s part.
v21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘Give me the people. Keep everything else.’ v22 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. v23 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.” v24 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.’
The people who won a war took things. They took things from the people whom they had beaten. The leader gave these things to the men who had fought. Abram promised God that he would not take anything from the king of Sodom. The people of Sodom *sinned against God. But Abram lets the men who fought with him have their things.
v1 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.’
v2 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.’
*Inherit means to have someone’s things when they die.
Eliezer of Damascus was Abram’s servant. Abram did not have any children. When Abram died, there was no son to continue the family.
In the *Old Testament, the oldest servant could have his master’s things when his master died.
v3 Abram said ‘You have not given me any children. So a servant in my house will *inherit everything that I have.’ v4 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.’ v5 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.’ v6 Abram believed the *Lord. And God said that Abram was *righteous. God said this because Abram believed.
v7 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.’ v8 But Abram said, ‘My *Lord, how will I know that I can take this land?’ v9 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.’
A dove is a bird. A pigeon is a bird.
v10 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. v11 Some other birds came. These birds liked to eat dead animals. But Abram sent them away.
v12 The sun went down. Abram fell asleep. It was very dark. He felt afraid. v13 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. v14 But I will *judge the people who made them slaves. After this, your *descendants will leave that land. They will take many valuable things. v15 And yet, you will have a long life. You will have a long, good and quiet life. Then you will die very happy. v16 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).’
One generation is how old a man is when his son is born. Two generations is how old the son is when he has a son.
The Amorites did not *worship the *Lord God. They *worshipped other gods. They *sacrificed children to these gods.
v17 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.
The fire shows that God is present.
In the *Old Testament, people would walk between halves of animals. They did this to show that they made a promise (*covenant). God is passing between the halves of the animals. This is to show that he is making a *covenant (promise) with Abram.
v18 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. v19 This is the land where these people live: Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, v20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, v21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.’
The land that God is giving to Abram’s *descendants belongs to these people. Abram’s *descendants will beat these people. Then they will take the land.
v1 Abram’s wife was Sarai. She did not have any children. She had a servant from Egypt. The servant’s name was Hagar. v2 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.
Sarai wants Abram to have a son. God has told Abram that he will have many *descendants. But neither Abram nor Sarai will wait for God to keep his promise.
v3 Abram had been living in Canaan for 10 years. Sarai took Hagar. She gave Hagar to Abram to be his wife.
v4 Abram had sex with Hagar. And Hagar became *pregnant. Hagar knew that she was *pregnant. Because of this, she would not *respect Sarai.
Sarai gave Hagar to Abram. ‘To be his wife’ means that Abram would have sex with Hagar. This is so that Abram could have a son. Sarai is still Abram’s wife.
v5 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.’ v6 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.
Abram and Sarai went against God. They would not wait for God to give them a son. Hagar is *pregnant. But Abram and Sarai are quarrelling. Abram is the family leader. He should have told Hagar to *respect Sarai. Respect here means this. Hagar knows that Sarai has authority over her. She knows that Sarai is her *mistress. She should show that she knows this.
v7 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. v8 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.’
The *angel calls Hagar the servant of Sarai. He does not call Hagar ‘Abram’s wife’. God’s plan was for Abram and Sarai to have a son. But they would not wait for God to give them a son.
Hagar replies to the *angel. She says that she is Sarai’s servant. She does not say that she is Abram’s wife.
v9 The *angel of the *Lord told Hagar, ‘Go back to Sarai. You are her servant. Do whatever she tells you to.’
v10 The *angel also said, ‘I will make the number of your *descendants grow. They will be too many to count.’ v11 The *angel of the *Lord said,
‘You will have a child.
You will have a son.
You must name him Ishmael.
Because the *Lord has heard how sad you are.
v12 He will be a wild man.
He will be like a *donkey.
He will fight against everyone.
And everyone will fight against him.
He will think that everyone is his enemy.
He will think that his brothers are his enemies.’
Ishmael means ‘God hears’.
Wild *donkeys lived in the land of dry sand.
v13 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.’ v14 That is why they called the well ‘Beer Lahai Roi’. The well is between Kadesh and Bered.
‘Beer Lahai Roi’ means ‘well of the One who lives and has seen me’.
Hagar came from Egypt. People in Egypt *worshipped different gods. Now Hagar has spoken with the living God.
v15 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. v16 Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.
v1 Abram was 99 years old. The *Lord appeared to him. The *Lord said ‘I am God *Almighty. Walk before me. And do nothing wrong.’
‘*Almighty’ means that God is the *Lord of everything. He had power over everything. God says that Abram is his friend. He knows that Abram *worships him. God knows that Abram does what is right for God.
v2 ‘I will fix my *covenant. My *covenant will be between me and you. I will make the number of your *descendants grow.’
God had told Abram this in chapter 15. But Abram and Sarai did not wait for God. So Abram used Hagar to have a son. Now God is fixing the *covenant between them.
v3 Abram fell to the ground. He put his face to the ground. God said to him,
v4 ‘This is what I will do. This is my *covenant to you. You will be the father of many people.’
Abram will have many *descendants. They will live all over the earth, in many different countries.
v5 ‘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. v6 I will give you many *descendants. These will make many different groups of people. Some of your *descendants will be kings.
v7 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. v8 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.
v9 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. v10 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. v11 You must be *circumcised too. This will show that the *covenant is between you and me. v12 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. v13 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.’
‘*Covenant in your body’ means that being *circumcised shows that the people are living in God’s promise.
v14 ‘*Circumcise every male. If you do not *circumcise someone, I will separate him from his people. Because my *covenant is broken.’
*Circumcision showed that a person worshipped God. If he is not *circumcised, the *covenant with God is broken. Every father had to *circumcise his son. This showed that they were both living in God’s *covenant.
v15 God also said to Abraham, ‘As for your wife Sarai, you must not call her Sarai. Her name will be Sarah. v16 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.’ v17 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.’ v18 Abraham said to God, ‘If only Ishmael may have your *blessing.’ v19 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.’
God tells Abraham that Sarah’s child, Isaac, will live under God’s *covenant. Isaac will continue Abraham’s family line. Ishmael is Hagar’s child.
‘Isaac’ means ‘he laughs’.
v20 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. v21 But I will make my *covenant with Isaac. Isaac will be Sarah’s child. He will be born before one year has passed.’
v22 God had finished speaking to Abraham. So God left Abraham.
Again, God tells Abraham that Isaac will have the *covenant with God. But God will also *bless Ishmael because Abraham has asked him to.
But God’s *covenant is with Isaac because he will be Abraham and Sarah’s son. This is what God had promised.
v23 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. v24 Abraham’s *circumcision happened when he was 99 years old. v25 Ishmael’s *circumcision happened when he was 13 years old. v26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were *circumcised on the same day. v27 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.
v1 The *Lord appeared to Abraham. This happened near the big trees of Mamre. Abraham was sitting by the door of his *tent. v2 Abraham looked up. He saw 3 men. He hurried to meet them. He bowed to the ground.
In verse 2, ‘bowed’ means that Abraham bent his body until his face was at the ground. Abraham knew that they had authority. He was showing them that he knew it.
This is a visit from the *Lord. Abraham did not know this at that time.
v3 Abraham said to them, ‘If it makes you happy, my *lords, do not go past me.
v4 ‘Let us bring some water for you. Then you can all wash your feet. Then you can rest under this tree.’ v5 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.’ v6 Abraham hurried to the *tent. This is where Sarah was. He said to her, ‘Quick, get some good flour. Make bread with it.’ v7 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. v8 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.
v9 The men asked Abraham ‘Where is Sarah, your wife?’ Abraham replied, ‘She is in the *tent.’ v10 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. v11 Abraham and Sarah were very old. Sarah was past the age of giving birth to a child. v12 So Sarah laughed to herself. She thought ‘I am too old. And my husband is too old. I cannot have this baby now.’ v13 The *Lord said to Abraham, ‘Sarah laughed. She said, “I am too old to have a child.” ’ v14 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.’ v15 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.’
v16 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. v17 Then the *Lord said, ‘Will I tell Abraham my plan?’ v18 ‘Abraham’s *descendants will be great people. They will be very powerful. Because of him, everyone on the earth will receive my *blessing.’
See Genesis 12:2-3.
v19 ‘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.’ v20 The *Lord said to Abraham, ‘The *outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. The people who live there are *evil.’
v21 ‘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.’
v22 The men turned away. They went towards Sodom. But Abraham remained with the *Lord.
v23 Then Abraham went near to the *Lord. Abraham asked, ‘Will you kill your people with the *evil people? v24 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? v25 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!’
Abraham is God’s friend. That is why Abraham can say this to God.
v26 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.’ v27 Then Abraham spoke again. ‘I have been brave enough to speak to the *Lord. I know that I am nothing but dust and ashes.’
Dust is on the top of the ground. It is dry. It blows away easily. When something burns, ashes are left. Abraham is saying that he is nothing.
v28 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.’ v29 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.’ v30 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.’ v31 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.’ v32 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.’ v33 The *Lord had finished speaking with Abraham. So the *Lord left him. And Abraham returned home.
Lot is living in Sodom. Lot is Abraham’s *nephew. Abraham does not want God to kill Lot and his family. That is why Abraham asks ‘what if only 10 good people live there?’
v1 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. v2 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.’
The square is a large open space. It is in the middle of the city. People often meet there.
v3 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.
This special bread was quick to make. It did not have any yeast. Cooks put yeast in other bread to make it rise.
v4 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. v5 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’ v6 Lot went outside to the men. He shut the door of his house. v7 Lot said, ‘No, my friends. Do not do this bad thing. v8 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.’ v9 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. v10 The 2 men inside the house pulled Lot. They pulled him back into his house. They shut the door. v11 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.
Blind means that the men could not see anything.
v12 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. v13 We are going to destroy this city. The *outcry against this city is great. God has sent us to destroy it.’ v14 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.
v15 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.’ v16 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.
Lot and his family did not want to leave Sodom. They would be leaving everything that they had.
v17 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.’ v18 But Lot said, ‘No! Please, my *lords! v19 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.’
v20 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.’ v21 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. v22 But run to the town quickly. I cannot do anything until you get to the town.’ (The name of the town was Zoar.) v23 The sun had risen in the sky. Then Lot reached Zoar.
v24 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.
God used hot sulphur to destroy the cities. Sulphur is yellow. It burns quickly with a lot of heat. But when it gets cold, it becomes like stone. Hot sulphur covered the cities and the people in them. It would burn them. Then it would become like stone over everything in the city.
v25 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.
v26 But Lot’s wife looked back at the city. And she changed into a large piece of salt.
The *angel had told Lot and his family not to look back (verse 17).
v27 Early the next morning, Abraham returned to where he had stood before God. v28 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.
v29 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.
v30 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. v31 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. v32 Let us cause our father to drink *wine. Then we will have sex with him. Then our family will continue.’
Drinking too much *wine makes you drunk.
v33 That night they gave their father *wine to drink. And the oldest daughter had sex with him. Lot did not know when she came to him. And he did not know when she left him. v34 The next day the oldest daughter said to the youngest daughter, ‘Last night I had sex with my father. Let us make him drink *wine tonight. Then you can have sex with him. Then our family line will continue through him.’ v35 So that night, they gave their father *wine to drink. And the youngest daughter had sex with her father. He did not know when she came to him. And he did not know when she left him. v36 Both of Lot’s daughters would give birth to a baby. This was because they had both had sex with their father. v37 The oldest daughter had a son. She called him Moab. All the Moabites of today are his *descendants. v38 The youngest daughter also had a son. She called him Ben-Ammi. All the Ammonites of today are his *descendants.
v1 Abraham moved on to the land of Negev. He lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a time he stayed in Gerar. v2 While he was there, he told people that Sarah was his sister. Because of this, Abimelech sent for Sarah. Abimelech is the king of Gerar. He wanted Sarah to be his wife.
v3 But God spoke to Abimelech in a dream. God said, ‘You are a dead man. This is because of the woman that you have taken. She is a married woman.’ v4 But Abimelech had not gone near Sarah. He said, ‘Will you destroy people who have not done anything wrong? v5 Abraham said to me “I am her brother.” Sarah said to me “I am his sister.” I did not know that I was doing anything wrong.’ v6 God spoke to Abimelech in a dream. God said, ‘You did not know that you were doing wrong. I knew that. So I kept you from *sinning against me. I did not let you touch her. v7 Give her back to her husband. He is a *prophet. He will pray for you. Then you will live. If you do not give her back, be sure of this. You and your *household will die.’
v8 Early the next morning, Abimelech called together his officers. He told them what had happened. They were very afraid. v9 Then Abimelech called Abraham to him. Abimelech said, ‘What have you done to us? What have I done against you? Why have you brought this bad *sin on me? You should not have done this to me.’ v10 Abimelech asked Abraham, ‘Why did you do this?’ v11 Abraham said, ‘Because I thought that the people here were not afraid of God. They will kill me because of my wife.’
Verses 1-11 are like Genesis 12:11-20. Again, Abraham does not think that God will keep him safe.
v12 Abraham said, ‘But she is my sister. She is the daughter of my father. But she is not the daughter of my mother. And she became my wife. v13 God caused me to leave my father’s *household. Then I said to her, “This is how you can show your love for me. Everywhere we go, say to people, ‘He is my brother’.” ’
v14 Abimelech brought sheep and cows. He also brought male and female slaves. He gave them to Abraham. He gave Sarah, Abraham’s wife back to him. v15 Abimelech said, ‘Here is my land. Live anywhere you want to live.’ v16 He said to Sarah, ‘I have given your brother 1000 pieces of *silver. This is to show everyone that you did nothing wrong.’ v17 Then Abraham prayed to God. And God made Abimelech well again. He also made his wife and his female slaves well again. So, they could have children again. v18 God had made them unable to have children. God had done this because of Abraham’s wife, Sarah.
v1 The *Lord was good to Sarah. He kept his promise to her. v2 Sarah became *pregnant. She gave birth to a son. Abraham was his father. Abraham was old. This happened at the time that God said it would.
See Genesis 18:8.
v3 Abraham called his son Isaac. This is the son that Sarah gave birth to. v4 Isaac was 8 days old. Abraham *circumcised him. This is what God had told him to do.
See chapter 17.
v5 Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born. v6 Sarah said, ‘God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears about my son will be happy with me.’ v7 She also said, ‘Who would think that I would have a child? But I have given Abraham a son, even when he is old.’
v8 The child grew, and his mother weaned him. On that day, Abraham gave a big feast.
Weaned means that Isaac did not have to drink his mother’s milk any more.
A feast is a time of eating and drinking.
v9 Sarah saw that Ishmael was laughing at Isaac. Ishmael was Hagar’s son. Hagar was the slave from Egypt. v10 Sarah said to Abraham, ‘Send that slave woman and her son away. He must never have a part in the *inheritance. He will not have a part with my son Isaac.’
Inheritance is what someone receives after a person dies.
v11 This made Abraham very sad, because it was about his son Ishmael.
Ishmael is Hagar’s son. He is also Abraham’s son.
v12 God said to Abraham, ‘Do not be sad about the boy Ishmael and your female servant. Listen to Sarah. Do whatever she tells you, because I will continue my promise through Isaac. v13 I will also make many people from the *descendants of Ishmael, too. I will do that because he is your son.’
v14 Abraham was awake early the next morning. He took some food. And he took a bottle that someone had made out of animal skin. He filled it with water. He put the food and water on Hagar’s shoulders. Then he sent Hagar and her son Ishmael away. She went to the *desert of Beersheba.
The *desert of Beersheba is dry and hot. There is not very much water there.
v15 After they had drunk the water, Hagar put her son under a bush. v16 She thought, ‘I cannot watch the boy die.’ As she sat near the boy, she began to cry. Then she went away from him. She sat down. She was not very far away from him. v17 God heard the boy crying. The *angel of God spoke to Hagar from *heaven. He said ‘What is the matter Hagar? Do not be afraid. God has heard the boy crying, while the boy is lying there. v18 Lift the boy up. Take him by the hand. I will make him into a great people.’
God has told Hagar this, when she ran away from Sarah (16:10).
v19 Then God opened Hagar’s eyes. She saw a well of water. Hagar filled the bottle with water. And she gave the boy a drink. v20 God was with the boy while he grew up. The boy lived in the *desert. He became an *archer.
A *desert is a hot, dry place. It has lots of sand. There is not much water there.
An *archer is someone who can use a bow and *arrows to kill an animal. An *arrow is like a stick with a sharp point at the end.
v21 The boy lived in the *desert of Paran. And his mother found a wife for him. The wife was from Egypt.
v22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, his officer, said to Abraham, ‘God is with you in everything that you do. v23 Tell me that you will not do things in a false way. You will not do anything false with me or with my children or with my *descendants. Do this before God. You live here as a foreign person. Be kind to me, as I was to you.’ v24 Abraham said ‘I will do as you say.’
v25 Then Abraham told Abimelech about a well of water. Abimelech’s servants had said that the well belonged to them and not to Abraham. v26 Abimelech said ‘I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me before. I only heard about it today.’ v27 Abraham brought sheep and cows. He gave them to Abimelech. The two men made a promise. v28 Abraham separated 7 young female sheep from the other sheep. v29 Abimelech asked Abraham ‘Why have you separated 7 young female sheep? What does this mean?’ v30 Abraham replied ‘Take these 7 young female sheep from my hand. You know that I dug this well. This shows that you know it.’ v31 So he called that place Beersheba. He called it that because the 2 men made a promise there.
Beersheba means ‘well of seven’ or ‘well of the promise’.
v32 So they made a promise at Beersheba. Abimelech and Phicol, his officer, returned to the land of the Philistines.
v33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba. He called on the name of the *Lord who is for ever. That is the *Lord who never changes.
A tamarisk tree is a tree that can grow without using much water.
v34 Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
v1 Some time passed. God wanted to see how *faithful Abraham was. God said to him, ‘Abraham!’ Abraham replied, ‘Here I am.’ v2 God said ‘Take your son. Take your only son Isaac, whom you love. Go to the place of Moriah. *Sacrifice your son there, as a burnt *offering. Do this on a mountain. I will tell you which mountain.’
v3 Abraham got up early the next morning. He put a blanket on his *donkey. He took 2 servants, and his son Isaac. He cut wood for the fire for the burnt offering. He started to go to the place that God had told him. He took the wood with him. v4 On the 3rd day, Abraham looked up. He saw the place. It was not too far away. v5 Abraham spoke to his servants. He said ‘Stay here with the *donkey. The boy and I will go over there. We will *worship God. Then we will come back to you.’
Abraham shows that he has *faith in God. He says ‘we will come back to you’. He does not say ‘I will come back to you’.
v6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt *offering. He gave it to Isaac to carry. Abraham carried the fire and the knife. And the 2 of them went on together. v7 Isaac spoke to Abraham. He said ‘Father?’ Abraham replied ‘Yes my son?’ Isaac said, ‘The fire and the wood are here. But where is the *lamb, the lamb for the burnt *offering?’
A *lamb is a young sheep. In the *Old Testament people killed lambs as a *sacrifice to God.
v8 Abraham replied, ‘God will give himself the lamb for the burnt *offering, my son.’ And the 2 of them went on together.
v9 They came to the place that God told them. Abraham built an *altar. He put the wood on it. He tied his son Isaac. And he put him on top of the wood on the *altar. v10 Then Abraham took the knife in his hand to kill his son.
v11 But the *angel of the *Lord called out to him. He said ‘Abraham! Abraham!’ Abraham replied ‘Here I am.’ v12 The *angel of the *Lord said, ‘Do not put a hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God. I know this because you have not kept your son from me. And he is your only son.’
To fear God means to have *faith in him. And it means to do whatever God says. Abraham believed that God would keep his promise. God’s promise was that Abraham would have many *descendants. Abraham believed that God would not let Isaac die for ever. He believed that God had the power to bring Isaac back from death. (See Hebrews 11:17-19.)
These verses *remind us that Jesus died for us. Jesus died for us, as the lamb died to save Isaac.
Jesus was the ‘lamb of God’ (John 1:29). He was *sacrificed for us. He died instead of us.
v13 Abraham looked up. He saw a ram, caught in a bush. He took the ram. Abraham *sacrificed it as a burnt offering. He *sacrificed the ram instead of his son.
A ram is a male sheep.
v14 Abraham called that place ‘The *Lord will provide.’ And it is still said ‘On the mountain of the *Lord it will be provided’.
Provide means to give someone what they need.
So Abraham called that place ‘The *Lord will give me what I need.’ And it is still said ‘On the mountain of the *Lord, he will give us what we need.’
v15 The *angel of the *Lord called to Abraham again. He called from *heaven. v16 The *angel said, ‘I tell you this, says the *Lord. You did not keep your son from me. And he was your only son. v17 Because you have done this, I will *bless you. I will make your *descendants as many as the stars. They will be as many as the stars that are in the sky. They will be as many as the pieces of sand by the sea. Your *descendants will take the cities of their enemies. v18 I will *bless everyone on the earth through your *descendants. I will do this because you obeyed me.’ v19 Abraham returned to his servants. Together they left for Beersheba.
v20 Some time passed. Someone told Abraham ‘Milcah is also a mother. She has given birth to sons through your brother Nahor. v21 They are: Uz, the first born, his brother Buz, Kemuel, (who is the father of Aram), v22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel. v23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah gave birth to these 8 sons. Nahor was the father of these 8 sons. Nahor was Abraham’s brother. v24 Nahor had a slave wife. Her name was Reumah. She also had sons. They were Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maacah.
v1 Sarah lived for 127 years. v2 She died in Kiriath Arba (that is Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham was very sad because Sarah had died. He sat by her body and cried. He cried because she was dead.
v3 Then Abraham got up and said, v4 ‘I am a foreign person among you. Sell me some land for a *burial place here so that I can bury my dead.’ v5 The Hittites replied, v6 ‘My *lord, you are a powerful person among us. Bury your dead in any *burial place that you choose. No one will refuse what you ask. You may have a *burial place belonging to any of us. Then you can bury your dead.’ v7 Abraham got up. He *bowed down before the people of the land, in front of the Hittites.
‘Bowed’ means that he bent his body. (See 18:2.)
v8 He said to the Hittites ‘As you will let me bury my dead, listen to me. Speak with Ephron son of Zohar for me. v9 Speak to him so that he will sell me the *burial place in Machpelah. This belongs to him. It is at the end of the field. Ask Ephron to sell it to me. I will pay the full price. It will be a place to bury my dead among you.’ v10 Ephron the Hittite was sitting with his people. He spoke so that all the Hittites could hear him. They were at the city gate. v11 Ephron said ‘No my *lord. Listen to me. I give you the field. And I give you the *burial place that is in the field. I give it to you now. I give it to you in front of all my people. Bury your dead.’ v12 Abraham *bowed down to the Hittites again. v13 He said to Ephron, ‘Listen to me. I will pay you the price of the field. Accept the price from me. Then I can bury my dead there.’ Abraham said this so that everyone could hear him. v14 Ephron replied to Abraham, v15 ‘Listen to me, my *lord. The land is worth 400 *shekels of *silver. But that is nothing between you and me. Bury your dead there.’
People used shekels to measure weight.
Ephron is telling Abraham how much the land will cost. But he is still saying that he will give it to Abraham. (But Ephron knows that Abraham will not accept the field. He knows that Abraham wants to buy it.)
v16 Abraham agreed to this price. He weighed the amount of *silver, that Ephron had asked for. All the Hittites heard that this amount was 400 *shekels of *silver. Abraham used the weights that the people who sell things use.
v17 Ephron’s field in Machpelah, near Mamre, now belonged to Abraham. The field, the *burial place in it and all the trees in the field now belonged to Abraham. They recorded the field as belonging to Abraham. v18 It now belonged to Abraham. They did this in front of all the Hittites at the city gate. v19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife. He did this in the *burial place in the field of Machpelah. This is near Mamre. (Mamre is at Hebron.) This is in the land of Canaan. v20 They recorded the field and the *burial place as belonging to Abraham. The Hittites sold it to him. They sold it as a *burial place to bury his family.
v1 Abraham was now very old. He had been alive for many years. The *Lord had *blessed him in every way. v2 Abraham had a servant. This servant had authority over everything in Abraham’s *household. Abraham said to him ‘Put your hand under my thigh.’
In *Old Testament times, people did this to show that they were making a promise.
The thigh is the top part of the leg.
v3 Abraham said ‘I live among the Canaanites. But I want you to make a promise to me. Make a promise to me in front of the *Lord who is the God of *heaven. He is also the God of earth. Say that you will not get a Canaanite wife for my son. v4 You must go to my country. Go to my *relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.’ v5 The servant asked Abraham ‘What if the woman will not come back with me to this land? Must I take your son to the country that you came from?’ v6 Abraham replied ‘You must not take my son back there. v7 The *Lord, who is the God of *heaven, brought me from there. He brought me out of my father’s *household. That was in the land where I was born. The *Lord spoke to me. He made a promise to me. He said “I will give this land to your *descendants.” Because of this, the *Lord will send His *angel to go before you. He will send him so that you can get a wife for my son. Get the wife from the land that I was born in. v8 Perhaps the woman will not come back. Then you do not have to do as I have told you. But do not take my son back to that land.’ v9 The servant put his hand under Abraham’s thigh. The servant said that he would do everything that Abraham had said.
The servant agreed to do what Abraham said. He did this in front of the *Lord. He put his hand under Abraham’s thigh. This was to show Abraham that he was making a promise to him.
v10 The servant took 10 of his master’s *camels. He left. He took many good things with him. These were from his master. He started to go to Aram Naharaim. He made his way to the town of Nahor.
The town of Nahor was in the direction of Aram Naharaim.
The servant took good things from his master. These were gifts for the lady who would become Isaac’s wife, and for her mother and father.
v11 The servant was outside the town. He made the *camels go down on their knees. They were near the well. It was almost evening. At this time, women came to the well to get water. v12 The servant *prayed to God. He prayed ‘*Lord, God of my master, Abraham. Help me to do what I promised. And be kind to my master Abraham. v13 See, I am standing by this well. The daughters of the people who live in the town are coming out. They are coming to get water from the well. v14 May this happen. I will say to a girl “Please put your water pot down the well so that I may have a drink.” She may say, “Drink and I will give water to your *camels”. Then let her be the wife that you have chosen for your servant Isaac. I want you to do this. Then I know that you have been kind to my master Abraham.’
v15 The servant was still praying when Rebekah came out. She had her pot on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel. Bethuel was the son of Milcah. Milcah was the wife of Abraham’s brother, Nahor. v16 The girl was very beautiful. She had not had sex with a man. No man had slept with her. She went down to the well. She filled her pot with water. And she came up again. v17 The servant hurried to meet the girl. He said ‘Please give me some water from your pot.’ v18 The girl replied ‘Drink my *lord. She quickly took the pot from her shoulders. She held the pot in her hands and gave him a drink. v19 After she had done this, she said ‘I will get water for your *camels too. I will do this until they have finished drinking.’ v20 So Rebekah quickly emptied her pot. She emptied the water into the place where animals drank. She ran back to the well. She took more water from the well. She took enough for all the *camels. v21 The servant did not say anything. But he watched the girl. He wanted to see if the *Lord had shown him a wife for Isaac.
v22 The *camels