Genesis 4; Genesis 5; Genesis 6; Matthew 2

1 Adam had sexual relations with his wife Eve, and she became preg- nant and gave birth to Cain. Eve said, "With the Lord's help, I have given birth to a man."

2 After that, Eve gave birth to Cain's brother Abel. Abel took care of flocks, and Cain became a farmer.

3 Later, Cain brought some food from the ground as a gift to God.

4 Abel brought the best parts from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift,

5 but he did not accept Cain and his gift. So Cain became very angry and felt rejected.

6 The Lord asked Cain, "Why are you angry? Why do you look so unhappy?

7 If you do things well, I will accept you, but if you do not do them well, sin is ready to attack you. Sin wants you, but you must rule over it."

8 Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out into the field." While they were out in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

9 Later, the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" Cain answered, "I don't know. Is it my job to take care of my brother?"

10 Then the Lord said, "What have you done? Your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground.

11 And now you will be cursed in your work with the ground, the same ground where your brother's blood fell and where your hands killed him.

12 You will work the ground, but it will not grow good crops for you anymore, and you will wander around on the earth."

13 Then Cain said to the Lord, "This punishment is more than I can stand!

14 Today you have forced me to stop working the ground, and now I must hide from you. I must wander around on the earth, and anyone who meets me can kill me."

15 The Lord said to Cain, "No! If anyone kills you, I will punish that person seven times more." Then the Lord put a mark on Cain warning anyone who met him not to kill him.

16 So Cain went away from the Lord and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

17 He had sexual relations with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. At that time Cain was building a city, which he named after his son Enoch.

18 Enoch had a son named Irad, Irad had a son named Mehujael, Mehujael had a son named Methushael, and Methushael had a son named Lamech.

19 Lamech married two women, Adah and Zillah.

20 Adah gave birth to Jabal, who became the first person to live in tents and raise cattle.

21 Jabal's brother was Jubal, the first person to play the harp and flute.

22 Zillah gave birth to Tubal-Cain, who made tools out of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

23 Lamech said to his wives: "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice! You wives of Lamech, listen to what I say. I killed a man for wounding me, a young man for hitting me.

24 If Cain's killer is punished seven times, then Lamech's killer will be punished seventy-seven times."

25 Adam had sexual relations with his wife Eve again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Sethn and said, "God has given me another child. He will take the place of Abel, who was killed by Cain."

26 Seth also had a son, and they named him Enosh. At that time people began to pray to the Lord.

1 This is the family history of Adam. When God created human beings, he made them in his own likeness.

2 He created them male and female, and on that day he blessed them and named them human beings.

3 When Adam was 130 years old, he became the father of another son in his likeness and image, and Adam named him Seth.

4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters.

5 So Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.

6 When Seth was 105 years old, he had a son named Enosh.

7 After Enosh was born, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters.

8 So Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died.

9 When Enosh was 90 years old, he had a son named Kenan.

10 After Kenan was born, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters.

11 So Enosh lived a total of 905 years, and then he died.

12 When Kenan was 70 years old, he had a son named Mahalalel.

13 After Mahalalel was born, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters.

14 So Kenan lived a total of 910 years, and then he died.

15 When Mahalalel was 65 years old, he had a son named Jared.

16 After Jared was born, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters.

17 So Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years, and then he died.

18 When Jared was 162 years old, he had a son named Enoch.

19 After Enoch was born, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters.

20 So Jared lived a total of 962 years, and then he died.

21 When Enoch was 65 years old, he had a son named Methuselah.

22 After Methuselah was born, Enoch walked with God 300 years more and had other sons and daughters.

23 So Enoch lived a total of 365 years.

24 Enoch walked with God; one day Enoch could not be found, because God took him.

25 When Methuselah was 187 years old, he had a son named Lamech.

26 After Lamech was born, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters.

27 So Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.

28 When Lamech was 182, he had a son.

29 Lamech named his son Noahn and said, "He will comfort us in our work, which comes from the ground the Lord has cursed."

30 After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters.

31 So Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.

32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

1 The number of people on earth began to grow, and daughters were born to them.

2 When the sons of God saw that these girls were beautiful, they married any of them they chose.

3 The Lord said, "My Spirit will not remain in human beings forever, because they are flesh. They will live only 120 years."

4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also later. That was when the sons of God had sexual relations with the daughters of human beings. These women gave birth to children, who became famous and were the mighty warriors of long ago.

5 The Lord saw that the human beings on the earth were very wicked and that everything they thought about was evil.

6 He was sorry he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.

7 So the Lord said, "I will destroy all human beings that I made on the earth. And I will destroy every animal and everything that crawls on the earth and the birds of the air, because I am sorry I have made them."

8 But Noah pleased the Lord.

9 This is the family history of Noah. Noah was a good man, the most innocent man of his time, and he walked with God.

10 He had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 People on earth did what God said was evil, and violence was everywhere.

12 When God saw that everyone on the earth did only evil,

13 he said to Noah, "Because people have made the earth full of violence, I will destroy all of them from the earth.

14 Build a boat of cypress wood for yourself. Make rooms in it and cover it inside and outside with tar.

15 This is how big I want you to build the boat: four hundred fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high.

16 Make an opening around the top of the boat that is eighteen inches high from the edge of the roof down. Put a door in the side of the boat. Make an upper, middle, and lower deck in it.

17 I will bring a flood of water on the earth to destroy all living things that live under the sky, including everything that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will die.

18 But I will make an agreement with you -- you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives will all go into the boat.

19 Also, you must bring into the boat two of every living thing, male and female. Keep them alive with you.

20 Two of every kind of bird, animal, and crawling thing will come to you to be kept alive.

21 Also gather some of every kind of food and store it on the boat as food for you and the animals."

22 Noah did everything that God commanded him.

1 Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea during the time when Herod was king. When Jesus was born, some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem.

2 They asked, "Where is the baby who was born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

3 When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, as well as all the people in Jerusalem.

4 Herod called a meeting of all the leading priests and teachers of the law and asked them where the Christ would be born.

5 They answered, "In the town of Bethlehem in Judea. The prophet wrote about this in the Scriptures:

6 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are important among the tribes of Judah. A ruler will come from you who will be like a shepherd for my people Israel.'" Micah

7 Then Herod had a secret meeting with the wise men and learned from them the exact time they first saw the star.

8 He sent the wise men to Bethlehem, saying, "Look carefully for the child. When you find him, come tell me so I can worship him too."

9 After the wise men heard the king, they left. The star that they had seen in the east went before them until it stopped above the place where the child was.

10 When the wise men saw the star, they were filled with joy.

11 They came to the house where the child was and saw him with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their gifts and gave him treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

12 But God warned the wise men in a dream not to go back to Herod, so they returned to their own country by a different way.

13 After they left, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up! Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt, because Herod is starting to look for the child so he can kill him. Stay in Egypt until I tell you to return."

14 So Joseph got up and left for Egypt during the night with the child and his mother.

15 And Joseph stayed in Egypt until Herod died. This happened to bring about what the Lord had said through the prophet: "I called my son out of Egypt."

16 When Herod saw that the wise men had tricked him, he was furious. So he gave an order to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and in the surrounding area who were two years old or younger. This was in keeping with the time he learned from the wise men.

17 So what God had said through the prophet Jeremiah came true:

18 "A voice was heard in Ramah of painful crying and deep sadness: Rachel crying for her children. She refused to be comforted, because her children are dead."

19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph in a dream while he was in Egypt.

20 The angel said, "Get up! Take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, because the people who were trying to kill the child are now dead."

21 So Joseph took the child and his mother and went to Israel.

22 But he heard that Archelaus was now king in Judea since his father Herod had died. So Joseph was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream, he went to the area of Galilee,

23 to a town called Nazareth, and lived there. And so what God had said through the prophets came true: "He will be called a Nazarene."