Genesis 8; Genesis 9; Genesis 10; Genesis 11

1 But God showed concern for Noah. He also showed concern for all of the wild animals and livestock that were with Noah in the ark. So God sent a wind over the earth. And the waters began to go down.

2 The springs at the bottom of the oceans had been closed. The windows of the skies had been closed. And the rain had stopped falling from the sky.

3 The water continued to go down from the earth. At the end of the 150 days the water had gone down.

4 On the 17th day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

5 The waters continued to go down until the tenth month. On the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains could be seen.

6 After 40 days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark.

7 He sent a raven out. It kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.

8 Then Noah sent a dove out. He wanted to see if the water had gone down from the surface of the ground.

9 But the dove couldn't find any place to put its feet down. There was still water over the whole surface of the earth. So the dove returned to Noah in the ark. Noah reached out his hand and took the dove in. He brought it back to himself in the ark.

10 He waited seven more days. Then he sent the dove out from the ark again.

11 In the evening the dove returned to him. There in its beak was a freshly picked olive leaf! So Noah knew that the water on the earth had gone down.

12 He waited seven more days. Then he sent the dove out again. But that time it didn't return to him.

13 It was the first day of the first month of Noah's 601st year. The water had dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering from the ark. He saw that the surface of the ground was dry.

14 By the 27th day of the second month the earth was completely dry.

15 Then God said to Noah,

16 "Come out of the ark. Bring your wife and your sons and their wives with you.

17 "Bring out every kind of living thing that is with you. Bring the birds, the animals, and all of the creatures that move along the ground. Then they can multiply on the earth. They can have little ones and increase their numbers."

18 So Noah came out of the ark. His sons and his wife and his sons' wives were with him.

19 All of the animals came out of the ark. The creatures that move along the ground also came out. So did all of the birds. Everything that moves on the earth came out of the ark. One kind after another came out.

20 Then Noah built an altar to honor the Lord. He took some of all of the "clean" animals and birds. He sacrificed burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar.

21 Their smell was pleasant to the Lord. He said to himself, "I will never put a curse on the ground again because of man. I will not do it even though his heart is always directed toward what is evil. His thoughts are evil from the time he is young. I will never destroy all living things again, as I have just done.

22 "As long as the earth lasts, there will always be a time to plant and a time to gather the crops. As long as the earth lasts, there will always be cold and heat. There will always be summer and winter, day and night."

1 Then God gave his blessing to Noah and his sons. He said to them, "Have children and increase your numbers. Fill the earth.

2 "All of the land animals will be afraid of you. All of the birds of the air will fear you. Every creature that moves along the ground will fear you. Every fish in the oceans will also be afraid of you. Every living thing is put under your control.

3 "Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. I have already given you the green plants for food. Now I am giving you everything.

4 "But you must not eat meat that still has blood in it.

5 You can be sure that I will hold someone accountable if you are murdered. I will even hold animals accountable if they kill you. I will also hold anyone accountable who murders another person.

6 "Anyone who murders man will be killed by man. That is because I have made man in my own likeness.

7 "Have children and increase your numbers. Multiply on the earth and increase your numbers on it."

8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons who were with him. He said,

9 "I am now making my covenant with you and with all of your children who will be born after you.

10 I am making it also with every living thing that was with you in the ark. I am making my covenant with the birds, the livestock and all of the wild animals. I am making it with all of the creatures that came out of the ark with you. I am making it with every living thing on earth.

11 "Here is my covenant that I am making with you. The waters of a flood will never destroy all life again. A flood will never destroy the earth again."

12 God continued, "My covenant is between me and you and every living thing with you. It is a covenant for all time to come. "Here is the sign of the covenant I am making.

13 I have put my rainbow in the clouds. It will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

14 Sometimes when I bring clouds over the earth, a rainbow will appear in them.

15 Then I will remember my covenant between me and you and every kind of living thing. The waters will never become a flood to destroy all life again.

16 "When the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it. I will remember that my covenant will last forever. It is a covenant between me and every kind of living thing on earth."

17 So God said to Noah, "The rainbow is the sign of my covenant. I have made my covenant between me and all life on earth."

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

19 The people who were scattered over the earth came from Noah's three sons.

20 Noah was a man who worked the ground. He decided to plant a vineyard.

21 He drank some of its wine. It made him drunk. Then he lay down inside his tent without any clothes on.

22 Ham saw his father's naked body. Ham was the father of Canaan. Ham went outside and told his two brothers.

23 But Shem and Japheth took a piece of clothing. They laid it across their shoulders. Then they walked backward into the tent. They covered their father's body. They turned their faces away. They didn't want to see their father's naked body.

24 Then Noah woke up from his sleep that was caused by the wine. He found out what his youngest son had done to him.

25 He said, "May a curse be put on Canaan. He will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers."

26 Noah also said, "May the Lord, the God of Shem, be blessed. May Canaan be the slave of Shem.

27 May God add land to Japheth's territory. May Japheth live in the tents of Shem. And may Canaan be their slave."

28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years.

29 Noah lived a total of 950 years. Then he died.

1 Here is the story of Shem, Ham and Japheth. They were Noah's sons. After the flood, they too had sons.

2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras.

3 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.

4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim and the Rodanites.

5 The people who lived by the sea came from all of them. Their tribes and nations spread out into their own territories. Each tribe and nation had its own language.

6 The sons of Ham were Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan.

7 The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.

8 Cush was the father of Nimrod. Nimrod grew up to be a mighty hero on the earth.

9 He was a mighty hunter in the LORD's eyes. That's why people sometimes compare others with Nimrod. They say, "They are like Nimrod, who is a mighty hunter in the LORD's eyes."

10 At first Nimrod's kingdom was made up of Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh. Those cities were in the land of Babylonia.

11 From that land he went to Assyria. There he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir and Calah.

12 He also built Resen. It is between Nineveh and Calah. Nineveh is the great city.

13 Egypt was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites and Naphtuhites.

14 He was also the father of the Pathrusites, Casluhites and Caphtorites. The Philistines came from the Casluhites.

15 Canaan was the father of Sidon. Sidon was his oldest son. Canaan was also the father of the Hittites,

16 Jebusites, Amorites and Girgashites.

17 And he was the father of the Hivites, Arkites, Sinites,

18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. Later the Canaanite tribes scattered.

19 The borders of Canaan went from Sidon toward Gerar all the way to Gaza. Then they went toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim all the way to Lasha.

20 Those are the sons of Ham. They are listed by their tribes and languages in their territories and nations.

21 Sons were also born to Shem. Shem was Japheth's younger brother. All of the sons of Eber came from Shem.

22 The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.

23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshech.

24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah. Shelah was the father of Eber.

25 Eber was the father of two sons. One was named Peleg. That's because the earth was divided up in his time. His brother was named Joktan.

26 Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth and Jerah.

27 He was also the father of Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,

28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba,

29 Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All of them were sons of Joktan.

30 The area where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar. It was in the eastern hill country.

31 Those are the sons of Shem. They are listed by their tribes and languages in their territories and nations.

32 Those are the tribes of Noah's sons. They are listed by their family lines within their nations. From them the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.

1 The whole world had only one language. All people spoke it.

2 They moved to the east and found a broad valley in Babylonia. There they settled down.

3 They said to each other, "Come. Let's make bricks and bake them well." They used bricks instead of stones. They used tar to hold the bricks together.

4 Then they said, "Come. Let's build a city for ourselves. Let's build a tower that reaches to the sky. We'll make a name for ourselves. Then we won't be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.

6 The LORD said, "They are one people. And all of them speak the same language. That is why they can do this. Now they will be able to do anything they plan to.

7 Come. Let us go down and mix up their language. Then they will not understand each other."

8 So the LORD scattered them from there over the whole earth. And they stopped building the city.

9 The LORD mixed up the language of the whole world there. That's why the city was named Babel. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

10 Here is the story of Shem. It was two years after the flood. When Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad.

11 After Arphaxad was born, Shem lived 500 years. And he had other sons and daughters.

12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah.

13 After Shelah was born, Arphaxad lived 403 years. And he had other sons and daughters.

14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber.

15 After Eber was born, Shelah lived 403 years. And he had other sons and daughters.

16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg.

17 After Peleg was born, Eber lived 430 years. And he had other sons and daughters.

18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu.

19 After Reu was born, Peleg lived 209 years. And he had other sons and daughters.

20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug.

21 After Serug was born, Reu lived 207 years. And he had other sons and daughters.

22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor.

23 After Nahor was born, Serug lived 200 years. And he had other sons and daughters.

24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah.

25 After Terah was born, Nahor lived 119 years. And he had other sons and daughters.

26 Terah lived for 70 years. Then he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.

27 Here is the story of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.

28 Haran died in Ur in Babylonia. That was the land where he had been born. Haran died while his father Terah was still alive.

29 Abram and Nahor both got married. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai. The name of Nahor's wife was Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran. Haran was the father of Milcah and Iscah.

30 But Sarai wasn't able to have children.

31 Terah started out from Ur in Babylonia. He took his son Abram with him. He also took his grandson Lot. Lot was the son of Haran. And Terah took his daughter-in-law Sarai. She was the wife of his son Abram. All of them left together to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled down.

32 Terah lived for 205 years. He died in Haran.