FINISHED!
-my interpretation of the Hebrew text from the The Interlinear Bible by Jay Green, which he obtained from the typeset text published in 1866 of the British and Foreign Bible Society, which they obtained from the Masoretic text.
~to know and love ALHYM, and to glorify His name~
An excerpt:
CREATION DAYS:
before the Beginning was ALHYM. And…/
GENESIS 1
In Beginning
Day 1~Day and Night
In the Beginning, God created all the heavens and all the earth, and the earth was desolate and empty; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
The spirit of God shook upon the face of the waters, and God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw joyfully that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.
And God called the light, ‘Day,’, and the darkness He called, ‘Night.’
And the breath of Ya made dusk, and the breath of Ya made dawn, and the dusk commingled pleasantly with the dawn and was united into One; the first day.
Day 2~Expanse
And GOD said, “Let there be an expanse in the very middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” And GOD assembled an invisible realm: all the expanse.
And He divided the waters beneath the expanse from the waters above the expanse. And it was so, and complete. And GOD proclaimed the whole expanse, “Heavens.”
And the dusk and the dawn was the second day.
Day 3~Earth and Seas
And GOD said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered to one place, and let the dry ground appear.” And it was so, and complete. And GOD proclaimed the dry ground, “Earth.”
And the collection of the waters He proclaimed, “Seas,” and GOD saw joyfully that it was pure and good. And GOD said, “Let sprout the earth many sprouts: grass seeding seed and tree fruit making fruit, after its kind which is sown upon the earth. And it was so, and complete.
And the earth sprouted grass seeding seed, after its kind; and tree fruit making fruit, after its kind; and GOD saw joyfully that it was pure and good.
And the dusk and the dawn was the third day.
Day 4~Luminaries
And GOD called, “Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to divide the day from the night. And let most of all of ye meet all as a holy congregation for a festival on the most holy days; and again, and again, and again.
And let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens for the most holy light on the earth.”
And it was so, and complete.
And GOD made, from the heavens to the earth, the two great luminaries; the great luminary to shine from the heavens to the earth to rule the day, and the diminutive luminary and all the stars to shine from the heavens to rule the night.
And GOD set them in the expanse of the heavens to give all the light on the earth, and to rule in the day and in the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And GOD saw joyfully that is was pure and good.
And the dusk and the dawn was the fourth day.
Day 5~Swarmers
And GOD called, “Let the waters swarm with living and breathing swarmers, and let birds fly over the earth on the pearly face of the expanse of the heavens.”
And GOD created all the great sea serpents, and each and every living, breathing creeper which swarms in every number and gender in the waters in their whole holy portion.
And each and every bird with wing in their whole portion. And GOD joyfully saw that is was pure and good.
And GOD blessed all of them saying, “Be fruitful and increase and fill all the waters in the seas, and may the birds increase in the earth.”
And the dusk and the dawn were the fifth day.
Day 6~Beasts and Man
And GOD called, “Bring forth on the earth living and breathing cattle in their whole portion, and creepers and life of the earth in their whole portion.” And it was so, and complete.
And GOD made all life of the earth in their whole portion, and all cattle in their whole portion, and all creeper of the soil in their whole portion, and God joyfully saw that is was pure and good.
And GOD called, “Make man in Our image and all in Our likeness; and may he have dominion over fish in the sea, and over birds in the heavens, and over cattle over all the earth, and over all creepers creeping on the earth.
And created GOD the holy man in His image. Male and female He created them and GOD blessed them.
And GOD called to them, “Be fruitful and increase and fill all the earth; and subdue and have dominion over the fish in the sea, and over birds in the heavens, and over all life creeping on the earth,”
And GOD called, “Behold, I have given to you each and every herb seeding seed which is on the face of all the earth, and each and every tree which in it is fruit-tree seeding seed. To you it shall be food to all life on the earth, and to every bird in the heavens, and to all creepers on the earth. For all gender and number of everything that are alive and breathing, each and every herb is food.” And it was so, and complete.
And GOD joyfully saw all that He had made with His breath, and behold, it was pure and exceedingly good!
And the dusk and the dawn were the holy sixth day.
Day 7~The Sabbath
And all were finished: the heavens and the earth and all the army of GOD.
And GOD finished in the seventh day all His work which He had made.
And He had a Sabbath intermission on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.
And GOD blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created to shine.
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The Breath of Life
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created in the breath of the Lord GOD
In the day He caused the earth and the heavens to shine; and before every shoot of the of the land was on the earth, and before every herb of the land had sprouted.
The Lord GOD had not caused it to rain on the earth and man did not exist to work all the ground, and a mist went up from the earth and watered all the face of the ground.
And the Lord GOD formed all man of dust from the ground, and blew hard into his nose the breath of life, and the man became alive and breathing.
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The Garden of Eden
And the Lord GOD planted a garden in Eden from Aforetime, and put there all the man whom He had formed. And the Lord GOD made to sprout from the ground every tree pleasant to see and good to eat.
And the Tree of Life He placed in the middle of the garden, along with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
And a river came forth from Eden to water all the garden. And from there it dispersed and became four heads.
The name of the first river is PYSHWN and it surrounds all the land, encircling all that has a distinguished name with a shimmer; and the shimmer of that land is as of gold or oil, and is holy and good; and each distinguished name is a necessary part, a precious gemstone, used to build God’s Kingdom.
And the name of the second river is GYCHWN, and it surrounds all the land of Cush.
And the name of the third river is Tigris, and it meanders before Assyria.
And the name of the fourth river is the Euphrates.
And the Lord GOD took all the man and allowed them to stay in the Garden of Eden to work and to guard it.
And the Lord GOD commanded man, and called, “From all the trees in the garden you may freely eat, but you can not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, for in the day you eat at all from it, you also will die.”
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Man and his Wife
And the Lord GOD called, “It is not good that the man is separated from his feminine equal, and a helper to be a mate.”
And the Lord GOD formed from the ground every living thing of the land, and every living bird of the heavens, and brought them to the man to see what he would proclaim their name to be.
And the man proclaimed all which were breathing and alive with their name; he proclaimed names to all cattle and to all the birds of the heavens, and to every living thing of the land.
But to Adam there was not found a helper to be a mate.
And the Lord GOD caused a deep sleep to fall on the man, and he slept, and Yahweh took one rib from his ribs and closed the flesh beneath.
And the Lord GOD made from the rib which had been taken from Adam a woman, and brought her to the man and called the man, “This at last is a body from my body, and flesh from my flesh. For this I proclaim ‘Woman’ because from man she has been taken.”
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and cling to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
And they were both nude, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.
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The Fall of Man
The serpent was more cunning than all the living creatures of the land that the Lord GOD had made. And he called to the woman, “Yea, did God say to you not to eat from all the trees in the garden?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “Of the fruit trees in the garden we may eat, but the fruit of the holy Tree which is in the middle of the garden God said, ‘You can not eat of it, nor touch it, lest you die.’”
And said the serpent to the woman, “You will not surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat of it then your eyes will be opened and you shall be as God, knowing good and evil.”
And the woman saw that the holy Tree was good for food and she desired it with her eyes, and it was the tree to delight in and to make one holy and wise. And she took of its fruit and she ate, and she gathered it and gave it to her husband with her, and he ate.
And both of their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were nude. And they sewed fig leaves and made aprons for themselves.
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And they listened attentively for the loud call of the Lord GOD when He walked in the garden during the breeze of the day; and they hid themselves from the face of God in the middle of the trees of the garden.
And the Lord GOD called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
And the man replied, “We heard your voice in the garden and were afraid for we are naked, and we hid.”
And He said, “Who declared to you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”
And the man said, “The wife whom You gave to be with me, she gave to me of the tree and I ate.”
And the Lord GOD said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
And the woman replied, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.”
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The Cursing
And the Lord GOD said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are bitterly cursed more than all the cattle and more than every living creature of the land. For your punishment you shall eat dust all the days of your life.
And I will place hostility between you and between the woman, and between your seed and between her seed; he will break your head, and you will break his heel.”
And He said to the woman, “I will greatly increase your labor and pregnancy. In affliction you shall bear sons and you shall long for your husband; and he will rule over you.”
And He said to the man, “Because you have obeyed the voice of your wife and you ate of the tree which I commanded you and said not to eat of, the ground shall be bitterly cursed because of you. In labor you shall eat from it all the days of your life; and thorns and thistles will sprout for you, and you shall eat all the plants of the land. By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for from out of it you were taken.
From dust you have come, and to dust you shall return.”
And the man proclaimed his wife’s name Eve, for she became mother of all life.
And the Lord GOD made for the man and his wife coverings of skin, and clothed them.
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The Eviction
And the Lord GOD called, “Lo! The man has become as one of Us, to now know good and evil.”
Lest he reach forth his hand to take also from the Tree of Life and eat and live to eternity, the LORD God sent him away from the Garden of Eden to till all the ground from which his name is taken.
And He caused to dwell cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden, with flaming, enchanted swords whirling around to guard all the way of the Tree of Life.
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The Birth of Cain and Abel
And the man knew his wife Eve and she became pregnant. And she bore Cain and she said, “I have attained a man from the Lord.” And she continued to bear a brother Abel.
And Abel became a shepherd of flocks and Cain became a tiller of the ground. And it was at the end of the growing season, and Cain brought fruit from the ground as an offering to the Lord. And Abel brought also from the firstlings of his flocks, and from their fat also! And the Lord considered Abel and his offering, but considered not Cain and his offering.
And Cain glowed vehemently and his face fell.
And said the Lord to Cain, “Why does your face glow and fall?” If you do well is there not exaltation? And if you do not do well is there not an opening for sinfulness to brood? And to you is its longing, and you should rule over it.”
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The Murder of Abel
Cain talked to his brother Abel, and as they were in the field Cain rose up to his brother Abel and killed him.
And the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”
And he said, “I do not know, am I the keeper of my brother?”
And He said, “What have you done? The voice of the blood of your brother cries out to me from the ground. And now you are bitterly cursed more than the ground which opened its mouth to take the blood of your brother from your hand.
When you till the ground it will never again give its vigor to you. A wanderer and a vagrant you shall be on earth.”
And said Cain to the Lord, “Great is my punishment and more than I can bear. Lo, you thrust me out today from upon the face of the ground and from your face I shall be hidden. And I shall be a wanderer and a vagrant on earth, and it will be that any who find me shall kill me.”
And the Lord said to him, “Hence all who kill Cain, seven-times he will be avenged.”
And the Lord named to Cain a sign so that if any found him, none would injure him.
And Cain spread out from the face of the Lord and exiled in the earth east of Eden, in Nod. And Cain knew his wife and she became pregnant and bore Enoch, and he built a city and he proclaimed the name of the city the name of his son, Enoch.
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He Trusted to Call on the Name of the Lord
And Irad was born to Enoch and Irad bore Mehujael; and Mehujael bore Methusael; and Methusael bore Lamech. And Lamech took to himself two wives; the name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. And Adah bore Jabal. He was father of those who dwell in tents and own livestock. And the name of his brother was Jubal. He was father of all those playing the harp and reed instruments. And Zillah also bore Tubal-Cain. He was the sharpener of all engraving tools made of bronze and iron. And the name of his sister was Naamah.
And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, “Listen attentively to my voice you wives of Lamech. Listen to my speech, for I killed a man for my wound, and a young man for my bruises; for seven-times Cain will be avenged, and Lamech seventy-seven.”
And Adam knew his wife again and she bore a son. And she proclaimed his name Seth, “For GOD substituted to me another seed in lieu of Abel, for Cain killed him.” And to Seth, he also bore a son and he proclaimed his name Enosh. At that time he trusted to call on the name of the Lord.
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The Generations of Adam
This book is the generations of Adam in the day GOD created Adam in His likeness. GOD created them male and female, blessed them, and proclaimed their name ‘Man’ in the day when they were created.
Adam, Seth, Anosh, Cainan, Mahaleel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, and Shem.
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GOD’S Remorse
And it was that the unholy men began to abound on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them.
And the sons of the gods saw the daughters of the men for they were good, and they took to themselves wives from all whom they chose.
And the Lord called, “My holy spirit will not be in man perpetually as he is in sin and flesh; and his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
The tyrants were on earth in those days and also just after, when the sons of GOD went to the daughters of men. And they bore to them the warriors which were from the beginning with the name of Anosh.
And the Lord saw that the evil abounded in the man on earth, and every thought and intention in his heart was only evil all the day. And the Lord was sorry that he made the man on earth, and He grieved in his heart.
And the Lord called, “I erase the man which I created from the face of the ground; from man to beast to creeper and to birds in the heavens, for I am sorry I made them.”
Noah attained favor in the eyes of the Lord.
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Noah Builds the Ark
These are the generations of Noah. He was a righteous and perfect man among his generation. With GOD went Noah.
And Noah bore three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
The earth was ruined before GOD, and the earth was filled with violence. And GOD saw the earth and behold, it was destroyed, for the way of all flesh is to destroy the earth.
And GOD said to Noah, “I will end all flesh, for full of violence is the earth from the face of them. And Lo! I will destroy them and the earth. Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood, you shall make for yourself rooms in the ark, and you shall cover it inside and outside with bitumen. And thus you shall make the ark three hundred cubits in length, fifty cubits in width, and thirty cubits in height. You shall make a window in the ark and it shall be situated a cubit from the top. And the door of the ark you shall put in its side. You shall make it with lowermost, second, and third stories.
And I, behold, will bring the flood waters on the earth to destroy all flesh which has in it the breath of life; from beneath the heavens all which is on the earth shall perish!
And I will establish My covenant with you. And you shall come to the ark: you, and your sons, and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
And you shall bring two from every living flesh to the ark to keep alive with you, male and female they shall be. From the birds after their kind, and from the beasts after their kind, from every creeper of the ground after their kind; two from every one shall come in to you to keep alive.
And you shall take to yourself from every food which is eaten, and you gather it to yourself, and let it be for you, and for them, for food.”
Noah accomplished all that GOD appointed him, so he did.
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All Enter the Ark
And the Lord said to Noah, “You and all your house shall come into the ark for I have seen your righteousness before Me in this generation now. From every beast that is pure, you shall take to yourself seven male and seven female; and of the beast which is not pure, it is two, male and female. From the birds in the heavens, seven males and seven females, to keep their seed alive upon the face of all the earth. For in seven days more, I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and there will be destruction of all standing which I have made upon the face of the land.”
And Noah did all which was appointed to him. Noah was a son of six hundred years, when the flood waters were upon the earth.
And Noah, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives went into the ark, before the flood came.
Of the pure beasts, and of the beasts which were not pure, and of the birds, and all which creeps upon the ground, two by two, male and female, they went to Noah, into the ark, as was appointed to Noah by GOD.
And it was in seven days that flood waters were upon the earth, in the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month. In that day the great deep broke open and the flood gushed forth; and the windows of the heavens opened wide. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
In the middle of this day, Noah and Shem, Ham, and Japheth, Noah’s sons; Noah’s wife; and the three wives of his sons went with him into the ark, they and all the living after their kind. Every beast after their kind, every creeper that creeps upon the earth after their kind, every bird after its kind, all birds with wings.
And they went to Noah into the ark, two by two from all the flesh which has the breath of life in it.
And male and female of all flesh entered, and they bowed to GOD, and the Lord surrendered it behind them.
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The Flood
And the flood was upon the earth forty days, and the rushing waters increased, and raised the ark above the earth. And the mighty waters increased vehemently upon the earth. And the ark surged upon the face of the waters which prevailed vehemently upon the earth and covered all the haughty mountains which were beneath the heavens.
The mighty waters covered the mountains upwards of fifteen cubits. And every flesh died that creeped upon the earth: of bird, of cattle, of life; and every swarmer that swarms upon the earth; and every man. In all which had the divine breath of life breathed into the nose, all of which was on dry land, was killed. And all the living which was upon the face of the ground from man to beast to creepers, and to birds in the heavens, were destroyed; all was destroyed from the earth, except Noah and those who were with him in the ark.
And the mighty waters were upon the earth one hundred fifty days.
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Dry Ground
And GOD remembered Noah and every living thing, and all the beasts which were with him in the ark. And GOD caused a wind upon the earth to allay the waters. And the fountains of the deep, and windows of the heavens were shut up. And the violent showers from the heavens were held back. The waters retreated from upon the earth, departed and retreated; and the waters abated after one hundred fifty days.
And the ark presented itself upon Mount Ararat in the seventh month on the seventeenth day of the month.
The waters were departing and abating until the tenth month. On the first of the tenth month, mountaintops were seen.
And it was at the end of forty days that Noah opened wide the window of the ark which he had made, and sent out the raven. And it went out and returned until the waters were dried up from upon the earth.
And he also sent out the dove from him to see if the waters had abated from upon the face of the ground. But there appeared to the dove no place of rest for the sole of her foot, and she turned back to him of the ark for the waters were still upon the face of all the earth. He put out his hand and she obediently went in to him in the ark. He waited seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark. And the dove came to him at dusk, and behold, a fresh olive leaf was in her mouth, so Noah knew the waters had abated upon the earth. He waited seven more days, and sent out the dove; but she did not join, nor return to him anymore.
And it was in the six hundred and first year, in the beginning, on the first of the month, the waters dried up from upon the earth. And Noah bound the covering of the ark, and he looked and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.
In the second month on the twenty seventh day of the month the earth was dry.
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Noah Built an Altar to the Lord
And GOD spoke to Noah and said, “Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons, and the wives of your sons; and all living flesh which is with you: birds, and cattle, and every creeper that creeps upon the earth; bring them out with you, and let them swarm on earth, bear fruit, and increase.”
And Noah went out with his sons and his wife and the wives of his sons; and all living: all the creepers and every bird, all which creeps upon the earth after their kind, they went out of the ark.
And Noah built an altar to the Lord and took of all the beasts of purification, and of all the birds which were clean, and he placed them on top of the altar for a burnt offering.
And the pleasant odor spread to the Lord and said the Lord in His heart, “I will not again bring a swift end to the ground due to the influence of man, because the thoughts in his heart are evil from his youth. I will not again injure the life which I have made. While all the earth exists, seed time and harvest, cold and hot, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
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The Covenant in the Cloud
And GOD blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Bear fruit, increase, and fill the earth. The fear and terror of the holy fathers of mine shall be upon all life on the earth. Upon all birds of the heavens, on all which creeps on the ground, and on every fish of the sea; for into your hands I have given them. All that moves which has life are yours, and they shall eat green plants which I have given to all of you everywhere.
You shall not eat living flesh with their blood. And with your hand, extract all the blood from all creatures with breath to worship Me; of all living, you may worship Me. And from the hand of man, from the hand of My man and his brother, all with breath man will offer to Me. But to spill blood of the man: on man his blood shall spill; for in the image of GOD man was made. And bear fruit, increase, and swarm on earth; and multiply.”
And GOD said to Noah and his sons, “And We meet, behold, upon condition that I make My covenant with all things, and with all creatures with seed that come after you; with all living and breathing which is with you, of birds, of cattle, and of every living creature with you on the earth, from all that I sent out of the ark to every living creature on the earth. I will rise up My covenant with all, that I will not cut off all flesh again with flood water, and there shall never again be a flood to ruin the earth.”
And GOD said, “This sign of the covenant which I am giving is between Me and all My creatures, and My Son, and all that are alive and breathing, all creatures and their generations, for eternity: I will put My bow in the cloud for you, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and My sons of the earth. It shall be in a cloud within the clouds upon the earth, and a holy light shall glisten in the bow in the cloud.
And I will remember all this covenant which is between Me and My creatures, and My Son, and all flesh that are alive and breathing: there shall never again be a flood of water to destroy all flesh.
I shall set the bow in the cloud and remember this covenant for eternity between Son, God, and son, and all that are alive and breathing of all flesh which is upon the earth.”
And GOD said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which will rise up between Me and My sons and all flesh which is upon the earth.”
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The Cursing of Canaan
And the sons of Noah that went out from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Yapheth; and Ham became the father of Canaan.
These three sons of Noah, and their offspring, spread throughout the land. And Noah began to become defiled as a man of the ground, and he planted a vineyard; and he imbibed from the fermented wine of his fruit, became drunk, and disrobed disgracefully in the middle of his tent.
Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the shame of his father, and declared it boldly to both of his brothers outside. And Shem and Yapheth took the raiment, placed it upon their backs, and, creeping backward, covered all the shame of their great father. Their faces also were facing backward so they could not see the shame of their great father.
And Noah awoke from the fermented wine and knew all which had been done to him by his lesser son. And he said, “Bitterly curse Canaan, a servant of servants he shall be to his brothers.” And he said, “Bless the Lord GOD of Shem, for Canaan shall be a servant to you. And may GOD open to Yapheth that he may reside in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be a servant to them.”
And Noah lived 350 years after the flood; and all Noah’s days were 950 years, and he died.
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The Generations After Noah
And these are the generations of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Yapheth; and the sons born to them after the Flood.
The sons of Yapheth are Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Yawan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. And Gomer’s sons were Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. And Yawan’s sons were Alishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
From these, spread along the coast, were the nations in their lands, each by his tongue, by their families, in their nations.
And the sons of Ham were Cush, and Mitsrayim, and Put, and Canaan. And the sons of Cush were Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha. And Raamah’s sons were Sheba and Dedan. And Cush begat Nimrod, who was a slayer, and began to be a powerful warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord, and upright; it was said that Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the Lord. And it was that the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Arek, and Akkad, and Kalneh, in the land of Shinar. From the land he went forth to Assyria and built Ninevah and Rechoboth the city, and Kelach. And Recen was between Ninevah and Kelach, which is the great city. And Mitsrayim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, and Pathrusim, and Casluhim, who came from the Philistim and Caphtorim. And Canaan begat Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth. And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite, and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, and the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. And afterward the families of the Canaanites became scattered.
And the territory of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as you come to Gerar, as far as Gaza, as you go in towards Sodom and Gomorrah; and Admah, and Zeboim, as far as Lasha. These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their tongues; in their countries, and in their nations.
And Shem begat and gathered to him, and was the father of all the sons of Eber, the brother of Yapheth the elder.
The sons of Shem were Elam, and Ashuwr, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram. And Aram’s sons were Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. And Arpachshad begat Shalach; and Shalach begat Eber. And Eber begat two sons; the name of the first was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and the name of his brother was Yoqtan. And Yoqtan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Yerah, and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Kiklah, and Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba, and Ophir, and Havilah, and Yowbab; all were the sons of Yoqtan.
And their dwelling place was from Mesha, as you go to Sephar, a mountain of the east. These are the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their tongues; in their lands, according to their nations.
These are the families of the sons of Noah according to their generations in their nations; and from these spread the nations on the earth after the Flood.
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The Tower of Babel
And it was that all the earth had one language and one speech.
So it was in the ancient days, in the time of nomads, that they appeared at a valley in the land of Shinar, and they settled there.
So they said, one man unto his neighbor, “Come, let us make an offering to the moon. Let us burn white bricks a very long time.” So it was that the brick became to them as stone, and the bitumen was to them as mortar.
And they called, “Come, let us make an offering and build ourselves a city and a tower. And may its top reach into the heavens! Let us make a name for ourselves lest we become scattered upon the face of the earth.”
And the Lord descended to see all the city and all the tower which the sons of man had built. And the Lord said, “These people have one language uniting them. They are becoming profaned because they are not restrained from all they can make and all they can imagine anymore. Come, let Us subjugate them, and let Us mix the language of all of them so that not one man will be able to discern the language of his neighbor.”
And the Lord scattered them from there upon the face of all the earth, and they became idle to building the city, which was rightly proclaimed the name of ‘Babel’ because there the Lord greatly mixed the language of all the earth.
And from there the Lord sent forth the dispersion upon the face of all the earth.
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The Descendants of Shem
These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a Son of a hundred years and begat Arpachshad two years after the flood. And after he fathered Arpachshad, Shem lived five hundred years, and he begat sons and daughters.
And Arpachshad lived thirty-five years and begat Shalach. And after he fathered Shalach, Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years, and he begat sons and daughters.
And Shalach lived thirty years and begat Eber. And after he fathered Eber, Shalach lived four hundred and three years, and he begat sons and daughters.
And Eber lived thirty-four years and begat Peleg. And after he fathered Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and he begat sons and daughters.
And Peleg lived thirty years and begat Rew. And after he fathered Rew, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and he begat sons and daughters.
And Rew lived thirty-two years and begat Serug. And after he fathered Serug, Rew lived two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.
And Serug lived thirty-nine years and begat Nahor. And after he fathered Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
And Nahor lived twenty-nine years and begat Terah. And after he fathered Terah, Nahor lived a hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.
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Abram and Sarai
And Terah lived seventy years and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And these are the generations of Terah. Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran begat Lot, and died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldeans. And Abram and Nahor took to themselves wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.
And Sarai was barren and did not have any children.
And Terah took his son Abram, and Lot, the son of his son Haran, and Sarai, his daughter-in-law, the wife of Abram his son, and they all went out from Ur of the Chaldeans to journey to the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and they settled there.
And Terah lived 205 years, and died in Haran.
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Abram Journeys
And the Lord called to Abram, “Walk on a journey from your land and from your people and from the house of your father to the land which I will show you. I will make unto you a great nation and I will bless you. Your name will be great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who despise you. All the tribes of the land will be blessed because of you.”
Abram departed as the Lord had arranged with him, and Lot went with him. Abram was a son 145 years when, united with the Lord, they left from Haran. And Abram took Sarai, his wife; Lot, the son of his brother; all their substance which they had collected; and the creatures which were born to them in Haran, and they departed to journey to the land of Canaan. And they entered the land of Canaan.
And Abram crossed over the land as far as the country of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
And a vision of the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your seed I give this land.”
And he built there an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him. And he removed himself from there, the place of conception from antiquity, to Bethel. He placed his tent with Bethel toward the sea and Ai toward the East. He built there an altar to the Lord and proclaimed the land in the name of the Lord. And Abram left on a journey, and set forth to the Negeb.
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Abram’s Sister
There was a famine in the land, and Abram descended down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. And it was when he was approaching Egypt that he called unto Sarai, his wife, “Behold, I pray I know you for a beautiful woman to look upon, and it will be that when the Egyptians see you and they see you are my wife, the will smite me, and keep you for themselves. Say you, I pray, are my sister in order that it will be good for me on account of you, and I will owe my soul to you.”
And it came to pass as Abram went into Egypt that the Egyptians saw the woman, for she was exceedingly beautiful. And the prince of Pharaoh saw her and he raved about her unto Pharaoh and they took the woman to Pharaoh’s house.
And to Abram, he did good for her sake, and gave to him flocks, herds, male donkeys, servants, female slaves, female donkeys, and camels.
And the Lord touched Pharaoh with great plagues on his house because of Sarai, the wife of Abram.
And Pharaoh proclaimed to Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? And so I took her to me to wed and now she is, Behold, my wife! Take her and go!”
And Pharaoh’s men went out as ordered and they sent away him and his wife and all that he had.
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Abram Settles in the Promised Land
Abram went up out of Egypt with his wife and all that was given to him, along with Lot and his people, to the Negeb. Abram was exceedingly rich with livestock, silver, and gold. He continued from the south as far as Bethel, all the way to the country where he first had his tent, between Bethel and Ai, to the country where he had made the altar where he first claimed the land in the name of the Lord.
Lot also walked with Abram with his flock and herd and tents, but the land was not able to accommodate both of them. There was strife between the shepherds of Abram’s livestock and between the shepherds of Lot’s livestock; also the Canaanite and the Perizzite remained in the land.
And Abram said to Lot, “I pray there is not strife between me and between you, and between my shepherds and between your shepherds, for we are men and brothers. Is not all the land before you? I pray you separate from me; if you go left, then I will go right; and if you go right, then I shall go left.”
And Lot looked up and saw with his eyes all the tract of the Jordan and that it was well-watered (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) as the Lord’s Garden, and similar to the land of Egypt in ignoble desire. So Lot selected for himself all the tract of the Jordan and Lot went rushing out to the east, and they separated, each man from his brother.
Abram remained in the land of Canaan and Lot dwelled in the city of his region, and pitched his tent as far as Sodom, where men were exceedingly evil sinners to the Lord.
And the Lord said to Abram, after he had separated from Lot, “XX your eye and look from the place where you are, northward, and southward, and eastward, and to the sea, for all the land which you see I give to you and to your descendants forever. The name of your descendants will be as dust of the earth, which if a man could count the dust of the earth, he could also count your descendants. Rise up! Walk in this land to its length and to its breadth for I give it to you.”
And with his tent, Abram went and dwelled by the oak of Mamre which is in Hebron, and he built there an altar to the Lord.
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The War of the Kings and Capture of Lot
And in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of the Gentiles, they battled with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemebar king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela-it is Zoar. All these were the community of the Valley of Siddim, the Salt Sea.
Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings with him went and struck the great ones in Ashteroth Kamaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horite in the mountains of Seir as far as the pilaster of Paran upon the wilderness.
And they turned back and came to Enmishpat in Kadesh and struck all the country of the Amalekite, and also the Amorite dwelling in Hazezon Thamar. And the king of Sodom went out, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela-it is Zoar; and they set up to battle them in the Valley of Siddim.
Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of the Gentiles, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against five. And the Valley of Siddim had pits and into these pits of bitumen were chased the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and they fell in desolation while the remnant were chased to the mountain.
And they took the property of Sodom and Gomorrah, and they took all their food, and they took Lot, the son of the brother of Abram, and his property, and they left; and he was living in Sodom.
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Melchizedek Blesses Abram
A refugee came and declared what happened to Abram, the Hebrew who was lodging by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eschol and Aner; they had a covenant with Abram by the Lord.
And Abram heard that his brother had been driven away, so he poured out all his trained men born to his house, 318 in all, and they chased them all the way to Dan. He separated his men upon them by night, and he and his servants went and struck them and chased them as far as Hobah which is north of Damascus.
He recovered all the property; and also Lot, his brother, and his property; the elders, and also the people and all the tribe.
And the king of Sodom went to proclaim him after his return from striking Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, to the Valley of Shaveh, it being the valley of the king.
And Melchizedek king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, he being the priest to the Almighty Supreme God. And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of the Almighty Supreme God, Creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be the Almighty Supreme God who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
And he gave to him a tithe of all.
The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give to me the living and take the property for yourself.”
And Abram said to the king of Sodom, “The exaltation of my hand is to the Lord Almighty Supreme God, Creator of heaven and earth. Not a thread, nor as much as a sandal lace will I take from all which is yours, so that you cannot say, ‘I made Abram rich,’ save for merely what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eschcol, and Mamre, let them take their allotment.”
~Song of Mary~ 