282 passages · Humanity
God observes it is not good for the man to be alone and brings the animals to him to name. Among them, no suitable helper is found for him.
God makes a woman from the man's rib and brings her to him. The man celebrates her as his own kind, and the narrator says a man and wife become one flesh, unashamed.
Cain's line builds a city and produces herdsmen, musicians, and metalworkers. Lamech takes two wives and boasts of killing a man, claiming far greater vengeance than Cain.
Adam and Eve have another son, Seth, in place of Abel. Seth has a son Enosh, and at that time people begin to call on the name of the Lord.
This section begins with a reminder that God made humankind in his likeness, then records Adam's age at Seth's birth, his later years, and his death at 930.
A repeated pattern lists each man's age at his son's birth, the years he lived afterward, and his death: Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, and Jared.
The list continues through Methuselah and Lamech. Lamech names his son Noah, hoping for comfort from the cursed ground's toil, and Noah later has Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
As people multiply, the 'sons of God' take wives from the daughters of men. God limits human days to 120 years, and the Nephilim and mighty men of old are mentioned.
God blesses Noah's family to be fruitful and fills the earth. He gives animals as food but forbids eating meat with its lifeblood and declares that human life is precious, made in God's image.
Noah plants a vineyard, becomes drunk, and lies uncovered. Ham tells his brothers, while Shem and Japheth cover their father without looking.
The line of Shem is traced from Arphaxad through Eber, Peleg, and others down to Terah, who fathers Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Haran dies in Ur, and Abram marries Sarai, who is barren. Terah takes Abram, Lot, and Sarai toward Canaan but settles in Haran, where he dies.
Childless Sarai gives her Egyptian servant Hagar to Abram. When Hagar conceives and looks down on Sarai, Sarai blames Abram, and then treats Hagar so harshly she flees.
Hagar bears Abram a son, whom Abram names Ishmael.
God renames Sarai as Sarah and promises she will bear a son, Isaac. Abraham laughs and pleads for Ishmael, and God agrees to bless Ishmael but says the covenant will be with Isaac.
Living in a cave, Lot's daughters fear they will have no children. They get their father drunk and each conceive a son, Moab and Ben-ammi, ancestors of the Moabites and Ammonites.
The Lord does for Sarah what he promised, and she bears Isaac. Abraham circumcises him at eight days, and Sarah says God has made her laugh.
At a feast for Isaac, Sarah sees Ishmael mocking and demands that Hagar and her son be expelled. Distressed, Abraham is told by God to listen to Sarah, promising to make Ishmael a nation too.
Abraham hears that his brother Nahor has twelve sons from his wife and concubine, including Bethuel, who is the father of Rebekah.
Sarah dies at 127 in Hebron, and Abraham mourns and weeps for her.
Aging Abraham has his chief servant swear not to choose a Canaanite wife for Isaac but to find one among Abraham's own relatives. Isaac must not be taken back to the old homeland, and God's promise of the land is the reason.
Rebekah runs home and tells her family, and her brother Laban, having seen the jewelry, hurries out to invite the man in. The servant refuses to eat until he has explained why he came.
Laban and Bethuel say this is from the Lord and agree. After the servant gives gifts and worships, the family asks for delay, but Rebekah herself agrees to go at once, and they bless her.
Rebekah and her maids travel to Canaan, where she first sees Isaac walking in the field and veils herself. Isaac takes her as his wife and is comforted after his mother Sarah's death.
Abraham has more sons through Keturah and other concubines, gives them gifts and sends them east, and leaves everything to Isaac. He dies at 175 and Isaac and Ishmael bury him beside Sarah.
This section lists Ishmael's twelve sons, who became tribal leaders, and gives his age at death. His descendants settled in the region between Havilah and Shur.
The boys grow up very different, and each parent favors one. Famished, Esau trades his birthright to Jacob for a meal of lentil stew, and the text says he despised it.
Afraid he will be killed because of Rebekah's beauty, Isaac claims she is his sister. King Abimelech sees them together, confronts him, and orders that no one harm the couple.
Esau, at forty, marries two Hittite wives, and they cause grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
Old and nearly blind, Isaac asks Esau to hunt and prepare a meal so he can bless him. Rebekah overhears and tells Jacob to bring goats so that he can get the blessing instead.