386 passages · Kingdom
Waking, Noah curses Canaan, Ham's son, as a servant to his brothers, and blesses the Lord, the God of Shem. He asks that Japheth's territory expand and that Canaan serve them.
The chapter begins a record of Noah's three sons' descendants, listing Japheth's sons and grandsons, from whom maritime peoples spread into their territories.
Ham's sons are listed: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. Nimrod, a mighty hunter, builds kingdoms in Shinar and Assyria, and the Canaanite peoples and their borders are described.
Shem's sons and grandsons are listed, including the line of Eber and his son Peleg. The chapter closes noting that from Noah's sons the nations spread across the earth.
The Lord comes down, sees the project, and confuses their language. The people are scattered across the earth and stop building, and the place is named Babel.
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.
God appears again to Jacob at Bethel, confirming his new name, Israel, and telling him that a nation and kings will come from him and that the land promised to Abraham and Isaac will be his descendants'.
This account of Esau (Edom) lists his wives and the sons born to him in Canaan. His possessions grow too large to share land with Jacob, so he settles in the hill country of Seir.
This section lists Esau's sons and grandsons, who became chiefs in the land of Edom.
The passage lists the sons and chiefs of Seir the Horite, the people already living in the land before Esau's family settled among them.
The chapter closes by listing the kings who ruled Edom before Israel had a king, followed by a list of the chiefs of Edom by clan and territory.
The Israelites are to honor the elderly, treat foreigners as native-born and love them as themselves, and use honest weights and measures. The LORD reminds them he brought them out of Egypt.
The Israelites are to keep all the LORD's statutes so the land does not vomit them out. They are to be holy because he has set them apart. Mediums and spiritists are to be put to death.
The LORD allows those unclean or traveling to keep the Passover a month later. Those who neglect it while clean are cut off, and foreigners may join under the same rules.
Moses invites his brother-in-law Hobab to come with Israel and share in the LORD's good promises. Hobab first refuses, and Moses presses him to stay.
Moses sends messengers asking the king of Edom for safe passage along the King's Highway, promising not to take water or crops. Edom refuses twice and threatens war, so Israel turns away.
Israel camps by the Jordan. Alarmed by their numbers, Balak king of Moab sends elders with fees to Balaam, asking him to curse Israel. Balaam asks them to stay overnight while he seeks the LORD's answer.
Balaam briefly pronounces the fate of Amalek, the Kenites and the far-off sea peoples, foretelling destruction. Balaam and Balak then go their separate ways.
Moses recalls that after years wandering near Mount Seir, God told Israel to pass peacefully through the land of their relatives, Esau's descendants, and to pay for food and water.
God tells Israel not to provoke Moab, the descendants of Lot. A note explains earlier peoples of the area, and the crossing of the Zered marks thirty-eight years since Kadesh, when the old generation had died.
With the fighting men dead, God tells Israel to respect Ammon's land, then to cross the Arnon and begin taking the land of Sihon, the Amorite king, promising that the nations will fear Israel.
Moses offered Sihon peaceful passage, but Sihon refused. God gave him and his army to Israel at Jahaz, and Israel captured all his cities while keeping away from Ammon's land.
Israel defeated Og, king of Bashan, and captured his sixty fortified cities after God told Moses not to fear him. A note mentions Og's huge iron bed as evidence he was among the last of the Rephaim.
Moses calls Israel to listen and keep the law without adding or subtracting, recalling how those who followed Baal of Peor died. Keeping the law will show other nations Israel's wisdom and the nearness of God.
When God brings Israel into the land and drives out seven nations, Israel must not make treaties or intermarry, because this would lead them to other gods. They are to tear down the nations' altars and idols, as they are God's holy people.
Moses tells Israel not to fear stronger nations, since God defeated Egypt and will drive them out gradually. They must burn the idols and not take the silver and gold on them.
Moses lists those excluded from the assembly of the LORD, including Ammonites and Moabites, who did not help Israel and hired Balaam. Israel is not to despise Edomites or Egyptians, whose descendants may enter after three generations.
Moses promises that if Israel obeys the LORD, he will set them above the nations. Blessings are listed on city and country, children, crops, livestock, and daily comings and goings.
The LORD will defeat Israel's enemies, bless their barns and work, and make them his holy people. Other nations will see and stand in awe, provided Israel does not turn to other gods.
A distant nation with an unknown language will swoop down like an eagle and besiege Israel's cities. The famine will be so severe that people will resort to eating their own children.