Genesis

God created the universe in six days. He separated (1) the light from darkness, (2) the waters with an expanse, and (3) the land from the waters under heaven, while causing the land to produce vegetation, because the earth was “without form.” He created (4) the sun, moon, and stars, (5) the sea animals and birds, and (6) the land animals because the earth was “void.” Finally, he made a man and a woman in his image to multiply and govern the earth. Everything was “very good.”

God rested on the seventh day, making it holy. He created Adam from dust and placed him in the Garden of Eden, warning him not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Then God tasked him to name the animals and made a companion for him from his rib: Eve. 

Eve, being tempted by the serpent, ate the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam also ate the fruit and “the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.” God cursed the serpent, forewarning that the Descendant of the woman “shall bruise your head,” cursed Eve with labor in childbirth, cursed Adam with toil and death, and exiled them from the Garden of Eden, assigning cherubim to guard the Tree of Life.

Eve bore Cain and Abel to Adam. Cain murdered Able out of jealousy because God regarded Abel’s sacrificial offerings. God cursed and exiled Cain. Cain worried that someone would seek revenge, so God placed a protective mark on him. Cain settled in Nod and bore children. His descendant Lamech also committed murder. Eve bore Seth to Adam.

Adam fathered Seth, who fathered Enosh, who fathered Kenan, who fathered Mahalalel, who fathered Jared, who fathered Enoch (who did not die, “for God took him”), who fathered Methuselah, who fathered Lamech, who fathered Noah, who fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Lamech blessed Noah, prophesying that “this one shall bring us relief.”

The “sons of God” fathered the Nephilim with women, as mankind became corrupt. God swore to “wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created,” commanding Noah, a righteous man, to build an ark to sustain his family and male/female pairs of every kind of animal through a coming flood.

After Noah, his family, and the animals boarded the ark, God caused rain for forty days, flooding and killing everything on the earth for one hundred and fifty days.

God, remembering Noah, caused the flood to recede. The ark rested on the mountains of Ararat. Noah tested for dry land with a dove, exited the ark, built an altar, and offered sacrifices to the Lord. God promised to “never again curse the ground because of man… neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.”

God established a covenant with Noah and his family, charging them to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth,” permitting them to eat animals, declaring a retributive penalty for homicide, and furnishing the rainbow as a sign. Noah became drunk and his son, Ham, neglected him but his other sons, Shem and Japheth, respectfully covered his nakedness. In response, Noah cursed Ham’s son, Canaan, and blessed Shem and Japheth.

Shem, Japheth, and Ham fathered many nations.

Mankind, speaking a single language, built a city and tower in Shinar. God confused their language and dispersed them to thwart their ambitions. Terah of Ur descended from Shem. He fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran fathered Lot. Terah departed Ur for Canaan with Abram, his wife Sarai, and Lot.

God called Abram out of Ur to Canann with the promise to make his descendants a holy nation and bless the world through him. Abram, along with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and family departed Haran for Canaan, through Shechem and Bethel, but detoured to Egypt due to a famine. In Egypt, Abram convinced Sarai to pose as his sister so that the Egyptians would not kill him. Pharaoh took her as his wife and Abram acquired wealth due to his relationship with Pharaoh. But God afflicted the royal house with plagues, so Pharaoh rebuked Abram and expelled his family, after discovering the ruse.

Abram and his family traveled to Bethel, where his herdsmen quarreled with Lot’s herdsmen. They agreed to part ways, with Lot opting to settle in Sodom in the Jordan Valley and Abram opting to settle by the oaks of Mamre in Hebron. God deeded the land to Abram and his descendants.

Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam, along with the kings of Shinar, Ellasar, and Goiim routed the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela in the Valley of Siddim, overran the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and captured Lot and his family. In response, Abram led 318 men against Chedorlaomer, liberated Lot’s family, and re-captured his possessions. Melchizedek, the king of Salem, blessed Abram to whom Abram gave a tenth of the spoils. The king of Sodom offered Abram the spoils in exchange for the liberated people, but Abram declined to keep anything, lest he claim to have made Abram rich.

God promised to protect and bless Abram, provide him with a son, and commanded him to offer animal sacrifices as a covenant. Abram bisected the animals and fell asleep. God informed Abram that his descendants would serve another country for 400 years but vowed to bring judgment on their enemies and grant them great possessions. A smoking fire pot and flaming torch passed between the bisected sacrifices, ratifying the covenant.

Sarai, being barren, persuaded Abram to conceive a child with her servant, Hagar. However, once she conceived, Hagar had contempt for Sarai. In response, Sarai expelled Hagar. The angel of the Lord comforted Hagar, promised to “multiply [her] offspring,” and directed her to return to Sarai. Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

God established a covenant with Abram in which he changed his name to “Abraham,” deeded Canaan to his descendants, and pledged to be their God. God charged Abraham and his male descendants to keep the covenant of circumcision. He also changed Sarai’s name to “Sarah,” and assured Abraham that she would bear him a son, “Isaac,” to inherit the covenant. Abraham circumcised the men of his household.

The Lord and two angels visited Abraham, who offered them food and rest. God declared that Sarah would bear Isaac within a year, reproached Sarah when she scoffed, and warned Abraham that he intended to judge Sodom. Abraham bargained with God to spare Sodom for the sake of ten righteous individuals.

The two angels visited Lot in Sodom, who insisted on providing them food and lodging. That night, the men of Sodom surrounded Lot’s house, demanding that he release the angels so that they “may know them.” Lot begged the men to take his virgin daughters instead. As the men barged against the door, the angels pulled Lot into the house and struck the men with blindness. The angels, intending to destroy the city, warned Lot to escape with his family. Lot and his family escaped to Zoar as God rained sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot’s wife, however, looked back and became a pillar of salt. Near Zoar, Lot’s daughters enticed their father to become drunk and impregnate them. His older daughter bore the progenitor of the Moabites and his younger daughter bore the progenitor of the Ammonites.

Abraham traveled to Gerar where he, once again, convinced Sarah to pose as his sister. Abimelech, the king of Gerar, took Sarah into his house, but God threatened Abimelech in a dream. Abimelech scolded Abraham for deceiving him before returning his wife and compensating him with livestock and servants. Abraham prayed for Abimelech and his household “for the Lord had closed the wombs of the house of Abimelech.”

God fulfilled his promise, as Sarah bore Isaac to Abraham. Sarah demanded that Abraham exile Hagar and Ishmael to ensure that Isaac would be Abraham’s sole heir. God vowed to Abraham that he would “make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” Abraham exiled Hagar and Ishmael. As Hagar wept in the wilderness, fearing that Ishmael would die, God consoled her: “lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hands, for I will make him into a great nation.” Abraham made a treaty with Abimelech, allowing Abraham to live in Philistia.

God tested Abraham, commanding him to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham obeyed and was poised to slay Isaac when the Lord said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy… for now I know that you fear God.” Abraham noticed and offered a ram as a sacrifice instead of Isaac. Because of his willingness to offer his son, God promised to bless Abraham and multiply his descendants.

Sarah died and Abraham entreated the Hittites to sell him a burial plot. Ephron offered to gift a field and cave but Abraham insisted on paying for the land. Abraham buried Sarah in the cave.

Abraham, being old, compelled his servant to swear that he would find a wife for Isaac from among his own people in Mesopotamia, rather than the Canaanites. The servant journeyed to the city of Nahor where he met Rebekah, Isaac’s cousin, after praying for guidance. Rebekah’s family hosted the servant in their home. He told them about his oath to Abraham and her family agreed that Rebekah should return with him. The servant brought Rebekah to Isaac. Isaac married her and loved her.

Abraham married Keturah who bore him more children. He died and was buried with Sarah. Rebekah bore Esau and Jacob to Isaac. Isaac loved Esau but Rebekah loved Jacob. One day, Esau asked Jacob for some stew because he was famished. Jacob requested Esau’s birthright in exchange, which Esau granted.

God directed Isaac to stay in Canaan, rather than journeying to Egypt, during a famine. He convinced Rebekah to pose as his sister in Gerar. Abimelech discovered the ruse and rebuked Isaac, saying “one of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” In time, Abimelech demanded that Isaac leave because he had gained more wealth than the Philistines. After quarrelling with Philistines in the Valley of Gerar over access to wells, Abimelech implored Isaac to enter into a peace treaty. Isaac agreed.

Isaac, being old with poor eyesight, summoned Esau to bless him before he died. When Esau went hunting to prepare a meal for Isaac, Rebekah persuaded Jacob to pose as Esau in order to acquire Isaac’s blessing and, once convinced, Isaac blessed Jacob. Esau discovered Jacob’s deception and begged Isaac for a blessing, but Isaac responded, “I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants…. What then can I do for you, my son?” Esau vowed to kill Jacob, so Rebekah sent him to her brother Laban in Haran.

Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him to Laban. Esau, seeing that his Hittite wives displeased Isaac and Rebekah, married a daughter of Ishmael. On his way to Haran, Jacob envisioned a ladder reaching to heaven with angels ascending and descending in a dream. God promised to give the promised land to him, multiply his descendants, and bless “the families of the earth” through him. Jacob set a stone as a pillar to God, naming the place “Bethel.”

Jacob met Rachel, Laban’s daughter, at a well on the way to Haran. He kissed her and informed her that he was the son of Rebekah, Laban’s sister. Laban welcomed Jacob into his home. Jacob agreed to work 7 years in exchange for marriage to Rachel. After his service, Laban gave his first daughter Leah to Jacob, instead of Rachel. Jacob agreed to work another 7 years in exchange for marriage to Rachel. After his second term of service, he married Rachel and loved her more than Leah. Leah, nonetheless, bore Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah to Jacob.

Jacob and Rachel quarreled over her infertility, so Rachel insisted that Jacob conceive with her servant Bilhah, who bore Dan and Naphtali. Leah, whose fertility had also ceased, insisted that Jacob conceive with her servant Zilpah, who bore Gad and Asher. Leah bartered a night with Jacob for some mandrakes from Rachel, conceiving Issachar. Later, Leah bore Zebulun and their first daughter, Dinah. Finally, Rachel conceived and bore Joseph. Jacob requested that Laban allow him to depart for Canaan and provide the spotted and black livestock for his wages. Laban agreed but gave his spotted and black livestock to his sons. Jacob used peeled tree branches to breed spotted and black livestock from Laban’s flock.

Jacob fell into disfavor with Laban and his sons. God directed Jacob to return to the promised land. Jacob recounted God’s faithfulness despite Laban’s attempts to cheat him. After informing Rachel and Leah of his intent to return home, Rachel stole Laban’s household gods. Jacob set out with his family and possessions without notifying Laban. Laban pursued Jacob and, although God warned him to say neither anything good nor bad to Jacob, he questioned Jacob as to why he did not allow him to bid farewell to his family. Jacob responded that he feared that Laban would take his daughters back. Laban searched for his household gods within Jacob’s camp but Rachel kept them hidden. Joseph chastised Laban for attempting to defraud him. Jacob and Laban agreed to a peace treaty before Laban blessed his daughters and grandchildren and departed.

Jacob saw angels and sent a message of greeting to Esau in Edom. The messengers returned with news that Esau was coming to meet Jacob, accompanied by 400 men. Jacob prayed for protection from Esau and split his party into two camps so that, should Esau attacked, one might escape. Jacob sent a gift of livestock to Esau. That night, Jacob wrestled with a man all night, refusing to release him without a blessing. The man said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

Jacob bowed to Esau as he approached but Esau ran to Jacob, embraced and kissed him and wept. Jacob introduced his family to his brother. Esau refused Jacob’s gift but Jacob insisted. Esau led the way back to Edom for Jacob and his family, but Jacob headed to Canaan.

Shechem, a Canaanite prince, raped Dinah and asked Hamor, his father, to arrange their marriage. Hamor asked Jacob and his sons to give Dinah to Shechem, inviting the tribes to intermarry and unify. The sons of Jacob slyly agreed on the condition that the Canaanites become circumcised, to which they agreed. But while the Canaanites were recovering, Jacob, Simeon, and Levi slew their men and claimed their families and livestock.

God instructed Jacob to return to Bethel and erect an altar. Jacob ordered his family to dispose of their foreign gods, which he hid under a tree near Shechem. On the way, “a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.” God blessed Jacob, renamed him “Israel,” and promised to multiply his descendants; so Jacob erected an altar. After leaving Bethel, Rachel died while delivering Benjamin. Reuben had intercourse with Bilhah, which was reported to Jacob. Jacob returned to Isaac in Mamre. Isaac died and Esau and Jacob buried him.

Esau settled in Edom, fathering children with his wives and founding the Edomite tribe.

Joseph’s brothers resented him because Jacob loved him more than them. Joseph incensed his brothers by reporting a dream wherein he and his brothers were binding sheaves in the field, and his brothers’ sheaves bowed down to his. In another dream, the sun, moon, and stars bowed to him. Jacob was indignant: “Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” Joseph’s brothers conspired to kill him but Reuben dissuaded them. Instead they stripped him of his robe, cast him into a pit, and sold him to Ishamaelites on the way to Egypt. They tore Joseph’s coat, dipped it in goat blood, and returned it to Jacob, who concluded that Joseph had been killed by an animal. Joseph became a servant to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard.

Judah fathered Er, Onan, and Shelah with the Daughter of Shua, a Canaanite. He betrothed Er to Tamar but God put him to death for wickedness. Subsequently, he betrothed Onan to Tamar but God also put him to death. Judah commanded Tamar to “remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up.” When Judah’s wife died, Tamar posed as a prostitute, slept with Judah, and took his signet ring, cord, and staff as a pledge of payment, but departed before he returned to pay her. Months later, someone reported to Judah that Tamar was pregnant. She returned the personal items to Judah, proving that he was the father. She bore twins: Perez and Zerah.

Potiphar made Joseph overseer of his house because God prospered him and “the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake.” Potiphar’s wife made sexual advances toward Joseph but he rebuffed her out of respect for Potiphar and God. After he rebuffed her again, she told Potiphar that he had attempted to rape her. Potiphar sent Joseph to prison and the prison keeper made him overseer of the prison because, once again, God prospered him.

Pharaoh sent his cupbearer and baker to prison for some offense. In prison, the cupbearer had a dream which Joseph interpreted to mean that he would be released and restored to his office in three days; and the baker had a dream which Joseph interpreted to mean that he would be executed in three days. The interpretations came to pass but the cupbearer forgot about Joseph.

Pharaoh had troubling dreams that his magicians could not interpret. The cupbearer remembered Joseph and recommended him to Pharaoh. Pharaoh summoned Joseph and God gave him the interpretation: Egypt would suffer seven years of famine after seven years of abundance. Joseph proposed a taxation plan to sustain Egypt through the famine which Pharaoh accepted. Pharaoh placed him in command over Egypt and commissioned him to execute his plan. Joseph married Asenath who bore Manasseh and Ephraim. Egypt had sufficient food reserves when the famine began.

Jacob sent his sons, except for Benjamin, to buy grain in Egypt. Joseph noticed his brothers but they did not recognize him. He accused them of being spies. They replied that they were brothers, although their youngest brother was at home in Canaan. Joseph took Simeon into custody, provided them with grain while secretly returning their money to the grain sacks, and ordered them to return with Benjamin in order to prove themselves.

The sons of Israel returned to Canaan with the grain. But, once the grain was gone, Jacob had to send them to Egypt with Benjamin. He double the returned money and added gifts from Canaan, hoping to appease Joseph. In Egypt, Joseph greeted the brothers, along with Benjamin, and arranged a banquet for them. Benjamin received the largest portion.

Joseph provided them with grain while secretly returning their money and his silver cup to the grain sacks, and sent his steward after them to accuse them of theft. The brothers maintained their innocence and consented to a search of their bags. The cup was found in Benjamin’s bag, so the brothers returned to Joseph to beg for mercy. Joseph insisted on taking Benjamin into custody but Judah pleaded: “as soon as I come to your servant my father, and the body is not with us… he will die…. Please let your servant remain instead of the boy.”

Joseph, unable to control his emotions, cried, revealed his identity to his brothers, and inquired about Jacob’s wellbeing. The brothers, stunned, did not answer. Joseph reassured them—“do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life”—and requested that they return with Jacob and their families to survive the famine in Egypt. When the brothers informed Jacob that Joseph had become the ruler of Egypt, he was shocked. But, once convinced, he said, “it is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

Jacob, assured that God was with him, went to Egypt with his family. Joseph arranged for Israel to live in Goshen.

Jacob blessed Pharaoh who, in return, granted their settlement in Goshen and provided them with food. Joseph continued to sell grain to the Egyptians for money, then livestock, and then land. The Egyptians, thereby, became serfs to Pharaoh. Before Jacob died, he made Joseph swear to bury him in Canaan.

Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons, crossing his arms and placing his right hand on the younger, Ephraim, and his left hand on the older, Manasseh. Joseph attempted to move his right hand to Manasseh but Jacob refused: “[Manasseh] also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, the younger brother shall be greater than he.”

Jacob prophetically rebuked Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, while blessing Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, and Benjamin. Notably, he announced that Judah would rule over his brothers. Jacob requested to be buried in Abraham’s burial plot.

Joseph buried Jacob in Canaan. His brothers worried that he would take revenge on them after their father’s death but Joseph comforted them: “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive.” Joseph lived a long life and requested to be buried in Canaan. He died in Egypt.