Genesis II
Genesis I
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
"For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked…
The Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day…
"I heard you were in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid. "
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food.
His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute.
At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord.
… The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.
My spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal, his days will be 120 years.
The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth."
Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence.
Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters came on the earth.
Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in it's nostrils died.
Noah...sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: Never again will I curse the ground…never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you…I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
The Lord had said to Abraham, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you."
He said to his wife Sarah "Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you."
Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.
The Lord said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years."
Abraham fell face down; he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old?"
Then the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord?"
Then the Lord said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me.
What if they are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?..."What if only ten can be found there? "
Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah – from the Lord out of the heavens.
But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me."
"God is with you and everything you do."
Abraham built an alter…bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar…reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, "Abraham, Abraham."
Altogether, Abraham lived 175 years. Then Abraham breathed his last, and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years.
Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful. Jacob was in love with Rachel.
So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, so whenever he lay with his brother's wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the Lords sight; so he put him to death...
The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered…
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!… But he refused. "How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.
...while Joseph was there in prison, the Lord was with him: he showed him kindness and granted him favor...
Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
He turned away from them and began to weep.
If harm comes to him on the journey you're taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.
Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there.
Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, for that is detestable to Egyptians.
He wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh's household heard about it.
… do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.
… God sent me ahead of you...to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them.
… and you can enjoy the fat of the land.
…for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.
Joseph threw himself upon his father and wept over him and kissed him.
But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives..."
So Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten.
So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
I AM WHO I AM...
I AM has sent me to you.
– A land flowing with milk and honey.
Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The Lord did not appear to you'?"
"This," said the Lord, "is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob – has appeared to you."
But Moses said, "Oh, Lord, please send someone else to do it." Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses…
But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.
Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.
I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you.
Then say to him "The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert."
The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.
During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me."
In the days to come, when your son asks you, "What does this mean?" say to him, "With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. When Pharoah stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed every first born in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord...
By the day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."
Who is like you – majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? You stretched out your right hand and the earth swallowed them.
In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into the desert to starve this entire assembly to death.
Then the Lord said to Moses "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions."
Each one gathered as much as he needed. Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning."
The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.
This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: "You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
Then he said to the people, "Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations."
1) I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.
2) You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath, or the waters below...for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
3) You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
4) Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work. On the seventh day you shall rest.
5) Honor your father and mother so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
6) You shall not murder.
7) You shall not commit adultery.
8) You shall not steal.
9) You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
10) You shall not covet your neighbor's house, wife, servant, or anything that belongs to your neighbor
"I have seen these people," the Lord said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.
But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. "Oh Lord, " he said, "Why should your anger burn against your people whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?...Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
The Lord would speak to Moses face-to-face, as a man speaks with his friend.
No one is to appear before me empty-handed.
Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest.
And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant – the Ten Commandments.
An offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord (God likes a good barbecue).
Among those who approach me I will show myself holy.
You must distinguish between the holy and the common.
I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.
I am the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord…
Numbers
Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.
Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan – that fine hill country and Lebanon.
Teach them to your children and to their children after them.
But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron smelting furnace, out of Egypt…
But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created man on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of?
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.
Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
Walk in all the ways that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.
...so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.
Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.
…be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
In the future, when your son asks you, " What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you? " tell him: " We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand."
The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear of the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.
The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers.
Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers.
Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.
He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and revering him.
When you have eaten and are satisfied praise the Lord your God...otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied…your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.
Understand, then, that is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.
I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the Lord listened to me.
I lay prostrate before the Lord those forty days and forty nights because the Lord had said he would destroy you. "Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin...they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm"
What does the Lord your God ask of you but
to fear the Lord your God,
to walk in all his ways,
to love him,
to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?
Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always. Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God...But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done.
Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, and so that you may live long in the land that the Lord swore to your forefathers to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.
It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from beginning of the year to its end.
If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow…then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you. Every place where you set your foot will be yours.
No man will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.
I'm setting before you today a blessing and a curse – the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God...the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God.
You're not to do as we do here today, everyone as he sees fit…
...he will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety.
All kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.
No man should appear before the Lord empty-handed: Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.
Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.
He must not take many wives or his heart will be led astray.
However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today…you will be unsuccessful in everything you do.
The sights you see will drive you mad.
The Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart.
You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both day and night, never sure of your life.
...I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to him.
Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you – they are your life.
Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.
Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face-to-face.
Joshua
Be strong and courageous…Be strong and very courageous…
That day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.
"Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy."
But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho...
The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a man. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel
Judges
Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord...They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt.
They provoked the Lord to anger because they forsook him…In his anger against Israel the Lord handed them over to raiders who plundered them.
Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.
Then the Lord raised up judges who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.
Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge who saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived...
...for the Lord had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to their ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers.
...the boy is to be a Nazarite, set apart to God from birth…he must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, or drink any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean.
The Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands…
Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.
Sometime later, he fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.
Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they sent him to grinding in the prison.
… He pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than when he lived.
In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.
The Book of Samuel I
But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb.
She named him Samuel, saying "Because I asked the Lord for him. "
I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him.
In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.
Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord. The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
"Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.' "
And the Lord said to Samuel: "See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears it tingle."
He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.
Samuel continued as judge over Israel all the days of his life.
Now appoint us a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.
And the Lord told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king."
Then we will be like all the other nations.
The Lord answered, "Listen to them and give them a king. "
The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. Once the signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.
As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart and all these signs were fulfilled that day.
Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
…And from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power.
...who knows how to play the harp. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine looking man. And the Lord is with him.
… Because he has defied the armies of the living God.
Whatever Saul sent him to do, David did it so successfully...
And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.
The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully upon Saul.
Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had left Saul.
In everything he did he had great success, because the Lord was with him. When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him.
When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David, Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days.
But an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul.
But the priest answered David, "I don't have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here – provided the men have kept themselves from women.
So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.
"The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord's anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the Lord."
"And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you."
'For the Lord will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my master, because he fights the Lord's battles.'
Abigail…became his wife. David had also married Ahinoam.
The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness.
As surely as I valued your life today, so may the Lord value my life and deliver me from all trouble.
David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes.
… and David inquired of the Lord, "Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them? "
"Pursue them, " he answered. "You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue. "
The Book of Samuel II
All the people took note and were pleased; indeed, everything the king did pleased them.
You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.
And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.
After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem.
So David inquired of the Lord, " Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?" The Lord answered him, "Go, for I will surely hand the Philistines over to you."
David said to Michal, "It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord's people Israel – I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by the slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.
The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.
Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today.
… For all Israel knows that your father is a fighter and that those with him are brave.
When King David was old and well advanced in years, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. So his servants said to him, "Let us look for a young virgin to attend the king and take care of him.
She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm.
Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful girl and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. The girl was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no intimate relations with her.
So Bathsheba went to see the aging king in his room, where Abishag the Shunammite was attending him.
Then Bathsheba bowed low with her face to the ground and, kneeling before the king, said, "May my lord King David live forever. "
...Be strong, show yourself a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the law of Moses…
Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. He had reigned 40 years over Israel…
"Please ask King Solomon to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife"...King Solomon gave orders…and he struck down Adonijah and he died.
… Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?
Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. Then the king said, "Bring me a sword, "…"Cut the living child in two and give half to one half to the other. "
The first woman, filled with compassion said "Give her the living baby"
"Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is the mother."
When all Israel heard the verdict...they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.
God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.
He spoke three thousand Proverbs, and his songs numbered one thousand and five.
You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.
When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relation to the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions... Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her...She was overwhelmed..." You have far exceeded the report I heard."
The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women…He had 700 wives…and 300 concubines, and his wives let him astray....as Solomon grew old...The Lord became angry with Solomon…
Elijah...stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the Lord, "O Lord my God, let this boy's life return to him!...and the boy's life returned to him. Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now, I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.
Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
A chariot of fire…appeared...and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
…they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.
Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, "Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before for you faithfully", and Hezekiah wept bitterly...
This is what the Lord, says, "I will heal you. I will add 15 years to your life."
"Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent"
"You are not to build a house for my name, because you are a warrior…