Psalm 51[a]

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

1Have mercyon me, O God,according to your unfailing love;according to your great compassionblot outmy transgressions.2Wash awayall my iniquityand cleanseme from my sin.

3For I know my transgressions,and my sin is always before me.4Against you, you only, have I sinnedand done what is evil in your sight;so you are right in your verdictand justified when you judge.5Surely I was sinfulat birth,sinful from the time my mother conceived me.6Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;you taught me wisdomin that secret place.

7Cleanseme with hyssop,and I will be clean;wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.8Let me hear joy and gladness;let the bonesyou have crushed rejoice.9Hide your face from my sinsand blot outall my iniquity.

10Create in me a pure heart,O God,and renew a steadfast spirit within me.11Do not cast mefrom your presenceor take your Holy Spiritfrom me.12Restore to me the joy of your salvationand grant me a willing spirit,to sustain me.

13Then I will teach transgressors your ways,so that sinnerswill turn back to you.14Deliver mefrom the guilt of bloodshed,O God,you who are God my Savior,and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.15Open my lips, Lord,and my mouth will declare your praise.16You do not delight in sacrifice,or I would bring it;you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.17My sacrifice,O God, is[b]a broken spirit;a broken and contrite heartyou, God, will not despise.

18May it please you to prosper Zion,to build up the walls of Jerusalem.19Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,in burnt offeringsoffered whole;then bullswill be offered on your altar.

Psalm 42[a][b]

For the director of music. Amaskil[c]of the Sons of Korah.

1As the deerpants for streams of water,so my soul pantsfor you, my God.2My soul thirstsfor God, for the living God.When can I goand meet with God?3My tearshave been my foodday and night,while people say to me all day long,Where is your God?4These things I rememberas I pour out my soul:how I used to go to the house of Godunder the protection of the Mighty One[d]with shouts of joyand praiseamong the festive throng.

5Why, my soul, are you downcast?Why so disturbedwithin me?Put your hope in God,for I will yet praisehim,my Saviorand my God.

6My soul is downcast within me;therefore I will rememberyoufrom the land of the Jordan,the heights of Hermonfrom Mount Mizar.7Deep calls to deepin the roar of your waterfalls;all your waves and breakershave swept over me.

8By day theLorddirects his love,at nighthis songis with mea prayer to the God of my life.

9I say to God my Rock,Why have you forgottenme?Why must I go about mourning,oppressedby the enemy?10My bones suffer mortal agonyas my foes tauntme,saying to me all day long,Where is your God?

11Why, my soul, are you downcast?Why so disturbed within me?Put your hope in God,for I will yet praise him,my Savior and my God.

Psalm 43[e]

1Vindicate me, my God,and plead my causeagainst an unfaithful nation.Rescue mefrom those who aredeceitful and wicked.2You are God my stronghold.Why have you rejectedme?Why must I go about mourning,oppressed by the enemy?3Send me your lightand your faithful care,let them lead me;let them bring me to your holy mountain,to the place where you dwell.4Then I will goto the altarof God,to God, my joyand my delight.I will praise you with the lyre,O God, my God.

5Why, my soul, are you downcast?Why so disturbed within me?Put your hope in God,for I will yet praise him,my Savior and my God.

Psalm 1

1Blessed is the onewho does not walkin step with the wickedor stand in the waythat sinners takeor sitin the company of mockers,2but whose delightis in the law of theLord,and who meditateson his law day and night.3That person is like a treeplanted by streamsof water,which yields its fruitin seasonand whose leafdoes not witherwhatever they do prospers.

4Not so the wicked!They are like chaffthat the wind blows away.5Therefore the wicked will not standin the judgment,nor sinners in the assemblyof the righteous.

6For theLordwatches overthe way of the righteous,but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

11Now the whole world had one languageand a common speech.2As people moved eastward,[a]they found a plain in Shinar[b]and settled there.

3They said to each other, Come, lets make bricksand bake them thoroughly. They used brick instead of stone,and tarfor mortar.4Then they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens,so that we may make a namefor ourselves; otherwise we will be scatteredover the face of the whole earth.

5But theLordcame downto see the city and the tower the people were building.6TheLordsaid, If as one people speaking the same languagethey have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.7Come, let usgo downand confuse their language so they will not understand each other.

8So theLordscattered them from there over all the earth,and they stopped building the city.9That is why it was called Babel[c]because there theLordconfused the languageof the whole world.From there theLordscatteredthem over the face of the whole earth.

8But God rememberedNoah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth,and the waters receded.2Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavenshad been closed, and the rainhad stopped falling from the sky.3The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty daysthe water had gone down,4and on the seventeenth day of the seventh monththe ark came to rest on the mountainsof Ararat.5The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

6After forty daysNoah opened a window he had made in the ark7and sent out a raven,and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.8Then he sent out a doveto see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground.9But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark.10He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark.11When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.12He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

13By the first day of the first month of Noahs six hundred and first year,the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.14By the twenty-seventh day of the second monththe earth was completely dry.

15Then God said to Noah,16Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.17Bring out every kind of living creature that is with youthe birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the groundso they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.

18So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons wives.19All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birdseverything that moves on landcame out of the ark, one kind after another.

20Then Noah built an altar to theLordand, taking some of all the clean animals and cleanbirds, he sacrificed burnt offeringson it.21TheLordsmelled the pleasing aromaand said in his heart: Never again will I curse the groundbecause of humans, even though[a]every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.And never again will I destroyall living creatures,as I have done.

22As long as the earth endures,seedtime and harvest,cold and heat,summer and winter,day and nightwill never cease.

Gods Covenant With Noah

9Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.2The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands.3Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you.Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

4But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.5And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting.I will demand an accounting from every animal.And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.

6Whoever sheds human blood,by humans shall their blood be shed;for in the image of Godhas God made mankind.

7As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.

8Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him:9I now establish my covenant with youand with your descendants after you10and with every living creature that was with youthe birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with youevery living creature on earth.11I establish my covenantwith you:Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.

12And God said, This is the sign of the covenantI am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:13I have set my rainbowin the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.14Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbowappears in the clouds,15I will remember my covenantbetween me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.16Whenever the rainbowappears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenantbetween God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.

17So God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenantI have established between me and all life on the earth.

The Sons of Noah

18The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth.(Ham was the father of Canaan.)19These were the three sons of Noah,and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.

20Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded[b]to plant a vineyard.21When he drank some of its wine,he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father nakedand told his two brothers outside.23But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their fathers naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.

24When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him,25he said,

Cursedbe Canaan!The lowest of slaveswill he be to his brothers.

26He also said,

Praise be to theLord, the God of Shem!May Canaan be the slaveof Shem.27May God extend Japheths[c]territory;may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.

28After the flood Noah lived 350 years.29Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.

Wickedness in the World

6When human beings began to increase in number on the earthand daughters were born to them,2the sons of Godsaw that the daughtersof humans were beautiful,and they marriedany of them they chose.3Then theLordsaid, My Spiritwill not contend with[a]humans forever,for they are mortal[b];their days will be a hundred and twenty years.

4The Nephilimwere on the earth in those daysand also afterwardwhen the sons of God went to the daughters of humansand had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

5TheLordsaw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth,and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.6TheLordregrettedthat he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.7So theLordsaid, I will wipe from the face of the earththe human race I have createdand with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the groundfor I regret that I have made them.8But Noahfound favor in the eyes of theLord.

Noah and the Flood

9This is the accountof Noah and his family.

Noah was a righteous man, blamelessamong the people of his time,and he walked faithfully with God.10Noah had three sons: Shem,Ham and Japheth.

11Now the earth was corruptin Gods sight and was full of violence.12God saw how corruptthe earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.13So God said to Noah, I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroyboth them and the earth.14So make yourself an ark of cypress[c]wood;make rooms in it and coat it with pitchinside and out.15This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[d]16Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit[e]high all around.[f]Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks.17I am going to bring floodwaterson the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.18But I will establish my covenant with you,and you will enter the arkyou and your sons and your wife and your sons wives with you.19You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.20Twoof every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kindof creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive.21You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.

22Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

7TheLordthen said to Noah, Go into the ark, you and your whole family,because I have found you righteousin this generation.2Take with you seven pairs of every kind of cleananimal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate,3and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alivethroughout the earth.4Seven days from now I will send rainon the earthfor forty daysand forty nights,and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.

5And Noah did all that theLordcommanded him.

6Noah was six hundred years oldwhen the floodwaters came on the earth.7And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons wives entered the arkto escape the waters of the flood.8Pairs of clean and uncleananimals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground,9male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah.10And after the seven daysthe floodwaters came on the earth.

11In the six hundredth year of Noahs life,on the seventeenth day of the second monthon that day all the springs of the great deepburst forth, and the floodgates of the heavenswere opened.12And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

13On that very day Noah and his sons,Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark.14They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind,everything with wings.15Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark.16The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah.Then theLordshut him in.

17For forty daysthe flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth.18The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.19They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered.20The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits.[g][h]21Every living thing that moved on land perishedbirds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind.22Everything on dry land that had the breath of lifein its nostrils died.23Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth.Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.

24The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.

There is a timefor everything,and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2a time to be born and a time to die,a time to plant and a time to uproot,3a time to killand a time to heal,a time to tear down and a time to build,4a time to weep and a time to laugh,a time to mourn and a time to dance,5a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,6a time to search and a time to give up,a time to keep and a time to throw away,7a time to tear and a time to mend,a time to be silentand a time to speak,8a time to love and a time to hate,a time for war and a time for peace.

9What do workers gain from their toil?10I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.11He has made everything beautiful in its time.He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a]no one can fathomwhat God has done from beginning to end.12I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.13That each of them may eat and drink,and find satisfactionin all their toilthis is the gift of God.14I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

15Whatever is has already been,and what will be has been before;and God will call the past to account.[b]

16And I saw something else under the sun:

In the place of judgmentwickedness was there,in the place of justicewickedness was there.

17I said to myself,

God will bring into judgmentboth the righteous and the wicked,for there will be a time for every activity,a time to judge every deed.

18I also said to myself, As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.19Surely the fate of human beingsis like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath[c]; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless.20All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.21Who knows if the human spirit rises upwardand if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?

22So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work,because that is their lot.For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

From Adam to Noah

5This is the written accountof Adams family line.

When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God.2He created themmale and femaleand blessed them. And he named them Mankind[a]when they were created.

3When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image;and he named him Seth.4After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters.5Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.

6When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father[b]of Enosh.7After he became the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters.8Altogether, Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died.

9When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan.10After he became the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters.11Altogether, Enosh lived a total of 905 years, and then he died.

12When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel.13After he became the father of Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters.14Altogether, Kenan lived a total of 910 years, and then he died.

15When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared.16After he became the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters.17Altogether, Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years, and then he died.

18When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch.19After he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters.20Altogether, Jared lived a total of 962 years, and then he died.

21When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah.22After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God300 years and had other sons and daughters.23Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years.24Enoch walked faithfully with God;then he was no more, because God took him away.

25When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech.26After he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters.27Altogether, Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.

28When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son.29He named him Noah[c]and said, He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground theLordhas cursed.30After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters.31Altogether, Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.

32After Noah was 500 years old,he became the father of Shem,Ham and Japheth.

Cain and Abel

4Adam[a]made love to his wifeEve,and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.[b]She said, With the help of theLordI have brought forth[c]a man.2Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.3In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offeringto theLord.4And Abel also brought an offeringfat portionsfrom some of the firstborn of his flock.TheLordlooked with favor on Abel and his offering,5but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

6Then theLordsaid to Cain, Why are you angry?Why is your face downcast?7If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door;it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.

8Now Cain said to his brother Abel, Lets go out to the field.[d]While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

9Then theLordsaid to Cain, Where is your brother Abel?

I dont know, he replied. Am I my brothers keeper?

10TheLordsaid, What have you done? Listen! Your brothers blood cries out to me from the ground.11Now you are under a curseand driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brothers blood from your hand.12When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you.You will be a restless wandereron the earth.

13Cain said to theLord, My punishment is more than I can bear.14Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence;I will be a restless wanderer on the earth,and whoever finds me will kill me.

15But theLordsaid to him, Not so[e]; anyone who kills Cainwill suffer vengeanceseven times over. Then theLordput a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.16So Cain went out from theLords presenceand lived in the land of Nod,[f]east of Eden.

17Cain made love to his wife,and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city,and he named it after his sonEnoch.18To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.

19Lamech marriedtwo women,one named Adah and the other Zillah.20Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock.21His brothers name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instrumentsand pipes.22Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forgedall kinds of tools out of[g]bronze and iron. Tubal-Cains sister was Naamah.

23Lamech said to his wives,

Adah and Zillah, listen to me;wives of Lamech, hear my words.I have killeda man for wounding me,a young man for injuring me.24If Cain is avengedseven times,then Lamech seventy-seven times.

25Adam made love to his wifeagain, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth,[h]saying, God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.26Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh.

At that time people began to call on[i]the name of theLord.

3Now the serpentwas more crafty than any of the wild animals theLordGod had made. He said to the woman, Did God really say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden?

2The woman said to the serpent, We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,3but God did say, You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.

4You will not certainly die, the serpent said to the woman.5For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,knowing good and evil.

6When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirablefor gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband,who was with her, and he ate it.7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked;so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

8Then the man and his wife heard the sound of theLordGod as he was walkingin the garden in the cool of the day, and they hidfrom theLordGod among the trees of the garden.9But theLordGod called to the man, Where are you?

10He answered, I heard you in the garden, and I was afraidbecause I was naked;so I hid.

11And he said, Who told you that you were naked?Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?

12The man said, The woman you put here with meshe gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.

13Then theLordGod said to the woman, What is this you have done?

The woman said, The serpent deceived me,and I ate.

14So theLordGod said to the serpent, Because you have done this,

Cursedare you above all livestockand all wild animals!You will crawl on your bellyand you will eat dustall the days of your life.15And I will put enmitybetween you and the woman,and between your offspring[a]and hers;he will crush[b]your head,and you will strike his heel.

16To the woman he said,

I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;with painful labor you will give birth to children.Your desire will be for your husband,and he will rule over you.

17To Adam he said, Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, You must not eat from it,

Cursedis the groundbecause of you;through painful toilyou will eat food from itall the days of your life.18It will produce thorns and thistlesfor you,and you will eat the plants of the field.19By the sweat of your browyou will eat your fooduntil you return to the ground,since from it you were taken;for dust you areand to dust you will return.

20Adam[c]named his wife Eve,[d]because she would become the mother of all the living.

21TheLordGod made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.22And theLordGod said, The man has now become like one of us,knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of lifeand eat, and live forever.23So theLordGod banished him from the Garden of Edento work the groundfrom which he had been taken.24After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side[e]of the Garden of Edencherubimand a flaming swordflashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.Watch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgAZ158_6vE