Through the Bible – Day 4

₁After the flood Shem, Ham, and Japheth had many descendants.

_2-5Japheth's descendants had their own languages, tribes, and land. They were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

Gomer was the ancestor of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.

Javan was the ancestor of Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim, who settled along the coast.

_6-20Ham's descendants had their own languages, tribes, and land. They were Ethiopia, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.

Cush was the ancestor of Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca.

Raamah was the ancestor of Sheba and Dedan.

Cush was also the ancestor of Nimrod, a mighty warrior whose strength came from the LORD. Nimrod is the reason for the saying, “You hunt like Nimrod with the strength of the LORD!” Nimrod first ruled in Babylon, Erech, and Accad, all of which were in Babylonia. From there Nimrod went to Assyria and built the great city of Nineveh. He also built Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, as well as Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah.

Egypt was the ancestor of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim, the ancestor of the Philistines.

Canaan's sons were Sidon and Heth. He was also the ancestor of the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites.

Later the Canaanites spread from the territory of Sidon and went as far as Gaza in the direction of Gerar. They also went as far as Lasha in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim.

_21-31Shem's descendants had their own languages, tribes, and land. He was the elder brother of Japheth and the ancestor of the tribes of Eber.

Shem was the ancestor of Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.

Aram was the ancestor of Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.

Arpachshad was the father of Shelah and the grandfather of Eber, whose first son was named Peleg, because it was during his time that tribes divided up the earth. Eber's second son was Joktan.

Joktan was the ancestor of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. Their land reached from Mesha in the direction of Sephar, the hill country in the east.

₃₂This completes the list of Noah's descendants. After the flood their descendants became nations and spread all over the world.

₁At first everyone spoke the same language, ₂but after some of them moved from the east and settled in Babylonia, _3-4they said:

₅But when the LORD came down to look at the city and the tower, ₆he said:

_8-9So the people had to stop building the city, because the LORD confused their language and scattered them all over the earth. That's how the city of Babel got its name.

_10-11Two years after the flood, when Shem was one hundred, he had a son named Arpachshad. He had more children and died at the age of six hundred. This is a list of his descendants:

₁₂When Arpachshad was thirty-five, he had a son named Shelah. ₁₃Arpachshad had more children and died at the age of four hundred and thirty-eight.

₁₄When Shelah was thirty, he had a son named Eber. ₁₅Shelah had more children and died at the age of four hundred and thirty-three.

₁₆When Eber was thirty-four, he had a son named Peleg. ₁₇Eber had more children and died at the age of four hundred and sixty-four.

₁₈When Peleg was thirty, he had a son named Reu. ₁₉Peleg had more children and died at the age of two hundred and thirty-nine.

₂₀When Reu was thirty-two he had a son named Serug. ₂₁Reu had more children and died at the age of two hundred and thirty-nine.

₂₂When Serug was thirty, he had a son named Nahor. ₂₃Serug had more children and died at the age of two hundred and thirty.

₂₄When Nahor was twenty-nine, he had a son named Terah. ₂₅Nahor had more children and died at the age of one hundred and forty-eight.

_26-28After Terah was seventy years old, he had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran, who became the father of Lot. Terah's sons were born in the city of Ur in Chaldea, and Haran died there before the death of his father. The following is the story of Terah's descendants.

_29-30Abram married Sarai, but she was not able to have any children. And Nahor married Milcah, who was the daughter of Haran and the sister of Iscah.

₃₁Terah decided to move from Ur to the land of Canaan. He took along Abram and Sarai and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran. But when they came to the city of Haran, they decided to settle there instead. ₃₂Terah lived to be two hundred and five years old and died in Haran.

₁The LORD said to Abram:

_4-5Abram was seventy-five years old when the LORD told him to leave the city of Haran. He obeyed and left with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and slaves they had got while in Haran.

When they came to the land of Canaan, ₆Abram went as far as the sacred tree of Moreh in a place called Shechem. The Canaanites were still living in the land at that time, ₇but the LORD appeared to Abram and promised, “I will give this land to your family for ever.” Abram then built an altar there for the LORD.

₈Abram travelled to the hill country east of Bethel and camped between Bethel and Ai, where he built another altar and worshipped the LORD. ₉Later, Abram started out towards the Southern Desert.

_10-11The crops failed, and there was no food anywhere in the land. So Abram and his wife Sarai went to live in Egypt for a while. But just before they got there, he said, “Sarai, you are really beautiful! ₁₂When the Egyptians see how lovely you are, they will murder me because I am your husband. But they won't kill you. ₁₃Please save my life by saying that you are my sister.”

₁₄As soon as Abram and Sarai arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians noticed how beautiful she was. ₁₅The king's officials told him about her, and she was taken to his house. ₁₆The king was good to Abram because of Sarai, and Abram was given sheep, cattle, donkeys, slaves, and camels.

₁₇Because of Sarai, the LORD struck the king and everyone in his palace with terrible diseases. ₁₈Finally, the king sent for Abram and said to him, “What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me Sarai was your wife? ₁₉Why did you make me believe she was your sister? Now I've married her. Take her and go! She's your wife.”

₂₀So the king told his men to let Abram and Sarai take their possessions and leave.

₁Abram and Sarai took everything they owned and went to the Southern Desert. Lot went with them.

₂Abram was very rich. He owned many cattle, sheep, and goats, and had a lot of silver and gold. ₃Abram moved from place to place in the Southern Desert. And finally, he went north and set up his tents between Bethel and Ai, ₄where he had earlier camped and built an altar. There he worshipped the LORD.

₅Lot, who was travelling with him, also had sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as his own family and slaves. _6-7At this time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the same area, and so there wasn't enough pasture land left for Abram and Lot with all their animals. Besides this, the men who took care of Abram's animals and the ones who took care of Lot's animals started quarrelling.

₈Abram said to Lot, “We are close relatives. We shouldn't argue, and our men shouldn't be fighting one another. ₉There is plenty of land for you to choose from. Let's separate. If you go north, I'll go south; if you go south, I'll go north.”

₁₀This happened before the LORD had destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. And when Lot looked around, he saw there was plenty of water in the Jordan Valley. All the way to Zoar the valley was as green as the garden of the LORD or the land of Egypt. ₁₁So Lot chose the whole Jordan Valley for himself, and as he started towards the east, he and Abram separated. ₁₂Abram stayed in the land of Canaan. But Lot settled near the cities of the valley and put up his tents not far from Sodom, ₁₃where the people were evil and sinned terribly against the LORD.

₁₄After Abram and Lot had gone their separate ways, the LORD said to Abram:

₁₈Abram took down his tents and went to live near the sacred trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar in honour of the LORD.

₁The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert, so that the devil could test him. ₂After Jesus had gone without eating for forty days and nights, he was very hungry. ₃Then the devil came to him and said, “If you are God's Son, tell these stones to turn into bread.”

₄Jesus answered, “The Scriptures say:

₅Next, the devil took Jesus to the holy city and made him stand on the highest part of the temple. ₆The devil said, “If you are God's Son, jump off. The Scriptures say:

₇Jesus answered, “The Scriptures also say, ‘Don't try to test the Lord your God!’ ”

₈Finally, the devil took Jesus up on a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms on earth and their power. ₉The devil said to him, “I will give all this to you, if you will bow down and worship me.”

₁₀Jesus answered, “Go away Satan! The Scriptures say:

₁₁Then the devil left Jesus, and angels came to help him.

₁₂When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he went to Galilee. ₁₃But instead of staying in Nazareth, Jesus moved to Capernaum. This town was beside Lake Galilee in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali. ₁₄So God's promise came true, just as the prophet Isaiah had said,

₁₇Then Jesus started preaching, “Turn back to God! The kingdom of heaven will soon be here.”

₁₈While Jesus was walking along the shore of Lake Galilee, he saw two brothers. One was Simon, also known as Peter, and the other was Andrew. They were fishermen, and they were casting their net into the lake. ₁₉Jesus said to them, “Come with me! I will teach you how to bring in people instead of fish.” ₂₀At once the two brothers dropped their nets and went with him.

₂₁Jesus walked on until he saw James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat with their father, mending their nets. Jesus asked them to come with him too. ₂₂Straight away they left the boat and their father and went with Jesus.

₂₃Jesus went all over Galilee, teaching in the Jewish meeting places and preaching the good news about God's kingdom. He also healed every kind of disease and sickness. ₂₄News about him spread all over Syria, and people with every kind of sickness or disease were brought to him. Some of them had a lot of demons in them, others were thought to be mad, and still others could not walk. But Jesus healed them all.

₂₅Large crowds followed Jesus from Galilee and the region around the ten cities known as Decapolis. They also came from Jerusalem, Judea, and from across the River Jordan.