Study Desk

God blessed them and said, "Have many children and grow in number. Fill the earth and be its master. Rule over the fish in the sea and over the birds in the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

Then God said to the woman, "I will cause you to have much trouble when you are pregnant, and when you give birth to children, you will have great pain. You will greatly desire your husband, but he will rule over you."

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also later. That was when the sons of God had sexual relations with the daughters of human beings. These women gave birth to children, who became famous and were the mighty warriors of long ago.

Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Have many children; grow in number and fill the earth.

"As for you, Noah, I want you and your family to have many children, to grow in number on the earth, and to become many."

Sarai was not able to have children.

Sarai, Abram's wife, had no children, but she had a slave girl from Egypt named Hagar.

Sarai said to Abram, "Look, the Lord has not allowed me to have children, so have sexual relations with my slave girl. If she has a child, maybe I can have my own family through her." Abram did what Sarai said.

Abraham and Sarah were very old. Since Sarah was past the age when women normally have children,

Abraham's children will certainly become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.

I have chosen him so he would command his children and his descendants to live the way the Lord wants them to, to live right and be fair. Then I, the Lord , will give Abraham what I promised him."

Let's get our father drunk and have sexual relations with him. We can use him to have children and continue our family."

The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I had sexual relations with my father. Let's get him drunk again tonight so you can go and have sexual relations with him, too. In this way we can use our father to have children to continue our family."

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his servant girls so they could have children.

The Lord had kept all the women in Abimelech's house from having children as a punishment on Abimelech for taking Abraham's wife Sarah.

So make a promise to me here before God that you will be fair with me and my children and my descendants. Be kind to me and to this land where you have lived as a stranger—as kind as I have been to you."

After these things happened, someone told Abraham: "Your brother Nahor and his wife Milcah have children now.

Isaac's wife could not have children, so Isaac prayed to the Lord for her. The Lord heard Isaac's prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant.

May God Almighty bless you and give you many children, and may you become a group of many peoples.

When the Lord saw that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, he made it possible for Leah to have children, but not Rachel.