Study Desk

Then God said, "Let there be lights in the sky. These lights will separate the days from the nights. They will be used for signs to show when special meetings begin and to show the days and years.

They will be in the sky to shine light on the earth." And it happened.

He put them in the sky to rule over the day and over the night. They separated the light from the darkness. And God saw that this was good.

Then God said, "Now let's make humans who will be like us. They will rule over all the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. They will rule over all the large animals and all the little things that crawl on the earth."

The man and his wife were naked, but they were not ashamed.

Then it was as if their eyes opened, and they saw things differently. They saw that they were naked. So they got some fig leaves, sewed them together, and wore them for clothes.

During the cool part of the day, the Lord God was walking in the garden. The man and the woman heard him, and they hid among the trees in the garden.

Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." So they went to the field. Then Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

The number of people on earth continued to increase. When these people had daughters, the sons of God saw how beautiful they were. So they chose the women they wanted. They married them, and the women had their children. Then the Lord said, "People are only human. I will not let my Spirit be troubled by them forever. I will let them live only 120 years." During this time and also later, the Nephilim people lived in the land. They have been famous as powerful soldiers since ancient times.

Also, you will take two of every living thing on the earth with you into the boat. Take a male and female of every kind of animal so that they might survive with you.

They and every kind of animal on the earth were in the boat. Every kind of cattle, every kind of animal that crawls on the earth, and every kind of bird were in the boat.

Bring every living animal out of the boat with you—all the birds, animals, and everything that crawls on the earth. These animals will make many more animals, and they will fill the earth again."

The Lord smelled these sacrifices, and it pleased him. The Lord said to himself, "I will never again curse the earth as a way to punish people. People are evil from the time they are young, but I will never again destroy every living thing on the earth as I did this time.

Shem and Japheth took a robe, put it across their shoulders, and walked backward into the tent. Then they covered their father without looking at him.

This is the history of the families of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. They are Noah's sons. These men had children after the flood.

All these people were descendants of Ham. They are arranged by families, languages, countries, and nations.

They lived in the area between Mesha and the hill country in the East. Mesha was toward the country of Sephar.

These are the people from the family of Shem. They are arranged by families, languages, countries, and nations.

Then people began to move from the East. They found a plain in the land of Babylonia and stayed there to live.

Then they said to each other, "Let's make some bricks of clay and bake them in the fire." Then they used these bricks as stones, and they used tar as mortar.