Day 6 of 730

¹The whole earth was of one language and of one speech.

²It happened, as they traveled east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there.

³They said one to another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.

⁴They said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let us make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth."

⁵The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.

⁶The Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do.

⁷Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."

⁸So the Lord scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city.

⁹Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. From there, the Lord scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth.

¹⁰This is the history of the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood.

¹¹Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and became the father of sons and daughters.

¹²Arpachshad lived thirty-five years and became the father of Shelah.

¹³Arpachshad lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Shelah, and became the father of sons and daughters.

¹⁴Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber:

¹⁵and Shelah lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Eber, and became the father of sons and daughters.

¹⁶Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg.

¹⁷Eber lived four hundred thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and became the father of sons and daughters.

¹⁸Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu.

¹⁹Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he became the father of Reu, and became the father of sons and daughters.

²⁰Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug.

²¹Reu lived two hundred seven years after he became the father of Serug, and became the father of sons and daughters.

²²Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor.

²³Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and became the father of sons and daughters.

²⁴Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah.

²⁵Nahor lived one hundred nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and became the father of sons and daughters.

²⁶Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

²⁷Now this is the history of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot.

²⁸Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

²⁹Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran who was also the father of Iscah.

³⁰Sarai was barren. She had no child.

³¹Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife. They went forth from Ur of the Chaldeans, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there.

³²The days of Terah were two hundred five years. Terah died in Haran.

¹Now the Lord said to Abram, "Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you.

²I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing.

³I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. In you will all of the families of the earth be blessed."

⁴So Abram went, as the Lord had spoken to him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed out of Haran.

⁵Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother's son, all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls whom they had gotten in Haran, and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan. Into the land of Canaan they came.

⁶Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. The Canaanite was then in the land.

⁷The Lord appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your seed." He built an altar there to the Lord, who appeared to him.

⁸He left from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

⁹Abram traveled, going on still toward the Negev.

¹⁰There was a famine in the land. Abram went down into Egypt to live as a foreigner there, for the famine was severe in the land.

¹¹It happened, when he had come near to enter Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at.

¹²It will happen, when the Egyptians will see you, that they will say, 'This is his wife.' They will kill me, but they will save you alive.

¹³Please say that you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that my soul may live because of you."

¹⁴It happened that when Abram had come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.

¹⁵The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.

¹⁶He dealt well with Abram for her sake. He had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

¹⁷The Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.

¹⁸Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?

¹⁹Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore, see your wife, take her, and go your way."

²⁰Pharaoh commanded men concerning him, and they brought him on the way with his wife and all that he had.

¹Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, neither discipline me in your wrath.

²Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint. Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled.

³My soul is also in great anguish. But you, Lord-how long?

⁴Return, Lord. Deliver my soul, and save me for your loving kindness' sake.

⁵For in death there is no memory of you. In Sheol, who shall give you thanks?

⁶I am weary with my groaning. Every night I flood my bed. I drench my couch with my tears.

⁷My eye wastes away because of grief. It grows old because of all my adversaries.

⁸Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.

⁹The Lord has heard my supplication. The Lord accepts my prayer.

¹⁰May all my enemies be ashamed and dismayed. They shall turn back, they shall be disgraced suddenly.

¹My son, if you have become collateral for your neighbor, if you have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger;

²You are trapped by the words of your mouth. You are ensnared with the words of your mouth.

³Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself, seeing you have come into the hand of your neighbor. Go, humble yourself. Press your plea with your neighbor.

⁴Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids.

⁵Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

⁶Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise;

⁷which having no chief, overseer, or ruler,

⁸provides her bread in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.

⁹How long will you sleep, sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep?

¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

¹¹so your poverty will come as a robber, and your scarcity as an armed man.

¹²A worthless person, a man of iniquity, is he who walks with a perverse mouth;

¹³who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, who motions with his fingers;

¹⁴in whose heart is perverseness, who devises evil continually, who always sows discord.

¹⁵Therefore his calamity will come suddenly. He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.

¹⁶There are six things which the Lord hates; yes, seven which are an abomination to him:

¹⁷haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood;

¹⁸a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are swift in running to mischief,

¹⁹a false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.

²⁰My son, keep your father's commandment, and do not forsake your mother's teaching.

²¹Bind them continually on your heart. Tie them around your neck.

²²When you walk, it will lead you. When you sleep, it will watch over you. When you awake, it will talk with you.

²³For the commandment is a lamp, and the Law is light. Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,

²⁴to keep you from the immoral woman, from the flattery of the wayward wife's tongue.

²⁵Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.

²⁶For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread. The adulteress hunts for your precious life.

²⁷Can a man scoop fire into his lap, and his clothes not be burned?

²⁸Or can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be scorched?

²⁹So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.

³⁰Men do not despise a thief, if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry:

³¹but if he is found, he shall restore seven times. He shall give all the wealth of his house.

³²He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding. He who does it destroys his own soul.

³³He will get wounds and dishonor. His reproach will not be wiped away.

³⁴For jealousy arouses the fury of the husband. He won't spare in the day of vengeance.

³⁵He won't regard any ransom, neither will he rest content, though you give many gifts.