Genesis 1-10 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

The Beginning of the World

1 God created the sky and the earth. At first, 2 the earth was completely empty.
There was nothing on the earth. Darkness covered the ocean, and God’s Spirit
moved over[a] the water.

The First Day—Light

3 Then God said, “Let there be light!” And light began to shine.[b] 4 He saw the
light, and he knew that it was good. Then he separated the light from the
darkness. 5 God named the light “day,” and he named the darkness “night.”

There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the first day.

The Second Day—Sky

6 Then God said, “Let there be a space[c] to separate the water into two parts!”
7 So God made the space and separated the water. Some of the water was above

it, and some of the water was below it. 8 God named that space “sky.” There was
evening, and then there was morning. This was the second day.

The Third Day—Dry Land and Plants

9 Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered together so that the
dry land will appear.” And it happened. 10 God named the dry land “earth,” and
he named the water that was gathered together “seas.” And God saw that this
was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the earth grow grass, plants that make grain, and fruit
trees. The fruit trees will make fruit with seeds in it. And each plant will make its
own kind of seed. Let these plants grow on the earth.” And it happened. 12 The
earth grew grass and plants that made grain. And it grew trees that made fruit
with seeds in it. Every plant made its own kind of seeds. And God saw that this
was good.
13 There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the third day.

The Fourth Day—Sun, Moon, and Stars

14 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[d] begin and to show the days and years. 15 They will be in the sky to
shine light on the earth.” And it happened.
16 So God made the two large lights. He made the larger light to rule during the
day and the smaller light to rule during the night. He also made the stars. 17 God

put these lights in the sky to shine on the earth. 18 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.
19 There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the fourth day.

The Fifth Day—Fish and Birds

20 Then God said, “Let the water be filled with many living things, and let there
be birds to fly in the air over the earth.” 21 So God created the large sea animals.
[e] He created all the many living things in the sea and every kind of bird that
flies in the air. And God saw that this was good.
22 God blessed all the living things in the sea and told them to have many babies
and fill the seas. And he blessed the birds on land and told them to have many
more babies.
23 There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the fifth day.

The Sixth Day—Land Animals and People

24 Then God said, “Let the earth produce many kinds of living things. Let there be
many different kinds of animals. Let there be large animals and small crawling
animals of every kind. And let all these animals produce more animals.” And all
these things happened.
25 So
God made every kind of animal. He made the wild animals, the tame
animals, and all the small crawling things. And God saw that this was good.
26 Then God said, “Now let’s make humans[f] who will be like us.[g] 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.”
27 So God created humans in his own image. He created them to be like himself.
[h] He created them male and female. 28 God blessed them and said to them,

“Have many children. Fill the earth and take control of it. Rule over the fish in
the sea and the birds in the air. Rule over every living thing that moves on the
earth.”
29 God said, “I am giving you all the grain bearing plants and all the fruit trees.
These trees make fruit with seeds in it. This grain and fruit will be your food.
30 And I am giving all the green plants to the animals. These green plants will be

their food. Every animal on earth, every bird in the air, and all the little things
that crawl on the earth will eat that food.” And all these things happened.
31 God looked at everything he had made. And he saw that everything was very
good.

There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the sixth day.

The Seventh Day—Rest

2 So the earth, the sky, and everything in them were finished. 2 God finished the
work he was doing, so on the seventh day he rested from his work. 3 God
blessed the seventh day and made it a holy day. He made it special because on
that day he rested from all the work he did while creating the world.

The First Man and the Garden of Eden

4 This is the story about the creation of the sky and the earth. This is what
happened when the LORD God made the earth and the sky. 5 This was before
there were plants on the earth. Nothing was growing in the fields because the
LORD God had not yet made it rain on the earth, and there was no one to care for
the plants.
6 So water[i] came up from the earth and spread over the ground. 7 Then the LORD
God took dust from the ground and made a man.[j] He breathed the breath of life
into the man’s nose, and the man became a living thing. 8 Then the LORD God
planted a garden in the East,[k] in a place named Eden. He put the man he made
in that garden. 9 Then the LORD God caused all the beautiful trees that were good
for food to grow in the garden. In the middle of the garden, he put the tree of
life and the tree that gives knowledge about good and evil.
10 A river flowed from Eden and watered the garden. The river then separated
and became four smaller rivers. 11 The name of the first river was Pishon. This
river flowed around the entire country of Havilah.[l] 12 (There is gold in that
country, and that gold is pure. A kind of expensive perfume and onyx are also
found there.) 13 The name of the second river was Gihon. This river flowed
around the whole land of Cush.[m] 14 The name of the third river was Tigris. This
river flowed east of Assyria. The fourth river was the Euphrates.
15 The LORD God put the man in the Garden of Eden to work the soil and take care
of the garden. 16 The LORD God gave him this command: “You may eat from any
tree in the garden. 17 But you must not eat from the tree that gives knowledge
about good and evil. If you eat fruit from that tree, on that day you will certainly
die!”

A Companion for Adam

18 Thenthe LORD God said, “I see that it is not good for the man to be alone. I will
make the companion he needs, one just right for him.”
19 The LORD God used dust from the ground and made every animal in the fields
and every bird in the air. He brought all these animals to the man, and the man
gave them all a name. 20 The man gave names to all the tame animals, to all the
birds in the air, and to all the wild animals. He saw many animals and birds, but
he could not find a companion that was right for him. 21 So the LORD God caused
the man to sleep very deeply. While he was asleep, God took one of the ribs
from the man’s body. Then he closed the man’s skin where the rib had been.
22 The LORD God used the rib from the man to make a woman. Then he brought
the woman to the man. 23 And the man said,

“Finally! One like me,

with bones from my bones
and a body from my body.
She was taken out of a man,
so I will call her ‘woman.’”

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife. In
this way two people become one.
25 The man and his wife were naked, but they were not ashamed.

The Beginning of Sin

3 The snake was the most clever of all the wild animals that the LORD God had
made. The snake spoke to the woman and said, “Woman, did God really tell you
that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?”
2 The woman answered the snake, “No, we can eat fruit from the trees in the
garden. 3 But there is one tree we must not eat from. God told us, ‘You must not
eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden. You must not even
touch that tree, or you will die.’”
4 But the snake said to the woman, “You will not die. 5 God knows that if you eat
the fruit from that tree you will learn about good and evil, and then you will be
like God!”
6 The woman could see that the tree was beautiful and the fruit looked so good
to eat. She also liked the idea that it would make her wise. So she took some of
the fruit from the tree and ate it. Her husband was there with her, so she gave
him some of the fruit, and he ate it.
7 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.
8 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.
9 The LORD God called to the man and said, “Where are you?”
10 The man said, “I heard you walking in the garden, and I was afraid. I was
naked, so I hid.”
11 God said to the man, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat fruit
from that special tree? I told you not to eat from that tree!”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me gave me fruit from that tree.
So I ate it.”
13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What have you done?”

She said, “The snake tricked me, so I ate the fruit.”

14 So the LORD God said to the snake,

“You did this very bad thing,

so bad things will happen to you.
It will be worse for you
than for any other animal.
You must crawl on your belly
and eat dust all the days of your life.
15 I will make you and the woman enemies to each other.
Your children and her children will be enemies.
You will bite her child’s foot,
but he will crush your head.”

16 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 much pain.
You will want your husband very much,
but he will rule over you.”[n]

17 Then God said to the man,

“I commanded you not to eat from that tree.

But you listened to your wife and ate from it.
So I will curse the ground because of you.
You will have to work hard all your life for the food the ground produces.
18 The ground will grow thorns and weeds for you.
And you will have to eat the plants that grow wild in the fields.[o]
19 You will work hard for your food,
until your face is covered with sweat.
You will work hard until the day you die,
and then you will become dust again.
 I used dust to make you,
and when you die, you will become dust again.”

20 Adam[p] named his wife Eve.[q] He gave her this name because Eve would be
the mother of everyone who ever lived.
21 The LORD God used animal skins and made some clothes for the man and his
wife. Then he put the clothes on them.
22 The LORD God said, “Look, the man has become like us—he knows about good
and evil. And now the man might take the fruit from the tree of life. If the man
eats that fruit, he will live forever.”
23 So the LORD God forced the man out of the Garden of Eden to work the ground
he was made from. 24 God forced the man to leave the garden. Then he put
Cherub angels and a sword of fire at the entrance to the garden to protect it.
The sword flashed around and around, guarding the way to the tree of life.

The First Family

4 Adam had sexual relations with his wife Eve. She became pregnant and gave
birth to a son. She named him Cain.[r] Eve said, “With the LORD’s help, I have
made a man!”
2 Eve gave birth again to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel became a shepherd, and Cain
became a farmer.

The First Murder

3-4 At harvest time,[s] Cain brought a gift to the LORD. He brought some of the
food that he grew from the ground, but Abel brought some animals from his
flock. He chose some of his best sheep and brought the best parts from them.[t]

The LORD accepted Abel and his gift. 5 But he did not accept Cain and his offering.
Cain was sad because of this, and he became very angry. 6 The LORD asked Cain,
“Why are you angry? Why does your face look sad? 7 You know that if you do
what is right, I will accept you. But if you don’t, sin is ready to attack you. That
sin will want to control you, but you must control it.”[u]
8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”[v] So they went to the
field. Then Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
9 Later, the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

Cain answered, “I don’t know. Is it my job to watch over my brother?”

10-11 Then
the Lord said, “What have you done? You killed your brother and the
ground opened up to take his blood from your hands. Now his blood is shouting
to me from the ground. So you will be cursed from this ground. 12 Now when you
work the soil, the ground will not help your plants grow. You will not have a
home in this land. You will wander from place to place.”
13 Then Cain said to the LORD, “This punishment is more than I can bear! 14 You

are forcing me to leave the land, and I will not be able to be near you or have a
home! Now I must wander from place to place, and anyone I meet could kill
me.”
15 Then the LORD said to Cain, “No, if anyone kills you, I will punish that person
much, much more.” Then the LORD put a mark on Cain to show that no one
should kill him.

Cain’s Family
16 Cain went away from the LORD and lived in the land of Nod.[w]
17 Cain had sexual relations with his wife. She became pregnant and gave birth
to a son named Enoch. Cain built a city and gave the city the same name as his
son Enoch.
18 Enoch had a son named Irad. Irad had a son named Mehujael. Mehujael had a
son named Methushael. And Methushael had a son named Lamech.
19 Lamech married two women. One wife was named Adah, and the other was
named Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal. Jabal was the father[x] of people who
live in tents and earn their living by keeping cattle. 21 Jabal was Jubal’s brother.
Jubal was the father of people who play the harp and flute. 22 Zillah gave birth to
Tubal-Cain. Tubal-Cain was the father of people who work with bronze and iron.
The sister of Tubal-Cain was named Naamah.
23 Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice!

You wives of Lamech, listen to me.
A man hurt me, so I killed him.
I even killed a child for hitting me.
24 The punishment for killing Cain was very bad.
But the punishment for killing me will be many times worse!”

Adam and Eve Have a New Son

25 Adam again had sexual relations with his wife, and she gave birth to another
son. She named him Seth.[y] Eve said, “God has given me another son. Cain
killed Abel, but now I have Seth.” 26 Seth also had a son. He named him Enosh.
At that time people began to pray to the LORD.[z]

The History of Adam’s Family

5 This is the history of Adam’s[aa] family. When God created people, he made
them like himself.[ab] 2 He created them male and female. And on the same day
he made them, he blessed them and called them “humans.”[ac]
3 After Adam was 130 years old, he had another son. This son looked just like
Adam. [ad] Adam named his son Seth. 4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800
years and had other sons and daughters. 5 So Adam lived a total of 930 years;
then he died.
6 After Seth was 105 years old, he had a son named Enosh. 7 After Enosh was
born, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 So Seth lived a
total of 912 years; then he died.
9 After Enosh was 90 years old, he had a son named Kenan. 10 After Kenan was
born, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 So Enosh lived
a total of 905 years; then he died.
12 After Kenan was 70 years old, he had a son named Mahalalel. 13 After

Mahalalel was born, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters.
14 So Kenan lived a total of 910 years; then he died.
15 When Mahalalel was 65 years old, he had a son named Jared. 16 After Jared
was born, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 So

Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years; then he died.

18 After Jared was 162 years old, he had a son named Enoch. 19 After Enoch was
born, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 So Jared lived
a total of 962 years; then he died.
21 After Enoch was 65 years old, he had a son named Methuselah. 22 After

Methuselah was born, Enoch walked with God for 300 years and had other sons
and daughters. 23 So Enoch lived a total of 365 years. 24 One day Enoch was
walking with God, and he disappeared. God took him.[ae]
25 After
Methuselah was 187 years old, he had a son named Lamech. 26 After
Lamech was born, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and
daughters. 27 So Methuselah lived a total of 969 years; then he died.
28 When Lamech was 182 years old, he had a son. 29 Lamech named his son
Noah.[af] Lamech said, “We work very hard as farmers because God cursed the
ground. But Noah will bring us rest.”
30 After
Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and
daughters. 31 So Lamech lived a total of 777 years; then he died.
32 After Noah was 500 years old, he had sons named Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

People Become Evil

6 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.”[ag]

During this time and also later, the Nephilim people lived in the land. They have
been famous as powerful soldiers since ancient times.
5 The LORD saw that the people on the earth were very evil. He saw that they
thought only about evil things all the time. 6 The LORD was sorry that he had
made people on the earth. It made him very sad in his heart. 7 So the LORD said,
“I will destroy all the people I created on the earth. I will destroy every person
and every animal and everything that crawls on the earth. And I will destroy all
the birds in the air, because I am sorry that I have made them.”
8 But Noah pleased the LORD.

Noah and the Great Flood

9 This is the history of Noah’s family. He was a good man all his life, and he
always followed God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11-12 When
God looked at the earth, he saw that people had ruined it. Violence
was everywhere, and it had ruined their life on earth.
13 So God said to Noah, “Everyone has filled the earth with anger and violence.
So I will destroy all living things. I will remove them from the earth. 14 Use

cypress wood[ah] and build a boat for yourself. Make rooms in the boat and cover
it with tar inside and out.
15 “Thisis the size I want you to make the boat: 300 cubits[ai] long, 50 cubits[aj]
wide, and 30 cubits[ak] high. 16 Make a window for the boat about 1 cubit[al] below
the roof.[am] Put a door in the side of the boat. Make three floors in the boat: a
top deck, a middle deck, and a lower deck.
17 “Understand what I am telling you. I will bring a great flood of water on the
earth. I will destroy all living things that live under heaven. Everything on the
earth will die. 18 I will make a special agreement with you. You, your wife, your
sons, and their wives will all go into the boat. 19 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. 20 Two of every kind of bird,
animal, and creeping thing will come to you so that you might keep them alive.
21 Also bring every kind of food into the boat, for you and for the animals.”

22 Noah did everything God commanded him.

The Flood Begins

7 Then the LORD said to Noah, “I have seen that you are a good man, even
among the evil people of this time. So gather your family, and all of you go into
the boat. 2 Get seven pairs (seven males and seven females) of every kind of
clean animal. And get one pair (one male and one female) of every other animal
on the earth. Lead all these animals into the boat with you. 3 Get seven pairs
(seven males and seven females) of all the birds. This will allow all these animals
to continue living on the earth after the other animals are destroyed. 4 Seven
days from now, I will send much rain on the earth. It will rain for 40 days and 40
nights, and I will wipe everything off the face of the earth. I will destroy
everything I made.” 5 Noah did everything the LORD told him to do.
6 Noah was 600 years old at the time the rains came. 7 He and his family went
into the boat to be saved from the flood. His wife and his sons and their wives
were on the boat with him. 8 All the clean animals, all the other animals on the
earth, the birds, and everything that crawls on the earth 9 went into the boat
with Noah. These animals went into the boat in groups of two, male and female,
just as God commanded. 10 Seven days later the flood started. The rain began to
fall on the earth.
11-13 On the 17th day of the second month, when Noah was 600 years old, the
springs under the earth broke through the ground, and water flowed out
everywhere. The sky also opened like windows and rain poured down. The rain
fell on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights. That same day Noah went into the
boat with his wife, his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives. 14 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. 15 All these animals went into the boat with Noah. They came in groups of
two from every kind of animal that had the breath of life. 16 All these animals
went into the boat in groups of two, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the
LORD closed the door behind Noah.
17 Water flooded the earth for 40 days. The water began rising and lifted the boat
off the ground. 18 The water continued to rise, and the boat floated on the water
high above the earth. 19 The water rose so much that even the highest
mountains were covered by the water. 20 The water continued to rise above the
mountains. The water was more than 20 feet[an] above the highest mountain.
21-22 Every
living thing on earth died—every man and woman, every bird, and
every kind of animal. All the many kinds of animals and all the things that crawl
on the ground died. Every living, breathing thing on dry land died. 23 In this way
God wiped the earth clean—he destroyed every living thing on the earth—every
human, every animal, everything that crawls, and every bird. All that was left
was Noah and his family and the animals that were with him in the boat. 24 The
water continued to cover the earth for 150 days.

The Flood Ends

8 But God did not forget about Noah. God remembered him and all the animals
that were with him in the boat. God made a wind blow over the earth, and all
the water began to disappear.
2 Rain stopped falling from the sky, and water stopped flowing from under the
earth. 3-4 The water that covered the earth began to go down. After 150 days the
water was low enough that the boat touched land again. The boat stopped on
one of the mountains of Ararat. This was the 17th day of the seventh month.
5 The water continued to go down, and by the first day of the tenth month, the
tops of the mountains were above the water.
6 Forty days later Noah opened the window he had made in the boat. 7 Then he
sent out a raven. The raven flew from place to place until the ground was dry
and the water was gone. 8 Noah also sent out a dove. He wanted it to find dry
ground. He wanted to know if water still covered the earth.
9 The dove could not find a place to rest because water still covered the earth, so
the dove came back to the boat. Noah reached out his hand and caught the dove
and brought it back into the boat.
10 After
seven days Noah again sent out the dove. 11 And that afternoon the dove
came back to Noah. The dove had a fresh olive leaf in its mouth. This was a sign
to show Noah that there was dry ground on the earth. 12 Seven days later Noah
sent the dove out again. But this time the dove didn’t come back.
13 After that Noah opened the door[ao] of the boat. He looked and saw that the
ground was dry. This was the first day of the first month of the year. He was 601
years old. 14 By the 27th day of the second month, the ground was completely
dry.
15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Leave the boat. You, your wife, your sons, and your
sons’ wives should go out now. 17 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.”
18 So Noah went out with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. 19 All the
animals, everything that crawls, and every bird left the boat. All the animals
came out of the boat in family groups.
20 Then Noah built an altar to honor the LORD. Noah took some of all the clean
birds and some of all the clean animals and burned them on the altar as a gift to
God.
21 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. 22 As long as the earth continues, there will
always be a time for planting and a time for harvest. There will always be cold
and hot, summer and winter, day and night on earth.”

The New Beginning

9 God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Have many children. Fill
the earth with your people. 2 Every animal on earth, every bird in the air, every
animal that crawls on the ground, and every fish in the sea will be afraid of you.
All of them will be under your control. 3 In the past, I gave you the green plants
to eat. Now every animal will also be food for you. I give you everything on
earth—it is yours. 4 But I give you one command. You must not eat meat that
still has its life (blood) in it. 5 Also, I will demand your blood for your lives. That
is, I will demand the life of any person or animal that takes a human life.

6 “God made humans to be like himself.

So whoever kills a person must be killed by another person.

7 “Have many children and fill the earth with your people.”
8 ThenGod said to Noah and his sons, 9 “I now make my promise to you and to
your people who will live after you. 10 I make my promise to all the birds, and to
all the cattle, and to all the animals that came out of the boat with you. I make
my promise to every living thing on earth. 11 This is my promise to you: All life
on the earth was destroyed by the flood. But that will never happen again. A
flood will never again destroy all life on the earth.”
12 And God said, “I will give you something to prove that I made this promise to
you. It will continue forever to show that I have made an agreement with you
and every living thing on earth. 13 I am putting a rainbow in the clouds as proof
of the agreement between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the
earth, you will see the rainbow in the clouds. 15 When I see this rainbow, I will
remember the agreement between me and you and every living thing on the
earth. This agreement says that a flood will never again destroy all life on the
earth. 16 When I look and see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the
agreement that continues forever. I will remember the agreement between me
and every living thing on the earth.”
17 So God said to Noah, “This rainbow is proof of the agreement that I made with
all living things on earth.”

Problems Begin Again

18 Noah’s sons came out of the boat with him. Their names were Shem, Ham,
and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three men were Noah’s
sons. And all the people on earth came from these three sons.
20 Noah became a farmer and planted a vineyard. 21 One day Noah made some
wine. He got drunk, went into his tent, and took off all his clothes. 22 Ham, the
father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and told his brothers who were
outside the tent. 23 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.
24 Later, Noah woke up. (He was sleeping because of the wine.) When he learned
what his youngest son Ham had done to him, 25 he said,

“May there be a curse on Canaan[ap]!

May he be a slave to his brothers.”

26 Noah also said,

“May the LORD, the God of Shem, be praised!

May Canaan be Shem’s slave.
27 May God give more land to Japheth.
May God live in Shem’s tents,
and may Canaan be their slave.”

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

Nations Grow and Spread

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

Japheth’s Descendants
2 Japheth’ssons were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
3 Gomer’s sons were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
4 Javan’s sons were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.[aq]

5 All the people who lived in the area around the Mediterranean Sea came from
these sons of Japheth. The people separated and went to different countries
according to languages, families, and nations.

Ham’s Descendants
6 Ham’s sons were Cush,[ar] Mizraim,[as] Put, and Canaan.
7 Cush’s
sons were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca.
Raamah’s sons were Sheba and Dedan.

8 Cush also had a son named Nimrod who became a very powerful man on earth.
9 He was a great hunter before the LORD. That is why people compare other men

to him and say, “That man is like Nimrod, a great hunter before the LORD.”
10 Nimrod’s kingdom spread from Babylon to Erech, to Akkad, and then to Calneh
in the land of Babylonia.[at] 11 Nimrod also went into Assyria. In Assyria, Nimrod
built the cities of Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and 12 Resen. (Resen is the city
between Nineveh and Calah, the big city.)

13 Mizraim was the father of the people of Lud, Anam, Lehab, Naphtuh,
14 Pathrus, Casluh, and Caphtor. (The Philistine people came from Casluh.)
15 Canaan was the father of Sidon. Sidon was Canaan’s first son. Canaan was

also the father of the Hittites, 16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 17 Hivites,

Arkites, the Sinites, 18 Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites.

The families of Canaan spread to different parts of the world. 19 The land where
the Canaanites lived went from Sidon down along the coast to Gerar and from
Gaza as far east as Sodom and Gomorrah and from Admah and Zeboiim as far
north as Laish.
20 All
these people were descendants of Ham. They are arranged by families,
languages, countries, and nations.

Shem’s Descendants
21 Shem was Japheth’s older brother. One of Shem’s descendants was Eber, the
father of all the Hebrew people.[au]

22 Shem’s sons were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.

23 Aram’ssons were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.
24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah.

Shelah was the father of Eber.

25 Eber was the father of two sons. One son was named Peleg.[av] He was given

this name because the earth was divided during his life. The other son was
named Joktan.
26 Joktanwas the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,
27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and

Jobab. All these people were Joktan’s sons. 30 They lived in the area between
Mesha and the hill country in the East.[aw] Mesha was toward the country of
Sephar.

31 These are the people from the family of Shem. They are arranged by families,
languages, countries, and nations.
32 Thisis the list of the families from Noah’s sons. They are arranged according
to their nations. From these families came all the people who spread across the
earth after the flood.

Footnotes:

a. Genesis 1:2 moved over The Hebrew word means “to fly over” or “to swoop down,” like a bird flying
over its nest to protect its babies.
 b. Genesis 1:3 Or “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. While 2 the earth had no
special shape, and darkness covered the ocean, and God’s Spirit hovered over the water, 3 God said,
‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” Or “When God began to create the sky and the earth, 2 while
the earth was completely empty, and darkness covered the ocean, and a powerful wind blew over the
water, 3 God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”
c. Genesis 1:6 space Or “firmament.” The Hebrew word can refer to a piece of metal that has been
hammered into the shape of a bowl.
d. Genesis 1:14 special meetings The Israelites used the sun and moon to decide when the months and
years began. Many Israelite festivals and special meetings began at the time of the new moon or full
moon.
e. Genesis 1:21 large sea animals Or “sea monsters.”
f. Genesis 1:26 humans The Hebrew word means “man,” “people,” or the name “Adam.” It is like the
word meaning “earth” or “red clay.”
g. Genesis 1:26 Now let’s make … like us Or “Now let’s make humans in our image and in our likeness.”
h. Genesis 1:27 So God created humans … himself Or “So God created them in his image. In the image
of God he created them.” Compare Gen. 5:1, 3.
i. Genesis 2:6 water Or “a mist.”
j. Genesis 2:7 man The Hebrew word means “man,” “people,” or the name “Adam.” It is like the word
meaning “earth” or “red clay.”
k. Genesis 2:8 East This usually means the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers as far east as
the Persian Gulf.
l. Genesis 2:11 Havilah The land along the west coast of the Arabian peninsula and possibly, the part of
Africa south of Ethiopia.
m. Genesis 2:13 Cush Usually this means Ethiopia, but here, it probably refers to the area north and east
of the Tigris River.
n. Genesis 3:16 You will … over you Or “You will want to rule your husband, but he will rule over you.” In
Hebrew this is like the last part of Gen. 4:7.
o. Genesis 3:18 See Gen. 1:28-29.
p. Genesis 3:20 Adam This name means “man” or “people.” It is like the word meaning “earth” or “red
clay.”
q. Genesis 3:20 Eve This name is like the Hebrew word meaning “life.”
r. Genesis 4:1 Cain This name is like the Hebrew word meaning “make” or “get.”
s. Genesis 4:3 At harvest time Literally, “at the end of days.”
t. Genesis 4:3 He chose … from them Literally, “He brought some of his firstborn sheep, especially their
fat.”
u. Genesis 4:7 But if you … control it Or “But if you don’t do right, sin is crouching at your door. It wants
you, but you must rule over it.”
v. Genesis 4:8 Let’s go … field This sentence is found in the ancient versions but not in the standard
Hebrew text.
w. Genesis 4:16 Nod This name means “wandering.”
x. Genesis 4:20 father This probably means that this man invented these things or was the first one to
use them.
y. Genesis 4:25 Seth This is like a Hebrew word meaning “to give.”
z. Genesis 4:26 people … the LORD Literally, “people began calling on the name YAHWEH.”
aa. Genesis 5:1 Adam This name means “man” or “people.” It is like the word meaning “earth” or “red
clay.”
ab. Genesis 5:1 When God … like himself Literally, “He made him in the image of God.” See Gen. 1:27;
5:3.
ac. Genesis 5:2 humans The Hebrew word means “Adam,” “man,” or “people.”
ad. Genesis 5:3 he had … like Adam Or “he fathered a son in his image and likeness.” In Hebrew this is
like Gen. 1:27; 5:1.
 ae. Genesis 5:24 Or “Enoch pleased God. Enoch disappeared. God took him.”
af. Genesis 5:29 Noah This name is like the Hebrew word meaning “to rest,” “to be sorry,” or “comfort.”
ag. Genesis 6:1 People … 120 years Or “The spirit from me will not live in people forever, because they
are flesh. They will live only 120 years.” Or “My Spirit will not judge people forever, because they will all
die in 120 years.”
ah. Genesis 6:14 cypress wood In Hebrew, “gopher timbers.” It is uncertain what kind of wood this is. It
might be a kind of tree or squared timbers.
ai. Genesis 6:15 300 cubits 437' 1/8" (133 m) if this was the short cubit or 510' 1 13/16" (155.5 m) if it was
the long cubit.
aj. Genesis 6:15 50 cubits 72' 10" (22.2 m) if this was the short cubit or 85' 5/16" (25.92 m) if it was the
long cubit.
ak. Genesis 6:15 30 cubits 43' 8 7/16" (13.3 m) if this was the short cubit or 51' 3/16" (15.55 m) if it was
the long cubit.
al. Genesis 6:16 1 cubit 17 1/2" (44.4 cm) if this was the short cubit or 20 5/8" (51.83 cm) if it was the long
cubit.
am. Genesis 6:16 Make a window … below the roof Or “Make an opening for the boat about 18 inches tall.”
an. Genesis 7:20 20 feet Literally, “15 cubits” which would be 21' 10 3/16" (6.66 m) if this was the short
cubit or 25' 6 1/16" (7.77 m) if it was the long cubit.
ao. Genesis 8:13 opened the door Literally, “removed the covering.”
ap. Genesis 9:25 Canaan Ham’s son. The people of Canaan lived along the coast of Palestine, Lebanon,
and Syria. Later, God gave this land to the Israelites.
aq. Genesis 10:4 Dodanim Or “Rodanim, the people of Rhodes.”
ar. Genesis 10:6 Cush Another name for Ethiopia.
as. Genesis 10:6 Mizraim Another name for Egypt. Also in verse 13.
at. Genesis 10:10 Babylonia Literally, “Shinar,” which may be a form of the name Sumer. Also in 11:2;
14:1.
au. Genesis 10:21 One … Hebrew people Literally, “To Shem was born the father of Eber’s sons.”
av. Genesis 10:25 Peleg This name means “division.”
aw. Genesis 10:30 East This usually means the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers as far east
as the Persian Gulf. Also in 11:2.

Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International