God’s Covenant With Noah

9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.^{(A) 2} The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands.^{(B) 3} Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you.^(C) Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.^(D)

⁴ “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.^{(E) 5} And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting.^(F) I will demand an accounting from every animal.^(G) And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.^(H)

⁷ As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”^(K)

⁸ Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: ⁹ “I now establish my covenant with you^(L) and with your descendants after you ¹⁰ and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. ¹¹ I establish my covenant^(M) with you:^(N) Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.^(O)”

¹² And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant^(P) I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:^{(Q) 13} I have set my rainbow^(R) in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴ Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow^(S) appears in the clouds, ¹⁵ I will remember my covenant^(T) between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.^{(U) 16} Whenever the rainbow^(V) appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant^(W) between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

¹⁷ So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant^(X) I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

The Sons of Noah

¹⁸ The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth.^(Y) (Ham was the father of Canaan.)^{(Z) 19} These were the three sons of Noah,^(AA) and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.^(AB)

²⁰ Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded^[a] to plant a vineyard. ²¹ When he drank some of its wine,^(AC) he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. ²² Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked^(AD) and told his two brothers outside. ²³ But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.

²⁴ When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, ²⁵ he said,

²⁶ He also said,

²⁸ After the flood Noah lived 350 years. ²⁹ Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.^(AL)

The Table of Nations

10 This is the account^(A) of Shem, Ham and Japheth,^(B) Noah’s sons,^(C) who themselves had sons after the flood.

The Japhethites^(D)

The Hamites^(P)

⁸ Cush was the father^[c] of Nimrod,^(Y) who became a mighty warrior on the earth. ⁹ He was a mighty^(Z) hunter^(AA) before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.” ¹⁰ The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon,^(AB) Uruk,^(AC) Akkad and Kalneh,^(AD) in^[d] Shinar.^{[e](AE) 11} From that land he went to Assyria,^(AF) where he built Nineveh,^(AG) Rehoboth Ir,^[f] Calah ¹² and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city.

Later the Canaanite^(AT) clans scattered ¹⁹ and the borders of Canaan^(AU) reached from Sidon^(AV) toward Gerar^(AW) as far as Gaza,^(AX) and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim,^(AY) as far as Lasha.

²⁰ These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

The Semites^(AZ)

²¹ Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was^[h] Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.^(BA)

³⁰ The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country.

³¹ These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

³² These are the clans of Noah’s sons,^(BK) according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth^(BL) after the flood.

Psalm 5^[a]

For the director of music. For pipes. A psalm of David.

Warning Against Adultery

Judging Others^(A)

7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.^{(B) 2} For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.^(C)

³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

⁶ “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Ask, Seek, Knock^(D)

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you;^(E) seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds;^(F) and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹ “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts^(G) to those who ask him! ¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,^(H) for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.^(I)

The Narrow and Wide Gates

¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate.^(J) For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

True and False Prophets

¹⁵ “Watch out for false prophets.^(K) They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.^{(L) 16} By their fruit you will recognize them.^(M) Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?^{(N) 17} Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.^{(O) 19} Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.^{(P) 20} Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

True and False Disciples

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’^(Q) will enter the kingdom of heaven,^(R) but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.^{(S) 22} Many will say to me on that day,^(T) ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’^{(U) 23} Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’^(V)

The Wise and Foolish Builders^(W)

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice^(X) is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying these things,^(Y) the crowds were amazed at his teaching,^{(Z) 29} because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy^(A)

8 When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. ² A man with leprosy^[a](B) came and knelt before him^(C) and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

³ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. ⁴ Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone.^(D) But go, show yourself to the priest^(E) and offer the gift Moses commanded,^(F) as a testimony to them.”

The Faith of the Centurion^(G)

⁵ When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. ⁶ “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed,^(H) suffering terribly.”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

⁸ The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.^{(I) 9} For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.^{(J) 11} I say to you that many will come from the east and the west,^(K) and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.^{(L) 12} But the subjects of the kingdom^(M) will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”^(N)

¹³ Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.”^(O) And his servant was healed at that moment.

Jesus Heals Many^(P)

¹⁴ When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. ¹⁵ He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.

¹⁶ When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.^{(Q) 17} This was to fulfill^(R) what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

The Cost of Following Jesus^(T)

¹⁸ When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.^{(U) 19} Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

²⁰ Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man^(V) has no place to lay his head.”

²¹ Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

²² But Jesus told him, “Follow me,^(W) and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Jesus Calms the Storm^(X)(Y)

²³ Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. ²⁴ Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. ²⁵ The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

²⁶ He replied, “You of little faith,^(Z) why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.^(AA)

²⁷ The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Jesus Restores Two Demon-Possessed Men^(AB)

²⁸ When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes,^[c] two demon-possessed^(AC) men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ “What do you want with us,^(AD) Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”^(AE)

³⁰ Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. ³¹ The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

³² He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. ³³ Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. ³⁴ Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.^(AF)