Adam's Descendants to Noah

¹This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, ohe made him in the likeness of God. ²Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man1 when they were created. ³When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and pnamed him Seth. ⁴qThe days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. ⁵Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, rand he died.

⁶When Seth had lived 105 years, she fathered Enosh. ⁷Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. ⁸Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.

⁹When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. ¹⁰Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹¹Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died.

¹²When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. ¹³Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁴Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died.

¹⁵When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. ¹⁶Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁷Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died.

¹⁸When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered tEnoch. ¹⁹Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁰Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died.

²¹When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. ²²Enoch uwalked with God2 after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. ²³Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. ²⁴Enoch uwalked with God, and he was not,3 vfor God took him.

²⁵When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. ²⁶Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁷Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.

²⁸When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son ²⁹and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground wthat the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief4 from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” ³⁰Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. ³¹Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died.

³²After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered xShem, Ham, and yJapheth.

The Sermon on the Mount

¹Seeing the crowds, ohe went up on the mountain, and when he psat down, his disciples came to him.

The Beatitudes

²And qhe opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

³r“Blessed are sthe poor in spirit, for utheirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴“Blessed are vthose who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵“Blessed are the wmeek, for they wshall inherit the earth.

⁶“Blessed are those who hunger and xthirst yfor righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷“Blessed are zthe merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸“Blessed are athe pure in heart, for bthey shall see God.

⁹“Blessed are cthe peacemakers, for dthey shall be called esons1 of God.

¹⁰f“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for utheirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹g“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely hon my account. ¹²iRejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for jso they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Salt and Light

¹³“You are the salt of the earth, kbut if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

¹⁴l“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵mNor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so nthat2 they may see your good works and ogive glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Christ Came to Fulfill the Law

¹⁷p“Do not think that I have come to abolish qthe Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but rto fulfill them. ¹⁸For truly, I say to you, suntil heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹tTherefore whoever relaxes uone of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least vin the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great vin the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds wthat of the scribes and Pharisees, you xwill never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Anger

²¹y“You have heard that it was said to those of old, z‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable ato judgment.’ ²²But I say to you that beveryone who is angry with his brother3 will be liable ato judgment; whoever insults4 his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to cthe hell5 of fire. ²³dSo if eyou are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵fCome to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. ²⁶Truly, I say to you, gyou will never get out until you have paid the last penny.6

Lust

²⁷h“You have heard that it was said, i‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸But I say to you that jeveryone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹kIf your right eye lcauses you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into mhell. ³⁰kAnd if your right hand lcauses you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into mhell.

Divorce

³¹h“It was also said, n‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³²oBut I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and pwhoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Oaths

³³“Again hyou have heard that it was said to those of old, q‘You shall not swear falsely, but rshall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ ³⁴But I say to you, sDo not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for tit is the throne of God, ³⁵or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is uthe city of the great King. ³⁶And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; vanything more than this comes from evil.7

Retaliation

³⁸h“You have heard that it was said, y‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹But I say to you, zDo not resist the one who is evil. But aif anyone bslaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. ⁴⁰And zif anyone would sue you and take your tunic,8 let him have your cloak as well. ⁴¹And if anyone cforces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. ⁴²dGive to the one who begs from you, and edo not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

Love Your Enemies

⁴³f“You have heard that it was said, g‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴But I say to you, iLove your enemies and jpray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵kso that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and lsends rain on the just and on the unjust. ⁴⁶mFor if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷And if you greet only your brothers,9 what more are you doing than others? Do not even nthe Gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸oYou therefore must be pperfect, qas your heavenly Father is perfect.

Rebuilding Begins Anew

¹Now the prophets, aHaggai and bZechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. ²cThen Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and dJeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were ewith them, supporting them.

³At the same time fTattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus: g“Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?” ⁴They also asked them this:1 “What are the names of the men who are building this building?” ⁵But hthe eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it.

Tattenai's Letter to King Darius

⁶This is a copy of the letter that fTattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and his associates, the igovernors who were in the province Beyond the River, sent to Darius the king. ⁷They sent him a report, in which was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace. ⁸Be it known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands. ⁹Then we asked those elders and spoke to them thus: g‘Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?’ ¹⁰We also asked them their names, for your information, that we might write down the names of their leaders.2 ¹¹And this was their reply to us: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, jwhich a great king of Israel built and kfinished. ¹²lBut because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he mgave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia. ¹³nHowever, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt. ¹⁴oAnd the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, these Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was pSheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; ¹⁵and he said to him, “Take these vessels, go and put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site.” ¹⁶Then this pSheshbazzar came and qlaid the foundations of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is rnot yet finished.’ ¹⁷Therefore, if it seems good to the king, slet search be made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.”

Ananias and Sapphira

¹But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, ²and with his wife's knowledge vhe kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and wlaid it at the apostles' feet. ³But Peter said, “Ananias, why has xSatan filled your heart to lie yto the Holy Spirit and zto keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? ⁴While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but ato God.” ⁵When Ananias heard these words, he bfell down and breathed his last. And cgreat fear came upon all who heard of it. ⁶The young men rose and dwrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

⁷After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you1 sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” ⁹But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together eto test fthe Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” ¹⁰Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹And ggreat fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

Many Signs and Wonders Done

¹²Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people hby the hands of the apostles. And they were all itogether in jSolomon's Portico. ¹³None of the rest dared join them, but kthe people held them in high esteem. ¹⁴And lmore than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, ¹⁵mso that they even ncarried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by oat least his shadow might fall on some of them. ¹⁶The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, pbringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

The Apostles Arrested and Freed

¹⁷But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of qthe Sadducees), and filled with rjealousy ¹⁸they arrested the apostles and sput them in the public prison. ¹⁹But during the night tan angel of the Lord uopened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, ²⁰“Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all vthe words of wthis xLife.” ²¹And when they heard this, ythey entered the temple zat daybreak and began to teach.

Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. ²²But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, ²³“We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” ²⁴Now when athe captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. ²⁵And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison bare standing in the temple and teaching the people.” ²⁶Then cthe captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for dthey were afraid of being stoned by the people.

²⁷And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, ²⁸saying, e“We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you fintend to bring this man's blood upon us.” ²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, g“We must obey God rather than men. ³⁰hThe God of our fathers iraised Jesus, jwhom you killed by hanging him on ka tree. ³¹God exalted lhim at his right hand as mLeader and nSavior, oto give prepentance to Israel and oforgiveness of sins. ³²And qwe are witnesses to these things, and rso is the Holy Spirit, swhom God has given to those who obey him.”

³³When they heard this, they twere enraged and wanted to kill them. ³⁴But a Pharisee in the council named uGamaliel, va teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. ³⁵And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. ³⁶For wbefore these days Theudas rose up, xclaiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. ³⁷After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of ythe census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. ³⁸So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for zif this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; ³⁹but aif it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You bmight even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, ⁴⁰and cwhen they had called in the apostles, dthey beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. ⁴¹Then they left the presence of the council, erejoicing that they were counted worthy fto suffer dishonor for gthe name. ⁴²And every day, hin the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and ipreaching jthat the Christ is Jesus.