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A New Translation of

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

According to the Traditional Hebrew Text

THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY

Philadelphia • Jerusalem

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TORAH

NEVI'IM

KETHUVIM

TORAH GENESIS 5.20

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of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and begot sons and daughters. 20All the

davs of Jared came to 962 years; then he died.

2lWhen Enoch had lived 65 years, he begot Methuselah. 22After the

birth of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years; and he begot

sons and daughters. 23All the days of Enoch came to 365 years. 24Enoch

walked with God; then he was no more, for God took him.

2sWhen Methuselah had lived 187 years, he begot Lamech. 26After the

birth of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and begot sons and daugh-

ters. 27All the days of Methuselah came to 969 years; then he died.

28When Lamech had lived 182 years, he begot a son. 29And he named

him Noah, saying, "This one will provide us relicia from our work and

from the toil of our hands, out of the very soH which the LORD placed

under a curse." 30Mter the birth of Noah, Lamech lived 595 years and

begot sons and daughters. 3lAlI the days of Lamech came to 777 years;

then he died.

32When Noah had lived 500 years, Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Ja-

pheth.

6 \Vhen men began to increase on earth and daughters were born to them, 2the divine beingsa saw how beautiful the daughters of men were

and took wives from among those that pleased them.-3The LORD said,

"My breath shall not abideb in man forever, since he too is flesh; let the

days allowed him be one hundred and twenty years."_4It was then, and

later too, that the Nephilim appeared on earth-when the divine beings

cohabited with the daughters of men, who bore them offspring. They

were the heroes of old, the men of renown.

sThe LORD saw how great was man's wickedness on earth, and how

every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time. 6And

the LORD regretted that He had made man on earth, and His heart was

saddened. 7The LORD said, "I will blot out from the earth the men whom

I created-men together with beasts, creeping things, and birds of the

sky; for I regret that I made them." 8But Noah found favor with the

LORD.

, Noah with Heb. "to comjort'>; if 9.20 ff

, Others "thl: sorlS of God. " t> ,Humi,lft ofHl:b. uncertain.

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TORAH GENESIS 7.6

nl

9This is the line ofNoah.-Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless

in his age; Noah walked with God.-lONoah begot three sons: Shem,

Ham, and Japheth.

lIThe earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with law-

lessness. 12When God saw how corrupt the earth was, for all flesh had

corrupted its ways on earth, 13God said to Noah, "1 have decided to put

an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with lawlessness because of them:

I am about to destroy them with the earth. 14Make yourself an ark of

gopher wood; make it an ark with compartments, and cover it inside and

out with pitch. 15This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark shall

be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.

16Make an opening for daylight in the ark, and C-terminate it within a

i cubit of the top. -c Put the entrance to the ark in its side; make it with

I bottom, second, and third decks ..

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I 17"For My part, I am about to bring the Flood-·waters upon the

earth-to destroy all flesh under the sky in which there is breath of life;

everything on earth shall perish. 18But I will establish My covc:nant with

\ you, and you shall enter the ark, with your· sons, your wife, and your

sons' wives. 19And of all that lives, of all flesh, you shall take two of each

into the ark to keep alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20From I birds of every kind, cattle of every kind, every kind ofcreeping thing on

earth, two of each shall come to you to stay alive. 21 For your part, take

of everything that is eaten and store it away, to serve as food for you and

\ tor them." 22Noah did so; just as God commanded him, so he did.

t

7Then the LORD said to Noah, "Go into the ark, with all your house- hold, for you alone have I found righteous before Me in this generation.

20f every clean animal you shall take seven pairs, males and their mates,

and of every animal that is not clean, two, a male and its mate; 30f the

birds of the sky also, seven pairs, male and female, to keep seed alive upon

all the earth. 4 For in seven days' time I will make it rain· upon the earth,

forty days and forty nights, and I will blot out from the earth all existence

that I created." 5 And Noah did just as the LORD commanded him.

6Noah was six hundred years old when the Flood came, waters upon

" Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

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TORAH GENESIS 7.7

the earth. 7Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives, went into

the ark because of the waters of the Flood. sOf the clean animals, of the

animals that are not clean, of the birds, and of everything that creeps on

the ground, 9t\VO of each, male and female, came to Noah into the ark,

as God had commanded Noah. IOAnd on the seventh day the waters of

the Flood came upon the earth.

II In the SLX hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the

seventeenth day of the month, on that day

All the fountains of the great deep burst apart,

And the floodgates of the sky broke open.

(12The rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.) 13That same

day Noah and Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, went into the ark,

with Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons-14they and all beasts

of every kind, all cattle of every kind, all creatures of every kind that creep

on the earth, and all birds of every kind, every bird, every winged thing.

15They came to Noah into the ark, two each of all flesh in which there

was breath of life. 16Thus they that entered comprised male and female

of all flesh, as God had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in.

17The Flood continued forty days on the earth, and the waters increased

and raised the ark so that it rose above the earth. ISThe waters swelled

and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark drifted upon the waters.

19When the waters had swelled much more upon the earth, all the highest

mountains everywhere under the sky were covered. 20Fifteen cubits higher

did the waters swell, as the mountains were covered. 21And all flesh that

stirred on earth perished-birds, cattle, beasts, and all the things that

swarmed upon the earth, and all mankind. 22All in \vhose nostrils was the

merest breath of life, all that was on dry land, died. 23All existence on

earth was blotted out-man, cattle, creeping things, and birds of the sky;

they were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left:: and those with

him in the ark.

24And when the waters had swelled on the earth one hundred and fifty

8 days, IGod remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that

were with him in the ark, and God caused a wind to blow across the

earth, and the waters subsided. 2The fountains of the deep and the flood-

gates of the sky were stopped up, and the rain from the sky was held

back; 3the waters then receded steadily from the earth. At the end of one

hundred and fifty days the waters diminished, 4S0 that in the seventh J •

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TORAH GENESIS 8.22

month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the

mountains of Ararat. 5The waters went on diminishing until the tenth

month; in the tenth month, on the first of the month, the tops of the

mountains became visible.

6At the end of forty days, Noah opened the window of the ark that he

had made 7 and sent out the raven; it went to and fro until the waters had

dried up from the earth. 8Then he sent out the dove to see whether the

waters had decreased from the surface of the ground. 9But the dove could

not find a resting place tor its toot, and returned to him to the ark, tor

there was water over all the earth. So putting out his hand, he took it

into the ark with him. IOHe waited another seven days, and again sent

out the dove from the ark. lIThe dove came back to him toward evening,

and there in its bill was a plucked-otr olive leaf! Then Noah knew that

the waters had decreased on the earth. 12He waited still another seven

days and sent the dove forth; and it did not return to him any more.

13In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of

the month, the waters began to dry from the earth; and when Noah

removed the covering of the ark, he saw that the surface of the ground

was drying. 14And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of

the month, the earth was dry.

15God spoke to Noah, saying, 16"Come out of the ark, togeth(:r with

your wife, your sons, and your sons' wives. 17Bring out with you every

living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds, animals, and everything

that creeps on earth; and let them swarm on the earth and be tertile and

increase on earth." 18S0 Noah came out, together with his sons, his wite,

and his sons' wives. 19Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird,

everything that stirs on earth came out of the ark by families.

20Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking of every clean

animal and of every clean bird, he ot}ered burnt otlerings on the altar.

21The LORD smelled the pleasing odor, and the LORD said to Himself:

"Never again will I doom the earth because of man, since the devisings

of man's mind are evil from his youth; nor will I ever again destroy every

living being, as I have done.

22S0 long as the earth endures,

Seedtimc and harvest,

Cold and heat,

Summer and wintcr,

Day and night

Shall not o:ase."

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TORAH GENESIS 9.1

9 God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, "Be tertile and increase, and fill the earth. 2The fear and the dread of you shall be upon

all the beasts of the earth and upon all the birds of the sky-everything

with which the earth is astir-and upon all the fish of the sea; they are

given into your hand. 3Every creature that lives shall be yours to eat; as

with the green grasses, I give you all these. 4You must not, however, eat

flesh with its life-blood in it. 5But for your own life-blood I will require

a reckoning: I will require it of every beast; of man, too, will I require a

reckoning for human life, of every man for that of his fellow man!

6Whoever sheds the blood of man,

By man shall his blood be shed;

For in His image

Did God make man.

7Be fertile, then, and increase; abound on the earth and increase on it."

8And God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9"1 now establish

My covenant with you and your offspring to come, lOand with every living

thing that is with you-birds, cattle, and every wild beast,as well-all that

have come out of the ark, every living thing on earth. 11 I will maintain

My covenant with you: never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters

of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."

12God further said, "This is the sign that I set for the covenant between

Me and you, and every living creature with you, for all ages to come. 131

have set My bow in the clouds, and it shall serve as a sign of the covenant

between Me and the earth. 14When I bring clouds over the earth, and the

bow appears in the clouds, 151 will remember My covenant between Me

and you and every living creature among all flesh, so that the waters shall

never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16When the bow is in the

clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God

and all living creatures, all flesh that is on earth. 17That," God said to

Noah, "shall be the sign of the covenant that I have established between

Me and all flesh that is on earth."

18The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and

Japheth-Ham being the father of Canaan. 19These three were the sons

of Noah, and from these the whole world branched out.

20Noah, the tiller of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. 21 He

drank of the wine and became drunk, and he uncovered himself within

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TORAH GENESIS 10.12

his tent. 22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told

his two brothers outside. 23But Shem and Japheth took a cloth, placed it

against both their backs and, walking backward, they covered their father's

nakedness; their faces were turned the other way, so that they did not see

their father's nakedness. 24When Noah woke up from his wine and learned

what his youngest son had done to him, 25he said,

"Cursed be Canaan;

The lowest of slaves

Shall he be to his brothers."

26And he said, !, I

"Blessed be the LORD,

I The God of Shem; I Let Canaan be a slave to them. j

27May God enlargea Japheth,,i And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be a slave to

28Noah lived after the Flood 350 years. 29And all the days of Noah

came to 950 years; then he died. 1/

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10 These are the lines of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah: sons were born to them after the Flood.

2The descendants of Japheth:. Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal,

Meshech, and Tiras. me descendants of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and

Togarmah. 4The descendants of Javan: Elishah and Tarshish, the Kittim

and the Dodanim.a 5From these the maritime nations branched out. [These

are the descendants ofJapheth]b by their lands-each with its language-

their clans and their nations.

6The descendants of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 7The

descendants of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The

descendants of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

8Cush also begot Nimrod, who was the first man of might on earth.

9He was a mighty hunter by the grace of the LORD; hence the saying,

"Like Nimrod a mighty hunter by the grace of the LORD." lO'fhe main-

stays of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh' in the

land of Shinar. llFrom that land Asshur went forth and built Nineveh,

Rehoboth-ir, Calah, 12and Resen between Nineveh and Calah, that is the

great city.

• Heb. yapht, play on Heb. yepheth "Japheth."

• Septuagint and 1 Cbron. 1.7 "Rodanim.)) b Cf vv. 20 and 31. < Heb. we-khalneh, better vocalized we-khuUanah "all of them being")

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