In the beginning God created heaven and earth. And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the waters. And God said: Let there be light. And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and he divided the light from the darkness. And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night: and there was evening and morning, one day.
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their array. And on the seventh day God completed his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all the work which he had accomplished. And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: Why has God commanded you that you should not eat of every tree of paradise? And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed among all living things and beasts of the earth: upon your breast shall you go, and earth shall you eat all the days of your life.
And Adam knew Eve his wife: who conceived and bore Cain, saying: I have gotten a man through God. And the Lord said to Cain: Where is Abel your brother? He answered: I know not: am I my brother's keeper? And he said to him: What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the earth.
And when the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, they took to themselves wives of all whom they had chosen. And God said to Noah: The end of all flesh has come before me, the earth is filled with iniquity through them, and I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of planed timbers: you shall make little rooms in the ark.
The Lord therefore said to Noah: Go in, you and all your house, into the ark: for you I have seen righteous before me in this generation. And the flood came forty days upon the earth: and the waters increased, and lifted up the ark on high from the earth. For the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth: and all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.
And God remembered Noah, and all the living creatures and all the cattle that were with him in the ark, and he brought a wind over the earth, and the waters subsided. So Noah went forth, and his sons, his wife and the wives of his sons with him. And Noah built an altar to the Lord: and taking of all the clean cattle and birds, he offered burnt offerings upon the altar.
Now the whole earth was of one language, and of the same speech. And they came to a place and said: Come, let us make ourselves a city and a tower, whose top may reach to heaven: and let us make our name famous before we be scattered abroad into all lands. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of Adam were building. And the Lord scattered them from that place into all lands.
And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of your country, and from your kindred, and out of your father's house, and come into the land which I shall show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and magnify your name, and you shall be blessed. I will bless those that bless you, and curse those that curse you, and in you shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
After these things had thus passed, the word of the Lord came to Abram by a vision in the night, saying: Fear not, Abram, I am your protector, and your reward exceedingly great. And Abram answered: Lord God, what will you give me? And the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: To your seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt even to the great river Euphrates.
And after he had begun to be ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, and said to him: I am God Almighty: walk before me, and be perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly. This is my covenant which you shall observe between me and you, and your seed after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
After these things had been done, God tempted Abraham, and said to him: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am. He said to him: Take your only-begotten son, whom you love, Isaac, and go into the land of vision, and there you shall offer him for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I shall show you. But the angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven, saying: Lay not your hand upon the boy, nor do anything to him.
So Jacob, going out from Beersheba, journeyed toward Haran. And when he had come to a certain place, and wished to rest in it after sunset, he took of the stones that lay there, and putting one under his head, he slept in that same place. And he saw in a dream a ladder standing upon the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven: the angels also of God ascending and descending by it.
Jacob remained alone: and behold, a man wrestled with him until morning. And when he saw that he could not overcome him, he touched the sinew of his thigh, and immediately it withered. He said therefore: Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel: for if you have been strong against God, how much more shall you prevail against men?
Now Joseph was sixteen years old, when these things were taking place, and he was feeding the flocks with his brothers. Israel therefore said to Joseph: Your brothers are feeding the sheep in Shechem: come, I will send you to them. And when they had come to Dothan, they spied him afar off: and before he drew near to them, they planned to kill him. And they sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.
After two years Pharaoh saw a dream: he thought he stood by the river, out of which came up seven oxen, very fair and fat. Pharaoh said to Joseph: I have dreamed a dream, and there is none who can interpret it: I have heard of you that as soon as you hear it you interpret it. Now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
Joseph could no longer restrain himself before the many who stood by, so he commanded that all should go out, and that no stranger should be present at their mutual recognition. And he lifted up his voice with weeping, which the Egyptians and all the house of Pharaoh heard. And he said to his brothers: I am Joseph: does my father yet live? His brothers could not answer, being struck with exceeding great terror.
And Jacob called his sons, and said to them: Gather yourselves together, that I may declare to you the things that shall come upon you in the last days. Reuben, my firstborn, you are my strength and the beginning of my sorrow: foremost in gifts, greater in command. Judah, you shall your brothers praise: your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; the sons of your father shall bow down to you. The sceptre shall not be taken away from Judah, until he come who is to be sent.
So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old: and being embalmed with spices, he was laid in a coffin in Egypt. Now Joseph had said to Pharaoh: I die: God will visit you, and will make you go up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And when he had made them swear, he charged the children of Israel, saying: Keep my bones with you.