Genesis 5:1-6:8

The descendants of Adam

1 This is the report about Adam and his family.

When God made men and women, he made them like himself. 2 God made male and female people and he called them ‘human’. He blessed them.

3 When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son who was like him. Adam called him Seth. 4 After Seth was born, Adam lived for 800 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters. 5 Adam was 930 years old when he died.

6 When Seth was 105 years old, he had a son. He called him Enosh. 7 After Enosh was born, Seth lived for 807 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters. 8 Seth was 912 years old when he died.

9 When Enosh was 90 years old, he had a son. He called him Kenan. 10 After Kenan was born, Enosh lived for 815 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters. 11 Enosh was 905 years old when he died.

12 When Kenan was 70 years old, he had a son. He called him Mahalalel. 13 After Mahalalel was born, Kenan lived for 840 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters. 14 Kenan was 910 years old when he died.

15 When Mahalalel was 65 years old, he had a son. He called him Jared. 16 After Jared was born, Mahalalel lived for 830 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters. 17 Mahalalel was 895 years old when he died.

18 When Jared was 162 years old, he had a son. He called him Enoch. 19 After Enoch was born, Jared lived for 800 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters. 20 Jared was 962 years old when he died.

21 When Enoch was 65 years old, he had a son. He called him Methuselah. 22 After Methuselah was born, Enoch lived as God wanted for 300 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters. 23 Enoch lived on earth for 365 years. 24 Enoch lived to please God all this time, then Enoch was not there any more. God took Enoch to be with him.

5:24God took Enoch to be with him in heaven. So Enoch did not die like other people die.

25 When Methuselah was 187 years old, he had a son. He called him Lamech. 26 After Lamech was born, Methuselah lived for 782 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters. 27 Methuselah was 969 years old when he died.

5:25This is not the same Lamech as the one who killed a young man. See Genesis 4:23.

28 When Lamech was 182 years old, he had a son. 29 He called his son Noah. Lamech said, ‘He will help us in our difficult work on the land. We have pain when we work on the land to get food. That is because the Lord God cursed the ground.’ 30 After Noah was born, Lamech lived for 595 years. During this time, he had other sons and daughters. 31 Lamech was 777 years old when he died.

32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Genesis 6

1 People began to grow in number all over the earth. They gave birth to daughters. 2 The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful. They chose for themselves any of them that they wanted to become their wives.

6:2We do not know who ‘the sons of God’ were. They may have been men on the earth who trusted God. They may have been men who belonged to God in heaven, like angels. The ‘daughters of men’ were women who lived on the earth.

3 The Lord said, ‘My Spirit will not give life to humans for ever. One day they will die. I will not let them live for more than 120 years. Then they will die.’

4 The Nephilites lived on the earth at that time, and for some time after that. During that time, the sons of God were having sex with the daughters of men, who gave birth to their children. The Nephilites were famous great men and fighters.

5 The Lord saw that men and women on the earth had become very bad. They thought only of evil things all the time. 6 The Lord was sorry that he had made humans and put them on the earth. He became very upset. 7 So the Lord said, ‘I made humans, but now I will destroy them. I will completely take them off the earth. As well as human people, I will also destroy the animals, the living things that move on the ground, and the birds. I am sorry that I made them.’

8 But as for Noah, the Lord was happy about him.

6:8Men and women turned against God. God felt very sad. Noah was different from the other people on the earth at that time. God was happy with him. The next verses tell us why God was happy about Noah.