2007 01 28

TMSG Genesis 4:6 - 7:10
6God spoke to Cain: “Why this tantrum? Why the sulking?
7If you do well, won’t you be accepted? And if you don’t do well, sin is lying in wait for you, ready to pounce; it’s out to get you, you’ve got to master it.”
8Cain had words with his brother. They were out in the field; Cain came at Abel his brother and killed him.
9God said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”
He said, “How should I know? Am I his babysitter?”
10God said, “What have you done! The voice of your brother’s blood is calling to me from the ground. 11From now on you’ll get nothing but curses from this ground; you’ll be driven from this ground that has opened its arms to receive the blood of your murdered brother. 12You’ll farm this ground, but it will no longer give you its best. You’ll be a homeless wanderer on Earth.”
13Cain said to God, “My punishment is too much. I can’t take it! 14You’ve thrown me off the land and I can never again face you. I’m a homeless wanderer on Earth and whoever finds me will kill me.”
15God told him, “No. Anyone who kills Cain will pay for it seven times over.” God put a mark on Cain to protect him so that no one who met him would kill him.
16Cain left the presence of God and lived in No-Man’s-Land, east of Eden.
17Cain slept with his wife. She conceived and had Enoch. He then built a city and named it after his son, Enoch.
18Enoch had Irad,
Irad had Mehujael,
Mehujael had Methushael,
Methushael had Lamech.
19Lamech married two wives, Adah and Zillah. 20Adah gave birth to Jabal, the ancestor of all who live in tents and herd cattle. 21His brother’s name was Jubal, the ancestor of all who play the lyre and flute. 22Zillah gave birth to Tubal-Cain, who worked at the forge making bronze and iron tools. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.
23Lamech said to his wives,
Adah and Zillah, listen to me;
you wives of Lamech, hear me out:
I killed a man for wounding me,
a young man who attacked me.
24If Cain is avenged seven times,
for Lamech it’s seventy-seven!
25Adam slept with his wife again. She had a son whom she named Seth. She said, “God has given me another child in place of Abel whom Cain killed.” 26And then Seth had a son whom he named Enosh.
That’s when men and women began praying and worshiping in the name of God.
Genesis 5
The Family Tree of the Human Race
1This is the family tree of the human race: When God created the human race, he made it godlike, with a nature akin to God. 2He created both male and female and blessed them, the whole human race.
3When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son who was just like him, his very spirit and image, and named him Seth. 4After the birth of Seth, Adam lived another 800 years, having more sons and daughters. 5Adam lived a total of 930 years. And he died.
6When Seth was 105 years old, he had Enosh. 7After Seth had Enosh, he lived another 807 years, having more sons and daughters. 8Seth lived a total of 912 years. And he died.
9When Enosh was ninety years old, he had Kenan. 10After he had Kenan, he lived another 815 years, having more sons and daughters. 11Enosh lived a total of 905 years. And he died.
12When Kenan was seventy years old, he had Mahalalel. 13After he had Mahalalel, he lived another 840 years, having more sons and daughters. 14Kenan lived a total of 910 years. And he died.
15When Mahalalel was sixty-five years old, he had Jared. 16After he had Jared, he lived another 830 years, having more sons and daughters. 17Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years. And he died.
18When Jared was 162 years old, he had Enoch. 19After he had Enoch, he lived another 800 years, having more sons and daughters. 20Jared lived a total of 962 years. And he died.
21When Enoch was sixty-five years old, he had Methuselah. 22Enoch walked steadily with God. After he had Methuselah, he lived another 300 years, having more sons and daughters. 23Enoch lived a total of 365 years.
24Enoch walked steadily with God. And then one day he was simply gone: God took him.
25When Methuselah was 187 years old, he had Lamech. 26After he had Lamech, he lived another 782 years. 27Methuselah lived a total of 969 years. And he died.
28When Lamech was 182 years old, he had a son. 29He named him Noah, saying, “This one will give us a break from the hard work of farming the ground that God cursed.” 30After Lamech had Noah, he lived another 595 years, having more sons and daughters. 31Lamech lived a total of 777 years. And he died.
32When Noah was 500 years old, he had Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Genesis 6
Giants in the Land
1When the human race began to increase, with more and more daughters being born, 2the sons of God noticed that the daughters of men were beautiful. They looked them over and picked out wives for themselves.
3Then God said, “I’m not going to breathe life into men and women endlessly. Eventually they’re going to die; from now on they can expect a life span of 120 years.”
4This was back in the days (and also later) when there were giants in the land. The giants came from the union of the sons of God and the daughters of men. These were the mighty men of ancient lore, the famous ones.
Noah and His Sons
5God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil—evil, evil, evil from morning to night. 6God was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. 7God said, “I’ll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep: people, animals, snakes and bugs, birds—the works. I’m sorry I made them.”
8But Noah was different. God liked what he saw in Noah.
9This is the story of Noah: Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God. 10Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11As far as God was concerned, the Earth had become a sewer; there was violence everywhere. 12God took one look and saw how bad it was, everyone corrupt and corrupting—life itself corrupt to the core.
13God said to Noah, “It’s all over. It’s the end of the human race. The violence is everywhere; I’m making a clean sweep.
14“Build yourself a ship from teakwood. Make rooms in it. Coat it with pitch inside and out. 15Make it 450 feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. 16Build a roof for it and put in a window eighteen inches from the top; put in a door on the side of the ship; and make three decks, lower, middle, and upper.
17“I’m going to bring a flood on the Earth that will destroy everything alive under Heaven. Total destruction.
18“But I’m going to establish a covenant with you: You’ll board the ship, and your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives will come on board with you. 19You are also to take two of each living creature, a male and a female, on board the ship, to preserve their lives with you: 20two of every species of bird, mammal, and reptile—two of everything so as to preserve their lives along with yours. 21Also get all the food you’ll need and store it up for you and them.”
22Noah did everything God commanded him to do.
Genesis 7
1Next God said to Noah, “Now board the ship, you and all your family—out of everyone in this generation, you’re the righteous one.
2“Take on board with you seven pairs of every clean animal, a male and a female; one pair of every unclean animal, a male and a female; 3and seven pairs of every kind of bird, a male and a female, to insure their survival on Earth. 4In just seven days I will dump rain on Earth for forty days and forty nights. I’ll make a clean sweep of everything that I’ve made.”
5Noah did everything God commanded him.
6Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters covered the Earth. 7Noah and his wife and sons and their wives boarded the ship to escape the flood. 8Clean and unclean animals, birds, and all the crawling creatures 9came in pairs to Noah and to the ship, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. 10In seven days the floodwaters came.

Proverbs 28
If You Desert God’s Law
1The wicked are edgy with guilt, ready to run off
even when no one’s after them;
Honest people are relaxed and confident,
bold as lions.
2When the country is in chaos,
everybody has a plan to fix it—
But it takes a leader of real understanding
to straighten things out.
3The wicked who oppress the poor
are like a hailstorm that beats down the harvest.
4If you desert God’s law, you’re free to embrace depravity;
if you love God’s law, you fight for it tooth and nail.
5Justice makes no sense to the evilminded;
those who seek God know it inside and out.
6It’s better to be poor and direct
than rich and crooked.
7Practice God’s law—get a reputation for wisdom;
hang out with a loose crowd—embarrass your family.
8Get as rich as you want
through cheating and extortion,
But eventually some friend of the poor
is going to give it all back to them.
9God has no use for the prayers
of the people who won’t listen to him.
10Lead good people down a wrong path
and you’ll come to a bad end;
do good and you’ll be rewarded for it.
11The rich think they know it all,
but the poor can see right through them.
12When good people are promoted, everything is great,
but when the bad are in charge, watch out!
13You can’t whitewash your sins and get by with it;
you find mercy by admitting and leaving them.
14A tenderhearted person lives a blessed life;
a hardhearted person lives a hard life.
15Lions roar and bears charge—
and the wicked lord it over the poor.
16Among leaders who lack insight, abuse abounds,
but for one who hates corruption, the future is bright.
17A murderer haunted by guilt
is doomed—there’s no helping him.
18Walk straight—live well and be saved;
a devious life is a doomed life.
Doing Great Harm in Seemingly Harmless Ways
19Work your garden—you’ll end up with plenty of food;
play and party—you’ll end up with an empty plate.
20Committed and persistent work pays off;
get-rich-quick schemes are ripoffs.
21Playing favorites is always a bad thing;
you can do great harm in seemingly harmless ways.
22A miser in a hurry to get rich
doesn’t know that he’ll end up broke.
23In the end, serious reprimand is appreciated
far more than bootlicking flattery.
24Anyone who robs father and mother
and says, “So, what’s wrong with that?”
is worse than a pirate.
25A grasping person stirs up trouble,
but trust in God brings a sense of well-being.
26If you think you know it all, you’re a fool for sure;
real survivors learn wisdom from others.
27Be generous to the poor—you’ll never go hungry;
shut your eyes to their needs, and run a gauntlet of curses.
28When corruption takes over, good people go underground,
but when the crooks are thrown out, it’s safe to come out.