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<nowiki>Gen</nowiki><nowiki>esis 1
{{featured article}}
The Beg</nowiki><nowiki>inning
{{otheruses4|evolution in biology}}
1 In the begi</nowiki><nowiki>nning G</nowiki><nowiki>od created the hea</nowiki><nowiki>vens and the earth.
{{Redirect|Theory of evolution|more on how evolution is defined|Evolution as theory and fact}}
2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
{{seeintro}}
{{evolution3}}
In [[biology]], '''evolution''' is the process of change in the [[heritability|inherited]] [[trait (biology)|traits]] of a [[population]] of organisms from one [[generation]] to the next. [[Gene]]s that are passed on to an organism's offspring [[gene expression|produce]] the inherited traits that are the basis of evolution. [[Mutation]]s in genes can produce new or altered traits in individuals, resulting in the appearance of [[genetic variation|heritable differences]] between organisms. New traits may also arise from the transfer of genes between populations, as in [[migration]], or between species, in [[horizontal gene transfer]]. In species that reproduce [[sexual reproduction|sexually]], new combinations of genes are produced by [[genetic recombination]], which can increase the variation in traits between organisms. Evolution occurs when these heritable differences become more common or rare in a population.


It is important to note that biological evolution is a physical process occurring in the natural realm. The mechanisms that drive evolution also control it.
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.


Two major mechanisms drive evolution. The first is [[natural selection]], a process causing heritable traits that are helpful for survival and reproduction to become more common in a population, and harmful traits to become more rare. This occurs because individuals with advantageous traits are more likely to reproduce, so that more individuals in the next generation inherit these traits.<ref name=Futuyma/><ref name=Lande>{{cite journal |author=Lande R, Arnold SJ |year=1983 |title=The measurement of selection on correlated characters |journal=Evolution |volume=37 |pages=1210&ndash;26} |doi=10.2307/2408842}}</ref> Over many generations, [[adaptation]]s occur through a combination of successive, small, random changes in traits, and natural selection of those variants best-suited for their environment.<ref name="Ayala">{{cite journal |author=Ayala FJ |title=Darwin's greatest discovery: design without designer |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=104 Suppl 1 |issue= |pages=8567–73 |year=2007 |pmid=17494753 |url=http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/104/suppl_1/8567 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0701072104}}</ref> The second is [[genetic drift]], an independent process that produces random changes in the frequency of traits in a population. Genetic drift results from the role probability plays in whether a given trait will be passed on as individuals survive and reproduce. Though the changes produced in any one generation by drift and selection are small, differences accumulate with each subsequent generation and can, over time, cause substantial changes in the organisms.
6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.


One definition of a [[species]] is a group of organisms that can reproduce with one another and produce fertile offspring. When a species is separated into populations that are [[reproductive isolation|prevented from interbreeding]], mutations, genetic drift, and natural selection cause the accumulation of differences over generations and the [[speciation|emergence of new species]].<ref>{{wikiref |id=Gould-2002 |text=Gould 2002}}</ref> The similarities between organisms suggest that all known species are [[common descent|descended from a common ancestor]] (or ancestral gene pool) through this process of gradual divergence.<ref name=Futuyma>{{cite book |last=Futuyma |first=Douglas J. |authorlink=Douglas J. Futuyma |year=2005 |title=Evolution |publisher=Sinauer Associates, Inc |location=Sunderland, Massachusetts |isbn=0-87893-187-2}}</ref>
9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.


[[Evolutionary biology]] documents the fact that evolution occurs, and also develops and tests [[Theory#Science|theories]] that explain its causes. Studies of the [[fossil|fossil record]] and the [[Biodiversity|diversity]] of living organisms had convinced most scientists by the mid-nineteenth century that species changed over time.<ref name=EarlyModernGeology>{{cite web |url=http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/darwin/sect2.htm |title=History of Science: Early Modern Geology |accessdate=2008-01-15 |author=Ian C. Johnston |year=1999 |work= |publisher=[[Malaspina University-College]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Bowler|first=Peter J.|authorlink=Peter J. Bowler|title=Evolution:The History of an Idea|publisher=University of California Press|year=2003|isbn=0-52023693-9}}</ref> However, the mechanism driving these changes remained unclear until the 1859 publication of [[Charles Darwin]]'s ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'', detailing the [[Theory#Science|theory]] of evolution by natural selection.<ref name=Darwin>{{cite book |last=Darwin |first=Charles |authorlink = Charles Darwin |year=1859 |title=On the Origin of Species |place=London |publisher=John Murray |edition=1st |pages=p. 1 |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F373&viewtype=text&pageseq=16}}. Related earlier ideas were acknowledged in {{cite book |last=Darwin |first=Charles |authorlink = Charles Darwin |year=1861 |title=On the Origin of Species |place=London |publisher=John Murray |edition=3rd |pages=p. xiii |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F381&viewtype=text&pageseq=20}}</ref> Darwin's work soon led to overwhelming acceptance of evolution within the scientific community.<ref name="AAAS1922Resolution">{{ cite web | url=http://archives.aaas.org/docs/resolutions.php?doc_id=450 | title=AAAS Resolution: Present Scientific Status of the Theory of Evolution | date=December 26, 1922 | author=AAAS Council | publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science }}</ref><ref name="IAP2006Statement">{{cite web | url=http://www.interacademies.net/Object.File/Master/6/150/Evolution%20statement.pdf | title=IAP Statement on the Teaching of Evolution |year=2006 |publisher=The Interacademy Panel on International Issues |accessdate=2007-04-25}} Joint statement issued by the national science academies of 67 countries, including the [[United Kingdom|United Kingdom's]] [[Royal Society]]</ref><ref name="AAAS2006Statement">{{ cite web | url=http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2006/pdf/0219boardstatement.pdf | title=Statement on the Teaching of Evolution | date=2006-02-16 | author=Board of Directors, American Association for the Advancement of Science | publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science }} from the world's largest general scientific society</ref><ref name="NCSEStatementsFromScientificOrgs">{{ cite web | url=http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/articles/8408_statements_from_scientific_and_12_19_2002.asp | title=Statements from Scientific and Scholarly Organizations | publisher=National Center for Science Education }}</ref> In the 1930s, Darwinian natural selection was combined with [[Gregor Mendel|Mendelian]] [[Mendelian inheritance|inheritance]] to form the [[modern evolutionary synthesis]],<ref name=Kutschera/> in which the connection between the ''units'' of evolution (genes) and the ''mechanism'' of evolution (natural selection) was made. This powerful explanatory and [[predictive power|predictive]] theory directs research by constantly raising new questions, and it has become the central organizing principle of modern biology, providing a unifying explanation for the [[speciation|diversity of life]] on [[Earth]].<ref name="IAP2006Statement" /><ref name="AAAS2006Statement" /><ref name="NewScientistJan2008SpecialReport">{{ cite web | url=http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/evolution | title=Special report on evolution | publisher=New Scientist | date=2008-01-19 }}</ref>
11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.


==Heredity==
14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
{{details more|Introduction to genetics|Genetics|Heredity}}
[[Image:ADN static.png|thumb|right|200px|DNA structure. [[nucleobase|Bases]] are in the center, surrounded by phosphate–sugar chains in a [[double helix]].]]
Evolution in organisms occurs through changes in heritable [[trait (biology)|traits]] – particular characteristics of an organism. In humans, for example, [[eye color]] is an inherited characteristic, which individuals can inherit from one of their parents.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Sturm RA, Frudakis TN |title=Eye colour: portals into pigmentation genes and ancestry |journal=Trends Genet. |volume=20 |issue=8 |pages=327&ndash;32 |year=2004 |pmid=15262401 |doi=10.1016/j.tig.2004.06.010}}</ref> Inherited traits are controlled by [[gene]]s and the complete set of genes within an organism's [[genome]] is called its [[genotype]].<ref name=Pearson_2006>{{cite journal |author=Pearson H |title=Genetics: what is a gene? |journal=Nature |volume=441 |issue=7092 |pages=398&ndash;401 |year=2006 |pmid=16724031 |doi=10.1038/441398a}}</ref>


The complete set of observable traits that make up the structure and behavior of an organism is called its [[phenotype]]. These traits come from the interaction of its genotype with the environment.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Peaston AE, Whitelaw E |title=Epigenetics and phenotypic variation in mammals |journal=Mamm. Genome |volume=17 |issue=5 |pages=365&ndash;74 |year=2006 |pmid=16688527 |doi=10.1007/s00335-005-0180-2}}</ref> As a result, not every aspect of an organism's phenotype is inherited. [[sun tanning|Suntanned]] skin results from the interaction between a person's genotype and sunlight; thus, suntans are not passed on to people's children. However, people have different responses to sunlight, arising from differences in their genotype; a striking example is individuals with the inherited trait of [[albinism]], who do not tan and are highly sensitive to [[sunburn]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Oetting WS, Brilliant MH, King RA |title=The clinical spectrum of albinism in humans |journal=Molecular medicine today |volume=2 |issue=8 |pages=330&ndash;35 |year=1996 |pmid=8796918 |doi=10.1016/1357-4310(96)81798-9}}</ref>
20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.


Heritable traits are propagated between generations via [[DNA]], a [[molecule]] which is capable of encoding genetic information.<ref name=Pearson_2006/> DNA is a [[polymer]] composed of four types of [[nucleobase|bases]]. The sequence of bases along a particular DNA molecule specify the genetic information, in a manner akin to a sequence of letters specifying a text or a sequence of bits specifying a computer program. Portions of a DNA molecule that specify a single functional unit are called [[gene]]s; different genes have different sequences of bases. Within [[cell (biology)|cells]], the long strands of DNA associate with proteins to form condensed structures called [[chromosome]]s. A specific location within a chromosome is known as a [[locus (genetics)|locus]]. If the DNA sequence at a locus varies between individuals, the different forms of this sequence are called [[allele]]s. DNA sequences can change through [[mutation]]s, producing new alleles. If a mutation occurs within a gene, the new allele may affect the trait that the gene controls, altering the phenotype of the organism. However, while this simple correspondence between an allele and a trait works in some cases, most traits are more complex and are controlled by [[quantitative trait locus|multiple interacting genes]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Mayeux R |title=Mapping the new frontier: complex genetic disorders |journal=J. Clin. Invest. |volume=115 |issue=6 |pages=1404&ndash;07 |year=2005 |pmid=15931374 |doi=10.1172/JCI25421}}</ref><ref name=Lin>{{cite journal |author=Wu R, Lin M |title=Functional mapping - how to map and study the genetic architecture of dynamic complex traits |journal=Nat. Rev. Genet. |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=229&ndash;37 |year=2006 |pmid=16485021 |doi=10.1038/nrg1804}}</ref>
24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.


==Variation==
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
{{details more|Genetic variation|Population genetics}}
An individual organism's [[phenotype]] results from both its [[genotype]] and the influence from the environment it has lived in. A substantial part of the variation in phenotypes in a population is caused by the differences between their genotypes.<ref name=Lin/> The [[modern evolutionary synthesis]] defines evolution as the change over time in this genetic variation. The frequency of one particular allele will fluctuate, becoming more or less prevalent relative to other forms of that gene. Evolutionary [[force]]s act by driving these changes in allele frequency in one direction or another. Variation disappears when an allele reaches the point of [[fixation (population genetics)|fixation]] &mdash; when it either disappears from the population or replaces the ancestral allele entirely.<ref name=Amos>{{cite journal |author=Harwood AJ |title=Factors affecting levels of genetic diversity in natural populations |journal=Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. |volume=353 |issue=1366 |pages=177&ndash;86 |year=1998 |pmid=9533122 |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=9533122 |doi=10.1098/rstb.1998.0200}}</ref>


Variation comes from [[mutation]]s in [[genetic material]], migration between populations ([[gene flow]]), and the reshuffling of genes through [[sexual reproduction]]. Variation also comes from exchanges of genes between different species; for example, through [[horizontal gene transfer]] in [[bacteria]], and [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]]ization in plants.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Draghi J, Turner P |title=DNA secretion and gene-level selection in bacteria |journal=Microbiology (Reading, Engl.) |volume=152 |issue=Pt 9 |pages=2683&ndash;8 |year=2006 |pmid=16946263}}<br />*{{cite journal |author=Mallet J |title=Hybrid speciation |journal=Nature |volume=446 |issue=7133 |pages=279&ndash;83 |year=2007 |pmid=17361174 |doi=10.1038/nature05706}}</ref> Despite the constant introduction of variation through these processes, most of the [[genome]] of a species is identical in all individuals of that species.<ref>{{cite journal | author=Butlin RK, Tregenza T |title=Levels of genetic polymorphism: marker loci versus quantitative traits |journal=Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. |volume=353 |issue=1366 |pages=187&ndash;98 |year=1998 |pmid=9533123 |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=9533123 |doi=10.1098/rstb.1998.0201}}</ref> However, even relatively small changes in genotype can lead to dramatic changes in phenotype: chimpanzees and humans differ in only about 5% of their genomes.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Wetterbom A, Sevov M, Cavelier L, Bergström TF |title=Comparative genomic analysis of human and chimpanzee indicates a key role for indels in primate evolution |journal= J. Mol. Evol. |volume=63 |issue=5 |pages=682&ndash;90 |year=2006 |pmid=17075697 |doi=10.1007/s00239-006-0045-7}}</ref>
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.


===Mutation===
28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
{{details more|Mutation|Molecular evolution}}
[[Image:Gene-duplication.svg|thumb|100px|left|Duplication of part of a [[chromosome]]]]
Genetic variation comes from [[randomness|random]] mutations that occur in the genomes of organisms. Mutations are changes in the DNA sequence of a cell's genome and are caused by [[Radioactive decay|radiation]], [[virus]]es, [[transposon]]s and [[mutagen|mutagenic chemicals]], as well as errors that occur during [[meiosis]] or [[DNA replication]].<ref name=Bertram>{{cite journal |author=Bertram J |title=The molecular biology of cancer |journal=Mol. Aspects Med. |volume=21 |issue=6 |pages=167&ndash;223 |year=2000 |pmid=11173079 |doi=10.1016/S0098-2997(00)00007-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Aminetzach YT, Macpherson JM, Petrov DA |title=Pesticide resistance via transposition-mediated adaptive gene truncation in Drosophila |journal=Science |volume=309 |issue=5735 |pages=764&ndash;67 |year=2005 |pmid=16051794 |doi=10.1126/science.1112699}}</ref><ref name=Burrus>{{cite journal |author=Burrus V, Waldor M |title=Shaping bacterial genomes with integrative and conjugative elements |journal=Res. Microbiol. |volume=155 |issue=5 |pages=376&ndash;86 |year=2004 |pmid=15207870 |doi=10.1016/j.resmic.2004.01.012}}</ref> These mutagens produce several different types of change in DNA sequences; these can either have no effect, alter the [[gene product|product of a gene]], or prevent the gene from functioning. Studies in the fly ''[[Drosophila melanogaster]]'' suggest that if a mutation changes a protein produced by a gene, this will probably be harmful, with about 70 percent of these mutations having damaging effects, and the remainder being either neutral or weakly beneficial.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Sawyer SA, Parsch J, Zhang Z, Hartl DL |title=Prevalence of positive selection among nearly neutral amino acid replacements in Drosophila |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=104 |issue=16 |pages=6504–10 |year=2007 |pmid=17409186 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0701572104}}</ref> Due to the damaging effects that mutations can have on cells, organisms have evolved mechanisms such as [[DNA repair]] to remove mutations.<ref name=Bertram/> Therefore, the optimal mutation rate for a species is a trade-off between costs of a high mutation rate, such as deleterious mutations, and the [[metabolism|metabolic]] costs of maintaining systems to reduce the mutation rate, such as DNA repair enzymes.<ref name=Sniegowski>{{cite journal |author=Sniegowski P, Gerrish P, Johnson T, Shaver A |title=The evolution of mutation rates: separating causes from consequences |journal=Bioessays |volume=22 |issue=12 |pages=1057&ndash;66 |year=2000 |pmid=11084621 |doi=10.1002/1521-1878(200012)22:12<1057::AID-BIES3>3.0.CO;2-W}}</ref> Some species such as [[retrovirus]]es have such high mutation rates that most of their offspring will possess a mutated gene.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Drake JW, Charlesworth B, Charlesworth D, Crow JF |title=Rates of spontaneous mutation |journal=Genetics |volume=148 |issue=4 |pages=1667–86 |year=1998 |pmid=9560386 |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=9560386}}</ref> Such rapid mutation may have been selected so that these viruses can constantly and rapidly evolve, and thus evade the responses of the human [[immune system]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Holland J, Spindler K, Horodyski F, Grabau E, Nichol S, VandePol S |title=Rapid evolution of RNA genomes |journal=Science |volume=215 |issue=4540 |pages=1577–85 |year=1982 |pmid=7041255 |doi=10.1126/science.7041255}}</ref>


Mutations can involve large sections of DNA becoming [[gene duplication|duplicated]], which is a major source of raw material for evolving new genes, with tens to hundreds of genes duplicated in animal genomes every million years.<ref>{{cite book|last=Carroll SB, Grenier J, Weatherbee SD |title=From DNA to Diversity: Molecular Genetics and the Evolution of Animal Design. Second Edition |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=2005 |location=Oxford |id=ISBN 1-4051-1950-0}}</ref> Most genes belong to larger [[gene family|families of genes]] of [[homology (biology)|shared ancestry]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Harrison P, Gerstein M |title=Studying genomes through the aeons: protein families, pseudogenes and proteome evolution |journal=J Mol Biol |volume=318 |issue=5 |pages=1155&ndash;74 |year=2002 |pmid=12083509 |doi=10.1016/S0022-2836(02)00109-2}}</ref> Novel genes are produced by several methods, commonly through the duplication and mutation of an ancestral gene, or by recombining parts of different genes to form new combinations with new functions.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Orengo CA, Thornton JM |title=Protein families and their evolution-a structural perspective |journal=Annu. Rev. Biochem. |volume=74 |issue= |pages=867&ndash;900 |year=2005 |pmid=15954844 |doi=10.1146/annurev.biochem.74.082803.133029}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Long M, Betrán E, Thornton K, Wang W |title=The origin of new genes: glimpses from the young and old |journal=Nat. Rev. Genet. |volume=4 |issue=11 |pages=865–75 |year=2003 |month=November |pmid=14634634 |doi=10.1038/nrg1204}}</ref> For example, the human eye uses four genes to make structures that sense light: three for [[Cone cell|color vision]] and one for [[Rod cell|night vision]]; all four arose from a single ancestral gene.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Bowmaker JK |title=Evolution of colour vision in vertebrates |journal=Eye (London, England) |volume=12 (Pt 3b) |pages=541&ndash;47 |year=1998 |pmid=9775215}}</ref> An advantage of duplicating a gene (or even an [[Polyploidy|entire genome]]) is that overlapping or [[Redundancy (engineering)|redundant functions]] in multiple genes allows alleles to be retained that would otherwise be harmful, thus increasing genetic diversity.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gregory TR, Hebert PD |title=The modulation of DNA content: proximate causes and ultimate consequences |url=http://www.genome.org/cgi/content/full/9/4/317 |journal=Genome Res. |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=317&ndash;24 |year=1999 |pmid=10207154 |doi=10.1101/gr.9.4.317 |doi_brokendate=2008-06-24}}</ref>
29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.


Changes in chromosome number may involve even larger mutations, where segments of the DNA within chromosomes break and then rearrange. For example, two chromosomes in the [[Homo (genus)|''Homo'']] [[genus]] fused to produce human [[chromosome 2 (human)|chromosome 2]]; this fusion did not occur in the [[Lineage (evolution)|lineage]] of the other apes, and they retain these separate chromosomes.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Zhang J, Wang X, Podlaha O |title=Testing the chromosomal speciation hypothesis for humans and chimpanzees |doi= 10.1101/gr.1891104 |journal=Genome Res. |volume=14 |issue=5 |pages=845&ndash;51 |year=2004 |pmid=15123584}}</ref> In evolution, the most important role of such chromosomal rearrangements may be to accelerate the divergence of a population into new species by making populations less likely to interbreed, and thereby preserving genetic differences between these populations.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Ayala FJ, Coluzzi M |title=Chromosome speciation: humans, Drosophila, and mosquitoes |url=http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/102/suppl_1/6535 |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=102 Supplement 1 |issue= |pages=6535&ndash;42 |year=2005 |pmid=15851677 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0501847102}}</ref>
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.


Sequences of DNA that can move about the genome, such as [[transposon]]s, make up a major fraction of the genetic material of plants and animals, and may have been important in the evolution of genomes.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Hurst GD, Werren JH |title=The role of selfish genetic elements in eukaryotic evolution |journal=Nat. Rev. Genet. |volume=2 |issue=8 |pages=597&ndash;606 |year=2001 |pmid=11483984 |doi=10.1038/35084545}}</ref> For example, more than a million copies of the [[Alu sequence]] are present in the [[human genome]], and these sequences have now been recruited to perform functions such as regulating [[gene expression]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Häsler J, Strub K |title=Alu elements as regulators of gene expression |journal=Nucleic Acids Res. |volume=34 |issue=19 |pages=5491&ndash;97 |year=2006 |pmid=17020921 |doi=10.1093/nar/gkl706}}</ref> Another effect of these mobile DNA sequences is that when they move within a genome, they can mutate or delete existing genes and thereby produce genetic diversity.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Aminetzach YT, Macpherson JM, Petrov DA |title=Pesticide resistance via transposition-mediated adaptive gene truncation in Drosophila |journal=Science |volume=309 |issue=5735 |pages=764&ndash;67 |year=2005 |pmid=16051794 |doi=10.1126/science.1112699}}</ref>
Genesis 2
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.


===Sex and recombination===
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested [c] from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
{{details more|Genetic recombination|Sexual reproduction}}
In asexual organisms, genes are inherited together, or ''linked'', as they cannot mix with genes in other organisms during reproduction. However, the offspring of [[sex]]ual organisms contain random mixtures of their parents' chromosomes that are produced through [[independent assortment]]. In the related process of [[genetic recombination]], sexual organisms can also exchange DNA between two matching chromosomes.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Radding C |title=Homologous pairing and strand exchange in genetic recombination |journal=Annu. Rev. Genet. |volume=16 |pages=405&ndash;37 |year=1982 |pmid=6297377 |doi=10.1146/annurev.ge.16.120182.002201}}</ref> Recombination and reassortment do not alter allele frequencies, but instead change which alleles are associated with each other, producing offspring with new combinations of alleles.<ref name=Agrawal>{{cite journal |author=Agrawal AF |title=Evolution of sex: why do organisms shuffle their genotypes? |journal=Curr. Biol. |volume=16 |issue=17 |pages=R696 |year=2006 |pmid=16950096 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2006.07.063}}</ref> While this process increases the variation in any individual's offspring, genetic mixing can be predicted to either have no effect, increase, or decrease the [[Genetic diversity|genetic variation]] in the population, depending on how the various alleles in the population are distributed. For example, if two alleles are randomly distributed in a population, then sex will have no effect on variation; however, if two alleles tend to be found as a pair, then genetic mixing will even out this non-random distribution and over time make the organisms in the population more similar to each other.<ref name=Agrawal/> The overall effect of sex on natural variation remains unclear, but recent research suggests that sex usually increases genetic variation and may increase the rate of evolution.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Peters AD, Otto SP |title=Liberating genetic variance through sex |journal=Bioessays |volume=25 |issue=6 |pages=533–7 |year=2003 |pmid=12766942 |doi=10.1002/bies.10291}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Goddard MR, Godfray HC, Burt A |title=Sex increases the efficacy of natural selection in experimental yeast populations |journal=Nature |volume=434 |issue=7033 |pages=636–40 |year=2005 |pmid=15800622 |doi=10.1038/nature03405}}</ref>


Recombination allows even alleles that are close together in a strand of DNA to be [[Mendelian inheritance#Mendel.27s law of segregation|inherited independently]]. However, the rate of recombination is low, since in humans in a stretch of DNA one million [[base pair]]s long there is about a one in a hundred chance of a recombination event occurring per generation. As a result, genes close together on a chromosome may not always be shuffled away from each other, and genes that are close together tend to be inherited together.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Lien S, Szyda J, Schechinger B, Rappold G, Arnheim N |title=Evidence for heterogeneity in recombination in the human pseudoautosomal region: high resolution analysis by sperm typing and radiation-hybrid mapping |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=10677316 |journal=Am. J. Hum. Genet. |volume=66 |issue=2 |pages=557&ndash;66 |year=2000 |pmid=10677316 |doi=10.1086/302754}}</ref> This tendency is measured by finding how often two alleles of different genes occur together, which is called their [[linkage disequilibrium]]. A set of alleles that is usually inherited in a group is called a [[haplotype]].
Adam and Eve
4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- 5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth [d] and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth [e] and there was no man to work the ground, 6 but streams [f] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground- 7 the LORD God formed the man [g] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.


Sexual reproduction helps to remove harmful mutations and retain beneficial mutations.<ref name=Otto>{{cite journal |author=Otto S |title=The advantages of segregation and the evolution of sex |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=12871918 |journal=Genetics |volume=164 |issue=3 |pages=1099&ndash;118 |year=2003 |pmid=12871918}}</ref> Consequently, when alleles cannot be separated by recombination – such as in mammalian [[Y chromosome]]s, which pass intact from fathers to sons – harmful [[Muller's ratchet|mutations accumulate]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Muller H |title=The relation of recombination to mutational advance |journal=Mutat. Res. |volume=106 |issue= |pages=2&ndash;9 |year=1964 |pmid=14195748}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Charlesworth B, Charlesworth D |title=The degeneration of Y chromosomes |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=11127901 |journal=Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. |volume=355 |issue=1403 |pages=1563&ndash;72 |year=2000 |pmid=11127901 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2000.0717}}</ref> In addition, recombination and reassortment can produce individuals with new and advantageous gene combinations. These positive effects are balanced by the fact that this process can cause mutations and separate beneficial combinations of genes.<ref name=Otto/>
10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin [h] and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. [i] 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.


===Population genetics===
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
{{Double image stack |right|Biston.betularia.7200.jpg |Biston.betularia.f.carbonaria.7209.jpg|200| White [[peppered moth]] |Black morph in [[peppered moth evolution]]}}


From a genetic viewpoint, evolution is a ''generation-to-generation change in the frequencies of alleles within a population that shares a common gene pool''.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Stoltzfus A |title=Mutationism and the dual causation of evolutionary change |journal=Evol. Dev. |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=304&ndash;17 |year=2006 |pmid=16686641 |doi=10.1111/j.1525-142X.2006.00101.x}}</ref> A [[population]] is a localized group of individuals belonging to the same species. For example, all of the moths of the same species living in an isolated forest represent a population. A single gene in this population may have several alternate forms, which account for variations between the phenotypes of the organisms. An example might be a gene for coloration in moths that has two alleles: black and white. A [[gene pool]] is the complete set of alleles in a single population, so each allele occurs a certain number of times in a gene pool. The fraction of genes within the gene pool that are a particular allele is called the [[allele frequency]]. Evolution occurs when there are changes in the frequencies of alleles within a population of interbreeding organisms; for example the allele for black color in a population of moths becoming more common.
18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."


To understand the mechanisms that cause a population to evolve, it is useful to consider what conditions are required for a population not to evolve. The ''[[Hardy-Weinberg principle]]'' states that the frequencies of alleles (variations in a gene) in a sufficiently large population will remain constant if the only forces acting on that population are the random reshuffling of alleles during the formation of the sperm or egg, and the random combination of the alleles in these sex cells during [[Fertilisation|fertilization]].<ref name=oneil>{{cite web |url=http://anthro.palomar.edu/synthetic/synth_2.htm|title= Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium Model|accessdate=2008-01-06 |last= O'Neil |first=Dennis |year=2008 |work= The synthetic theory of evolution: An introduction to modern evolutionary concepts and theories|publisher=Behavioral Sciences Department, Palomar College }}</ref> Such a population is said to be in ''Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium'' - it is not evolving.<ref name= Teach2>{{cite web |url=http://www.evoled.org/lessons/speciation.htm|title= Causes of evolution|accessdate=2007-12-30 |last= Bright |first=Kerry |year=2006 |work= Teach Evolution and Make It Relevant |publisher=National Science Foundation}}</ref>
19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
But for Adam [j] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs [k] and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib [l] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.


==Mechanisms==
23 The man said,
Two basic mechanisms produce evolutionary change: [[natural selection]] and [[genetic drift]]. A third is [[gene flow]]. Natural selection favors genes that improve capacity for survival and reproduction. Genetic drift is random change in the frequency of alleles, caused by the random sampling of a generation's genes during reproduction. Gene flow is the transfer of genes within and between populations. The relative importance of natural selection and genetic drift in a population varies depending on the strength of the selection and the [[effective population size]], which is the number of individuals capable of breeding.<ref name=Whitlock>{{cite journal |author=Whitlock M |title=Fixation probability and time in subdivided populations |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=12807795 |journal=Genetics |volume=164 |issue=2 |pages=767&ndash;79 |year=2003 |pmid=12807795}}</ref> Natural selection usually predominates in large populations, while genetic drift dominates in small populations. The dominance of genetic drift in small populations can even lead to the fixation of slightly deleterious mutations.<ref name=Ohta>{{cite journal |author=Ohta T |title=Near-neutrality in evolution of genes and gene regulation |url=http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/252626899v1 |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|PNAS]] |volume=99 |issue=25 |pages=16134&ndash;37 |year=2002 |doi=10.1073/pnas.252626899 |pmid=12461171}}</ref> As a result, changing population size can dramatically influence the course of evolution. [[Population bottleneck]]s, where the population shrinks temporarily and therefore loses genetic variation, result in a more uniform population.<ref name=Amos/> Bottlenecks also result from alterations in gene flow such as decreased migration, [[founder effect|expansions into new habitats]], or population subdivision.<ref name=Whitlock/>
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman, [m] '
for she was taken out of man."


===Natural selection===
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
{{details more|Natural selection|Fitness (biology)}}
[[Image:Mutation and selection diagram.svg|thumb|left|300px|[[Natural selection]] of a population for dark coloration.]]
[[Natural selection]] is the process by which genetic mutations that enhance reproduction become, and remain, more common in successive generations of a population. It has often been called a "self-evident" mechanism because it necessarily follows from three simple facts:
* Heritable variation exists within populations of organisms.
* Organisms produce more offspring than can survive.
* These offspring vary in their ability to survive and reproduce.


These conditions produce competition between organisms for survival and reproduction. Consequently, organisms with traits that give them an advantage over their competitors pass these advantageous traits on, while traits that do not confer an advantage are not passed on to the next generation.
25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.


The central concept of natural selection is the [[fitness (biology)|evolutionary fitness]] of an organism. This measures the organism's genetic contribution to the next generation. However, this is not the same as the total number of offspring: instead fitness measures the proportion of subsequent generations that carry an organism's genes.<ref name=Haldane>{{cite journal |author=Haldane J |title=The theory of natural selection today |journal=Nature |volume=183 |issue=4663 |pages=710&ndash;13 |year=1959 |pmid=13644170 | doi=10.1038/183710a0}}</ref> Consequently, if an allele increases fitness more than the other alleles of that gene, then with each generation this allele will become more common within the population. These traits are said to be "selected ''for''". Examples of traits that can increase fitness are enhanced survival, and increased [[fecundity]]. Conversely, the lower fitness caused by having a less beneficial or deleterious allele results in this allele becoming rarer &mdash; they are "selected ''against''".<ref name=Lande/> Importantly, the fitness of an allele is not a fixed characteristic, if the environment changes, previously neutral or harmful traits may become beneficial and previously beneficial traits become harmful.<ref name="Futuyma"/>.
Genesis 3
The Fall of Man
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "


Natural selection within a population for a trait that can vary across a range of values, such as height, can be categorized into three different types. The first is [[directional selection]], which is a shift in the average value of a trait over time — for example organisms slowly getting taller.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Hoekstra H, Hoekstra J, Berrigan D, Vignieri S, Hoang A, Hill C, Beerli P, Kingsolver J |title=Strength and tempo of directional selection in the wild |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=11470913 |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=98 |issue=16 |pages=9157&ndash;60 |year=2001 |pmid=11470913 |doi=10.1073/pnas.161281098}}</ref> Secondly, [[disruptive selection]] is selection for extreme trait values and often results in [[bimodal distribution|two different values]] becoming most common, with selection against the average value. This would be when either short or tall organisms had an advantage, but not those of medium height. Finally, in [[stabilizing selection]] there is selection against extreme trait values on both ends, which causes a decrease in [[variance]] around the average value.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Felsenstein |title=Excursions along the Interface between Disruptive and Stabilizing Selection |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=17248980 |journal=Genetics |volume=93 |issue=3 |pages=773&ndash;95 |year=1979 |pmid=17248980}}</ref> This would, for example, cause organisms to slowly become all the same height.
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."


A special case of natural selection is [[sexual selection]], which is selection for any trait that increases mating success by increasing the attractiveness of an organism to potential mates.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Andersson M, Simmons L |title=Sexual selection and mate choice |journal=Trends Ecol. Evol. (Amst.) |volume=21 |issue=6 |pages=296&ndash;302 |year=2006 |pmid=16769428 |doi=10.1016/j.tree.2006.03.015}}</ref> Traits that evolved through sexual selection are particularly prominent in males of some animal species, despite traits such as cumbersome antlers, mating calls or bright colors that attract predators, decreasing the survival of individual males.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Kokko H, Brooks R, McNamara J, Houston A |title=The sexual selection continuum |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1691039&blobtype=pdf |journal=Proc. Biol. Sci. |volume=269 |issue=1498 |pages=1331&ndash;40 |year=2002 |pmid=12079655 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2002.2020}}</ref> This survival disadvantage is balanced by higher reproductive success in males that show these [[Handicap principle|hard to fake]], sexually selected traits.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Hunt J, Brooks R, Jennions M, Smith M, Bentsen C, Bussière L |title=High-quality male field crickets invest heavily in sexual display but die young |journal=Nature |volume=432 |issue=7020 |pages=1024&ndash;27 |year=2004 |pmid=15616562 | doi=10.1038/nature03084}}</ref>
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.


An active area of research is the [[unit of selection]], with natural selection being proposed to work at the level of genes, cells, individual organisms, groups of organisms and even species.<ref name=Gould>{{cite journal |author=Gould SJ |title=Gulliver's further travels: the necessity and difficulty of a hierarchical theory of selection |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=9533127 |journal=Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. |volume=353 |issue=1366 |pages=307&ndash;14 |year=1998 |pmid=9533127 |doi=10.1098/rstb.1998.0211}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Mayr E |title=The objects of selection |doi= 10.1073/pnas.94.6.2091 |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=94 |issue=6 |pages=2091&ndash;94 |year=1997 |pmid=9122151}}</ref> None of these models are mutually-exclusive and selection may act on multiple levels simultaneously.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Maynard Smith J |title=The units of selection |journal=Novartis Found. Symp. |volume=213 |pages=203&ndash;11; discussion 211&ndash;17 |year=1998 |pmid=9653725}}</ref> Below the level of the individual, genes called transposons try to copy themselves throughout the [[genome]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Hickey DA |title=Evolutionary dynamics of transposable elements in prokaryotes and eukaryotes |journal=Genetica |volume=86 |issue=1–3 |pages=269&ndash;74 |year=1992 |pmid=1334911 | doi=10.1007/BF00133725}}</ref> Selection at a level above the individual, such as [[group selection]], may allow the evolution of co-operation, as discussed below.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gould SJ, Lloyd EA |title=Individuality and adaptation across levels of selection: how shall we name and generalize the unit of Darwinism? |doi= 10.1073/pnas.96.21.11904 |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=96 |issue=21 |pages=11904&ndash;09 |year=1999 |pmid=10518549}}</ref>
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"


===Genetic drift===
10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
{{details more|Genetic drift|Effective population size}}
[[Image:Allele-frequency.png|thumb|right|250px|Simulation of [[genetic drift]] of 20 unlinked alleles in populations of 10 (top) and 100 (bottom). Drift to [[Fixation (population genetics)|fixation]] is more rapid in the smaller population.]]
Genetic drift is the change in allele frequency from one generation to the next that occurs because alleles in offspring are a [[sampling (statistics)|random sample]] of those in the parents, as well as from the role that chance plays in determining whether a given individual will survive and reproduce.<ref name=Amos/> In mathematical terms, alleles are subject to [[sampling error]]. As a result, when selective forces are absent or relatively weak, allele frequencies tend to "drift" upward or downward randomly (in a [[random walk]]). This drift halts when an allele eventually becomes [[Fixation (population genetics)|fixed]], either by disappearing from the population, or replacing the other alleles entirely. Genetic drift may therefore eliminate some alleles from a population due to chance alone. Even in the absence of selective forces, genetic drift can cause two separate populations which began with the same genetic structure to drift apart into two divergent populations with different sets of alleles.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Lande R |title=Fisherian and Wrightian theories of speciation |journal=Genome |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=221&ndash;27 |year=1989 |pmid=2687093}}</ref>


The time for an allele to become fixed by genetic drift depends on population size, with fixation occurring more rapidly in smaller populations.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Otto S, Whitlock M |title=The probability of fixation in populations of changing size |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=9178020 |journal=Genetics |volume=146 |issue=2 |pages=723&ndash;33 |year=1997 |pmid=9178020}}</ref> The precise measure of populations that is important here is called the [[effective population size]], which was defined by [[Sewall Wright]] as a theoretical number representing the number of breeding individuals that would exhibit the same observed degree of inbreeding.
11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"


Although natural selection is responsible for adaptation, the relative importance of the two forces of natural selection and genetic drift in driving evolutionary change in general is an area of current research in evolutionary biology.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Nei M |title=Selectionism and neutralism in molecular evolution |doi= 10.1093/molbev/msi242 |journal=Mol. Biol. Evol. |volume=22 |issue=12 |pages=2318&ndash;42 |year=2005 |pmid=16120807}}</ref> These investigations were prompted by the [[neutral theory of molecular evolution]], which proposed that most evolutionary changes are the result of the fixation of [[neutral mutation]]s that do not have any immediate effects on the fitness of an organism.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Kimura M |title=The neutral theory of molecular evolution: a review of recent evidence |url=http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjg/66/4/66_367/_article |journal=Jpn. J. Genet. |volume=66 |issue=4 |pages=367&ndash;86 |year=1991 |pmid=1954033 |doi=10.1266/jjg.66.367}}</ref> Hence, in this model, most genetic changes in a population are the result of constant mutation pressure and genetic drift.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Kimura M |title=The neutral theory of molecular evolution and the world view of the neutralists |journal=Genome |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=24&ndash;31 |year=1989 |pmid=2687096}}</ref>
12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."


===Gene flow===
13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"
{{details more|Gene flow|Hybrid (biology)|Horizontal gene transfer}}
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
[[Image:Lion waiting in Nambia.jpg|250px|thumb|left|Male [[lion]]s leave the pride where they are born and take over a new pride to mate. This results in [[gene flow]] between prides.]]
[[Gene flow]] is the exchange of genes between populations, which are usually of the same species.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Morjan C, Rieseberg L |title=How species evolve collectively: implications of gene flow and selection for the spread of advantageous alleles |journal=Mol. Ecol. |volume=13 |issue=6 |pages=1341&ndash;56 |year=2004 |pmid=15140081 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-294X.2004.02164.x}}</ref> Examples of gene flow within a species include the migration and then breeding of organisms, or the exchange of [[pollen]]. Gene transfer between species includes the formation of [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] organisms and [[horizontal gene transfer]].


Migration into or out of a population can change allele frequencies, as well as introducing genetic variation into a population. Immigration may add new genetic material to the established [[gene pool]] of a population. Conversely, emigration may remove genetic material. As [[reproductive isolation|barriers to reproduction]] between two diverging populations are required for the populations to [[speciation|become new species]], gene flow may slow this process by spreading genetic differences between the populations. Gene flow is hindered by mountain ranges, oceans and deserts or even man-made structures such as the [[Great Wall of China]], which has hindered the flow of plant genes.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Su H, Qu L, He K, Zhang Z, Wang J, Chen Z, Gu H |title=The Great Wall of China: a physical barrier to gene flow? |journal=Heredity |volume=90 |issue=3 |pages=212&ndash;19 |year=2003 |pmid=12634804 |doi=10.1038/sj.hdy.6800237}}</ref>
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
"Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.


Depending on how far two species have diverged since their [[most recent common ancestor]], it may still be possible for them to produce offspring, as with [[horse]]s and [[donkey]]s mating to produce [[mule]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Short RV |title=The contribution of the mule to scientific thought |journal=J. Reprod. Fertil. Suppl. |issue=23 |pages=359&ndash;64 |year=1975 |pmid=1107543}}</ref> Such [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]]s are generally [[infertility|infertile]], due to the two different sets of chromosomes being unable to pair up during [[meiosis]]. In this case, closely-related species may regularly interbreed, but hybrids will be selected against and the species will remain distinct. However, viable hybrids are occasionally formed and these new species can either have properties intermediate between their parent species, or possess a totally new phenotype.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gross B, Rieseberg L |title=The ecological genetics of homoploid hybrid speciation |doi= 10.1093/jhered/esi026 |journal=J. Hered. |volume=96 |issue=3 |pages=241&ndash;52 |year=2005 |pmid=15618301}}</ref> The importance of hybridization in creating [[hybrid speciation|new species]] of animals is unclear, although cases have been seen in many types of animals,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Burke JM, Arnold ML |title=Genetics and the fitness of hybrids |journal=Annu. Rev. Genet. |volume=35 |issue= |pages=31–52 |year=2001 |pmid=11700276 |doi=10.1146/annurev.genet.35.102401.085719 }}</ref> with the [[gray tree frog]] being a particularly well-studied example.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Vrijenhoek RC |title=Polyploid hybrids: multiple origins of a treefrog species |journal=Curr. Biol. |volume=16 |issue=7 | pages = R245 |year=2006 |pmid=16581499 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2006.03.005 }}</ref>
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring [n] and hers;
he will crush [o] your head,
and you will strike his heel."


Hybridization is, however, an important means of speciation in plants, since [[polyploidy]] (having more than two copies of each chromosome) is tolerated in plants more readily than in animals.<ref name=Wendel>{{cite journal |author=Wendel J |title=Genome evolution in polyploids |journal=Plant Mol. Biol. |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=225&ndash;49 |year=2000 |pmid=10688139 |doi=10.1023/A:1006392424384 }}</ref><ref name=Semon>{{cite journal |author=Sémon M, Wolfe KH |title=Consequences of genome duplication |journal=Curr Opin Genet Dev |volume=17 |issue=6 |pages=505–12 |year=2007 |pmid=18006297 |doi=10.1016/j.gde.2007.09.007 }}</ref> Polyploidy is important in hybrids as it allows reproduction, with the two different sets of chromosomes each being able to pair with an identical partner during meiosis.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Comai L |title=The advantages and disadvantages of being polyploid |journal=Nat. Rev. Genet. |volume=6 |issue=11 |pages=836&ndash;46 |year=2005 |pmid=16304599 |doi=10.1038/nrg1711 }}</ref> Polyploids also have more genetic diversity, which allows them to avoid [[inbreeding depression]] in small populations.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Soltis P, Soltis D |title=The role of genetic and genomic attributes in the success of polyploids |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=10860970 |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=97 |issue=13 |pages=7051&ndash;57 |year=2000 |pmid=10860970 |doi=10.1073/pnas.97.13.7051 }}</ref>
16 To the woman he said,
"I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;
with pain you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you."


[[Horizontal gene transfer]] is the transfer of genetic material from one organism to another organism that is not its offspring; this is most common among [[bacteria]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Boucher Y, Douady CJ, Papke RT, Walsh DA, Boudreau ME, Nesbo CL, Case RJ, Doolittle WF |title=Lateral gene transfer and the origins of prokaryotic groups |doi=10.1146/annurev.genet.37.050503.084247 |journal=Annu Rev Genet |volume=37 |pages=283&ndash;328 |year=2003 |pmid=14616063}}</ref> In medicine, this contributes to the spread of [[antibiotic resistance]], as when one bacteria acquires resistance genes it can rapidly transfer them to other species.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Walsh T |title=Combinatorial genetic evolution of multiresistance |journal=Curr. Opin. Microbiol. |volume=9 |issue=5 |pages=476&ndash;82 |year=2006 |pmid=16942901 |doi=10.1016/j.mib.2006.08.009 }}</ref> Horizontal transfer of genes from bacteria to eukaryotes such as the yeast ''[[Saccharomyces cerevisiae]]'' and the adzuki bean beetle ''Callosobruchus chinensis'' may also have occurred.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Kondo N, Nikoh N, Ijichi N, Shimada M, Fukatsu T |title=Genome fragment of Wolbachia endosymbiont transferred to X chromosome of host insect |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=99 |issue=22 |pages=14280&ndash;85 |year=2002 |pmid=12386340 |doi=10.1073/pnas.222228199 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Sprague G |title=Genetic exchange between kingdoms |journal=Curr. Opin. Genet. Dev. |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=530&ndash;33 |year=1991 |pmid=1822285 |doi=10.1016/S0959-437X(05)80203-5}}</ref> An example of larger-scale transfers are the eukaryotic [[Bdelloidea|bdelloid rotifers]], which appear to have received a range of genes from bacteria, fungi, and plants.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gladyshev EA, Meselson M, Arkhipova IR |title=Massive horizontal gene transfer in bdelloid rotifers |journal=Science (journal) |volume=320 |issue=5880 |pages=1210–3 |year=2008 |month=May |pmid=18511688 |doi=10.1126/science.1156407}}</ref> [[Virus]]es can also carry DNA between organisms, allowing transfer of genes even across [[domain (biology)|biological domains]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Baldo A, McClure M |title=Evolution and horizontal transfer of dUTPase-encoding genes in viruses and their hosts |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=10438861 |journal=J. Virol. |volume=73 |issue=9 |pages=7710&ndash;21 |year=1999 |pmid=10438861}}</ref> Large-scale gene transfer has also occurred between the ancestors of [[eukaryote|eukaryotic cells]] and prokaryotes, during the acquisition of [[chloroplast]]s and [[Mitochondrion|mitochondria]]l.<ref name = "rgruqh">{{cite journal |author=Poole A, Penny D |title=Evaluating hypotheses for the origin of eukaryotes |journal=Bioessays |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=74&ndash;84 |year=2007 |pmid=17187354 |doi=10.1002/bies.20516 }}</ref>
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'
"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.


==Outcomes==
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
Evolution influences every aspect of the form and behavior of organisms. Most prominent are the specific behavioral and physical [[adaptation]]s that are the outcome of natural selection. These adaptations increase fitness by aiding activities such as finding food, avoiding predators or attracting mates. Organisms can also respond to selection by [[Co-operation (evolution)|co-operating]] with each other, usually by aiding their relatives or engaging in mutually-beneficial [[symbiosis]]. In the longer term, evolution produces new species through splitting ancestral populations of organisms into new groups that cannot or will not interbreed.
and you will eat the plants of the field.


These outcomes of evolution are sometimes divided into [[macroevolution]], which is evolution that occurs at or above the level of species, such as [[extinction]] and [[speciation]], and [[microevolution]], which is smaller evolutionary changes, such as adaptations, within a species or population. In general, macroevolution is regarded as the outcome of long periods of microevolution.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Hendry AP, Kinnison MT |title=An introduction to microevolution: rate, pattern, process |journal=Genetica |volume=112–113 |issue= |pages=1–8 |year=2001 |pmid=11838760 |doi=10.1023/A:1013368628607}}</ref> Thus, the distinction between micro- and macroevolution is not a fundamental one - the difference is simply the time involved.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Leroi AM |title=The scale independence of evolution |journal=Evol. Dev. |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=67–77 |year=2000 |pmid=11258392 |doi=10.1046/j.1525-142x.2000.00044.x }}</ref> However, in macroevolution, the traits of the entire species may be important. For instance, a large amount of variation among individuals allows a species to rapidly adapt to new habitats, lessening the chance of it going extinct, while a wide geographic range increases the chance of speciation, by making it more likely that part of the population will become isolated. In this sense, microevolution and macroevolution might involve selection at different levels - with microevolution acting on genes and organisms, versus macroevolutionary processes acting on entire species and affecting the rate of speciation and extinction.<ref>{{wikiref |id=Gould-2002 |text=Gould 2002, pp. 657–658}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Gould SJ |title=Tempo and mode in the macroevolutionary reconstruction of Darwinism |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=91 |issue=15 |pages=6764–71 |year=1994 |month=July |pmid=8041695 |pmc=44281 |url=http://www.pnas.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=8041695}}</ref><ref name=Jablonski2000>{{cite journal | author = Jablonski, D. | year = 2000 | title = Micro- and macroevolution: scale and hierarchy in evolutionary biology and paleobiology | journal = Paleobiology | volume = 26 | issue = sp4 | pages = 15–52 | doi = 10.1666/0094-8373(2000)26[15:MAMSAH]2.0.CO;2 | url = http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-abstract}}</ref>
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return."


A common misconception is that evolution is "progressive," but natural selection has no long-term goal and does not necessarily produce greater complexity.<ref>[http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_question.cfm?articleID=00071863-683B-1C72-9EB7809EC588F2D7 Scientific American; Biology: Is the human race evolving or devolving?], see also [[Devolution (biological fallacy)|biological devolution]].</ref> Although [[evolution of complexity|complex species]] have evolved, this occurs as a side effect of the overall number of organisms increasing, and simple forms of life remain more common.<ref name=Carroll>{{cite journal |author=Carroll SB |title=Chance and necessity: the evolution of morphological complexity and diversity |journal=Nature |volume=409 |issue=6823 |pages=1102–09 |year=2001 |pmid=11234024 |doi=10.1038/35059227 }}</ref> For example, the overwhelming majority of species are microscopic [[prokaryote]]s, which form about half the world's [[biomass]] despite their small size,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Whitman W, Coleman D, Wiebe W |title=Prokaryotes: the unseen majority |doi= 10.1073/pnas.95.12.6578 |journal=Proc Natl Acad Sci U S a |volume=95 |issue=12 |pages=6578–83 |year=1998|pmid=9618454}}</ref> and constitute the vast majority of Earth's biodiversity.<ref name=Schloss>{{cite journal |author=Schloss P, Handelsman J |title=Status of the microbial census |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=15590780#r6 |journal=Microbiol Mol Biol Rev |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=686–91 |year=2004 |pmid=15590780 |doi=10.1128/MMBR.68.4.686-691.2004 }}</ref> Simple organisms have therefore been the dominant form of life on Earth throughout its history and continue to be the main form of life up to the present day, with complex life only appearing more diverse because it is [[biased sample|more noticeable]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Nealson K |title=Post-Viking microbiology: new approaches, new data, new insights |journal=Orig Life Evol Biosph |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=73–93 |year=1999 |pmid=11536899 |doi=10.1023/A:1006515817767 }}</ref>
20 Adam [p] named his wife Eve, [q] because she would become the mother of all the living.


===Adaptation===
21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." 23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side [r] of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
{{details|Adaptation}}
Adaptations are structures or behaviors that enhance a specific function, causing organisms to become better at surviving and reproducing.<ref name=Darwin/> They are produced by a combination of the continuous production of small, random changes in traits, followed by natural selection of the variants best-suited for their environment.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Orr H |title=The genetic theory of adaptation: a brief history |journal=Nat. Rev. Genet. |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=119–27 |year=2005 |pmid=15716908 |doi=10.1038/nrg1523 }}</ref> This process can cause either the gain of a new feature, or the loss of an ancestral feature. An example that shows both types of change is bacterial adaptation to [[antibiotic]] selection, with genetic changes causing [[antibiotic resistance]] by both modifying the target of the drug, or increasing the activity of transporters that pump the drug out of the cell.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Nakajima A, Sugimoto Y, Yoneyama H, Nakae T |title=High-level fluoroquinolone resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa due to interplay of the MexAB-OprM efflux pump and the DNA gyrase mutation |url=http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/mandi/46/6/46_391/_article/-char/en |journal=Microbiol. Immunol. |volume=46 |issue=6 |pages=391–95 |year=2002 |pmid=12153116}}</ref> Other striking examples are the bacteria ''[[Escherichia coli]]'' evolving the ability to use [[citric acid]] as a nutrient in a [[E. coli long-term evolution experiment|long-term laboratory experiment]],<ref>{{cite journal |author=Blount ZD, Borland CZ, Lenski RE |title=Inaugural Article: Historical contingency and the evolution of a key innovation in an experimental population of Escherichia coli |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=105 |issue=23 |pages=7899–7906 |year=2008 |month=June |pmid=18524956 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0803151105 |url=http://www.pnas.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=18524956}}</ref> or ''[[Flavobacterium]]'' evolving a novel enzyme that allows these bacteria to grow on the by-products of [[nylon]] manufacturing.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Okada H, Negoro S, Kimura H, Nakamura S |title=Evolutionary adaptation of plasmid-encoded enzymes for degrading nylon oligomers |journal=Nature |volume=306 |issue=5939 |pages=203–6 |year=1983 |pmid=6646204 |doi=10.1038/306203a0}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Ohno S |title=Birth of a unique enzyme from an alternative reading frame of the preexisted, internally repetitious coding sequence |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=81 |issue=8 |pages=2421–5 |year=1984 |month=April |pmid=6585807 |pmc=345072 |url=http://www.pnas.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=6585807 |doi=10.1073/pnas.81.8.2421}}</ref>


However, many traits that appear to be simple adaptations are in fact [[exaptation]]s: structures originally adapted for one function, but which coincidentally became somewhat useful for some other function in the process.<ref name=GouldStructP1235>{{wikiref |id=Gould-2002 |text=Gould 2002, pp. 1235–1236}} </ref> One example is the African lizard ''Holaspis guentheri'', which developed an extremely flat head for hiding in crevices, as can be seen by looking at its near relatives. However, in this species, the head has become so flattened that it assists in gliding from tree to tree—an [[exaptation]].<ref name=GouldStructP1235/> Another is the recruitment of enzymes from [[glycolysis]] and [[xenobiotic metabolism]] to serve as structural proteins called [[crystallin]]s within the lenses of organisms' [[eye]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Piatigorsky J, Kantorow M, Gopal-Srivastava R, Tomarev SI |title=Recruitment of enzymes and stress proteins as lens crystallins |journal=EXS |volume=71 |issue= |pages=241–50 |year=1994 |pmid=8032155}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Wistow G |title=Lens crystallins: gene recruitment and evolutionary dynamism |journal=Trends Biochem. Sci. |volume=18 |issue=8 |pages=301–6 |year=1993 |month=August |pmid=8236445 |doi=10.1016/0968-0004(93)90041-K}}</ref>
Genesis 4
Cain and Abel
1 Adam [s] lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. [t] She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth [u] a man." 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."


[[Image:Whale skeleton.png|350px|thumb|right|A [[baleen whale]] skeleton, ''a'' and ''b'' label [[flipper (anatomy)|flipper]] bones, which were [[adaptation|adapted]] from front [[leg]] bones: while ''c'' indicates [[Vestigiality|vestigial]] leg bones.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Bejder L, Hall BK |title=Limbs in whales and limblessness in other vertebrates: mechanisms of evolutionary and developmental transformation and loss |journal=Evol. Dev. |volume=4 |issue=6 |pages=445–58 |year=2002 |pmid=12492145 |doi=10.1046/j.1525-142X.2002.02033.x }}</ref>]]
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." [v] And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
As adaptation occurs through the gradual modification of existing structures, structures with similar internal organization may have very different functions in related organisms. This is the result of a single [[homology (biology)|ancestral structure]] being adapted to function in different ways. The bones within bat wings, for example, are structurally similar to both human hands and seal flippers, due to the common descent of these structures from an ancestor that also had five digits at the end of each forelimb. Other idiosyncratic anatomical features, such as [[sesamoid bone|bones in the wrist]] of the [[Giant Panda|panda]] being formed into a false "thumb," indicate that an organism's evolutionary lineage can limit what adaptations are possible.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Salesa MJ, Antón M, Peigné S, Morales J |title=Evidence of a false thumb in a fossil carnivore clarifies the evolution of pandas |url=http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/103/2/379 |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.]] |volume=103 |issue=2 |pages=379–82 |year=2006 |pmid=16387860 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0504899102}}</ref>


During adaptation, some structures may lose their original function and become [[vestigial structure]]s.<ref name=Fong>{{cite journal |author=Fong D, Kane T, Culver D |title=Vestigialization and Loss of Nonfunctional Characters |url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0066-4162%281995%2926%3C249%3AVALONC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-2 |journal=Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. |volume=26 |pages=249–68 |year=1995 |doi=10.1146/annurev.es.26.110195.001341}}</ref> Such structures may have little or no function in a current species, yet have a clear function in ancestral species, or other closely-related species. Examples include [[pseudogene]]s,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Zhang Z, Gerstein M |title=Large-scale analysis of pseudogenes in the human genome |journal=Curr. Opin. Genet. Dev. |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=328–35 |year=2004 |month=August |pmid=15261647 |doi=10.1016/j.gde.2004.06.003}}</ref> the non-functional remains of eyes in blind cave-dwelling fish,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Jeffery WR |title=Adaptive evolution of eye degeneration in the Mexican blind cavefish |doi= 10.1093/jhered/esi028 |journal=J. Hered. |volume=96 |issue=3 |pages=185–96 |year=2005 |pmid=15653557}}</ref> wings in flightless birds,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Maxwell EE, Larsson HC |title=Osteology and myology of the wing of the Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae), and its bearing on the evolution of vestigial structures |journal=J. Morphol. |volume=268 |issue=5 |pages=423–41 |year=2007 |pmid=17390336 |doi=10.1002/jmor.10527 }}</ref> and the presence of hip bones in whales and snakes.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Bejder L, Hall BK |title=Limbs in whales and limblessness in other vertebrates: mechanisms of evolutionary and developmental transformation and loss |journal=Evol. Dev. |volume=4 |issue=6 |pages=445–58 |year=2002 |pmid=12492145 |doi=10.1046/j.1525-142X.2002.02033.x }}</ref> Examples of vestigial structures in humans include [[wisdom teeth]],<ref>{{cite journal |author=Silvestri AR, Singh I |title=The unresolved problem of the third molar: would people be better off without it? |url=http://jada.ada.org/cgi/content/full/134/4/450 |journal=Journal of the American Dental Association (1939) |volume=134 |issue=4 |pages=450–55 |year=2003 |pmid=12733778 |doi=10.1146/annurev.es.26.110195.001341}}</ref> the [[coccyx]],<ref name=Fong/> and the [[vermiform appendix]].<ref name=Fong/>
9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"
"I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"


An area of current investigation in [[evolutionary developmental biology]] is the [[Developmental biology|developmental]] basis of adaptations and exaptations.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Johnson NA, Porter AH |title=Toward a new synthesis: population genetics and evolutionary developmental biology |journal=Genetica |volume=112–113 |issue= |pages=45–58 |year=2001 |pmid=11838782 |doi=10.1023/A:1013371201773}}</ref> This research addresses the origin and evolution of [[Embryogenesis|embryonic development]] and how modifications of development and developmental processes produce novel features.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Baguñà J, Garcia-Fernàndez J |title=Evo-Devo: the long and winding road |url=http://www.ijdb.ehu.es/web/paper.php?doi=14756346 |journal=Int. J. Dev. Biol. |volume=47 |issue=7–8 |pages=705–13 |year=2003 |pmid=14756346}}<br />*{{cite journal |author=Gilbert SF |title=The morphogenesis of evolutionary developmental biology |journal=Int. J. Dev. Biol. |volume=47 |issue=7–8 |pages=467–77 |year=2003 |pmid=14756322}}</ref> These studies have shown that evolution can alter development to create new structures, such as embryonic bone structures that develop into the jaw in other animals instead forming part of the middle ear in mammals.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Allin EF |title=Evolution of the mammalian middle ear |journal=J. Morphol. |volume=147 |issue=4 |pages=403–37 |year=1975 |pmid=1202224 |doi=10.1002/jmor.1051470404 }}</ref> It is also possible for structures that have been lost in evolution to reappear due to changes in developmental genes, such as a mutation in [[chicken]]s causing embryos to grow teeth similar to those of [[crocodile]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Harris MP, Hasso SM, Ferguson MW, Fallon JF |title=The development of archosaurian first-generation teeth in a chicken mutant |journal=Curr. Biol. |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=371–77 |year=2006 |pmid=16488870 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2005.12.047 }}</ref> It is now becoming clear that most alterations in the form of organisms are due to changes in the level and timing of the expression of a small set of conserved genes.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Carroll SB |title=Evo-devo and an expanding evolutionary synthesis: a genetic theory of morphological evolution |journal=Cell |volume=134 |issue=1 |pages=25–36 |year=2008 |month=July |pmid=18614008 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2008.06.030}}</ref>
10 The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."


===Co-evolution===
13 Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."
{{details more|Co-evolution}}
Interactions between organisms can produce both conflict and co-operation. When the interaction is between pairs of species, such as a [[pathogen]] and a [[host (biology)|host]], or a [[Predation|predator]] and its prey, these species can develop matched sets of adaptations. Here, the evolution of one species causes adaptations in a second species. These changes in the second species then, in turn, cause new adaptations in the first species. This cycle of selection and response is called [[co-evolution]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Wade MJ |title=The co-evolutionary genetics of ecological communities |journal=Nat. Rev. Genet. |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=185–95 |year=2007 |pmid=17279094 |doi=10.1038/nrg2031 }}</ref> An example is the production of [[tetrodotoxin]] in the [[rough-skinned newt]] and the evolution of tetrodotoxin resistance in its predator, the [[Common Garter Snake|common garter snake]]. In this predator-prey pair, an [[evolutionary arms race]] has produced high levels of toxin in the newt and correspondingly high levels of resistance in the snake.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Geffeney S, Brodie ED, Ruben PC, Brodie ED |title=Mechanisms of adaptation in a predator-prey arms race: TTX-resistant sodium channels |journal=Science |volume=297 |issue=5585 |pages=1336–9 |year=2002 |pmid=12193784 |doi=10.1126/science.1074310 }}<br />*{{cite journal |author=Brodie ED, Ridenhour BJ, Brodie ED |title=The evolutionary response of predators to dangerous prey: hotspots and coldspots in the geographic mosaic of coevolution between garter snakes and newts |journal=Evolution |volume=56 |issue=10 |pages=2067–82 |year=2002 |pmid=12449493}}</ref>


===Co-operation===
15 But the LORD said to him, "Not so [w] ; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived in the land of Nod, [x] east of Eden.
{{details more|Co-operation (evolution)}}
However, not all interactions between species involve conflict.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Sachs J |title=Cooperation within and among species |journal=J. Evol. Biol. |volume=19 |issue=5 |pages=1415–8; discussion 1426–36 |year=2006 |pmid=16910971 |doi=10.1111/j.1420-9101.2006.01152.x }}<br />*{{cite journal |author=Nowak M |title=Five rules for the evolution of cooperation |journal=Science |volume=314 |issue=5805 |pages=1560–63 |year=2006 |pmid=17158317 |doi=10.1126/science.1133755 }}</ref> Many cases of mutually beneficial interactions have evolved. For instance, an extreme cooperation exists between plants and the [[Mycorrhiza|mycorrhizal fungi]] that grow on their roots and aid the plant in absorbing nutrients from the soil.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Paszkowski U |title=Mutualism and parasitism: the yin and yang of plant symbioses |journal=Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=364–70 |year=2006 |pmid=16713732 |doi=10.1016/j.pbi.2006.05.008 }}</ref> This is a [[Reciprocity (evolution)|reciprocal]] relationship as the plants provide the fungi with sugars from photosynthesis. Here, the fungi actually grow inside plant cells, allowing them to exchange nutrients with their hosts, while sending [[signal transduction|signals]] that suppress the plant [[immune system]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Hause B, Fester T |title=Molecular and cell biology of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis |journal=Planta |volume=221 |issue=2 |pages=184–96 |year=2005 |pmid=15871030 |doi=10.1007/s00425-004-1436-x }}</ref>


Coalitions between organisms of the same species have also evolved. An extreme case is the [[eusociality]] found in [[Eusociality|social insect]]s, such as [[bee]]s, [[termite]]s and [[ant]]s, where sterile insects feed and guard the small number of organisms in a [[Colony (biology)|colony]] that are able to reproduce. On an even smaller scale, the [[somatic cell]]s that make up the body of an animal limit their reproduction so they can maintain a stable organism, which then supports a small number of the animal's [[germ cell]]s to produce offspring. Here, somatic cells respond to specific signals that instruct them to either [[growth factor|grow]] or [[Apoptosis|kill themselves]]. If cells ignore these signals and attempt to multiply inappropriately, their uncontrolled growth causes [[cancer]].<ref name=Bertram/>
17 Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.


These examples of cooperation within species are thought to have evolved through the process of [[kin selection]], which is where one organism acts to help raise a relative's offspring.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Reeve HK, Hölldobler B |title=The emergence of a superorganism through intergroup competition |doi= 10.1073/pnas.0703466104 |journal=Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. |volume=104 |issue=23 |pages=9736–40 |year=2007 |pmid=17517608}}</ref> This activity is selected for because if the ''helping'' individual contains alleles which promote the helping activity, it is likely that its kin will ''also'' contain these alleles and thus those alleles will be passed on.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Axelrod R, Hamilton W |title=The evolution of cooperation |journal=Science |volume=211 |issue=4489 |pages=1390–96 | year = 2005 |pmid=7466396 |doi=10.1126/science.7466396 }}</ref> Other processes that may promote cooperation include [[group selection]], where cooperation provides benefits to a group of organisms.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Wilson EO, Hölldobler B |title=Eusociality: origin and consequences |doi= 10.1073/pnas.0505858102 |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=102 |issue=38 |pages=13367–71 |year=2005 |pmid=16157878}}</ref>
19 Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. 21 His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute. 22 Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of [y] bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain's sister was Naamah.


===Speciation===
23 Lamech said to his wives,
{{details more|Speciation}}
"Adah and Zillah, listen to me;
[[Image:Speciation modes edit.svg|left|thumb|300px|The four mechanisms of [[speciation]].]]
wives of Lamech, hear my words.
[[Speciation]] is the process where a species diverges into two or more descendant species.<ref name=Gavrilets>{{cite journal |author=Gavrilets S |title=Perspective: models of speciation: what have we learned in 40 years? |journal=Evolution |volume=57 |issue=10 |pages=2197–215 |year=2003 |pmid=14628909 |doi=10.1554/02-727}}</ref> It has been observed multiple times under both controlled laboratory conditions and in nature.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Rice, W.R. | coauthors = Hostert, E.E. | year = 1993 | title = Laboratory experiments on speciation: what have we learned in 40 years | journal = Evolution | volume = 47 | issue = 6 | pages = 1637–1653
I have killed [z] a man for wounding me,
| url = http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0014-3820(199312)47%3A6%3C1637%3ALEOSWH%3E2.0.CO%3B2-T | accessdate = 2008-05-19 | doi = 10.2307/2410209
a young man for injuring me.
}}<br />*{{cite journal |author=Jiggins CD, Bridle JR |title=Speciation in the apple maggot fly: a blend of vintages? |journal=Trends Ecol. Evol. (Amst.) |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=111–4 |year=2004 |pmid=16701238 |doi=10.1016/j.tree.2003.12.008}}<br />*{{cite web|author=Boxhorn, J|year=1995|url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-speciation.html|title=Observed Instances of Speciation|publisher=The TalkOrigins Archive|accessdate=2007-05-10}}<br />*{{cite journal |author=Weinberg JR, Starczak VR, Jorg, D |title=Evidence for Rapid Speciation Following a Founder Event in the Laboratory |journal=Evolution |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=1214–20 |year=1992 |doi=10.2307/2409766}}</ref> In sexually-reproducing organisms, speciation results from reproductive isolation followed by genealogical divergence. There are four mechanisms for speciation. The most common in animals is [[allopatric speciation]], which occurs in populations initially isolated geographically, such as by [[habitat fragmentation]] or migration. Selection under these conditions can produce very rapid changes in the appearance and behaviour of organisms.<ref>{{cite journal |year=2008 |title=Rapid large-scale evolutionary divergence in morphology and performance associated with exploitation of a different dietary resource |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=105 |issue=12 |pages=4792–5 |pmid=18344323 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0711998105 | author= Herrel, A.; Huyghe, K.; Vanhooydonck, B.; Backeljau, T.; Breugelmans, K.; Grbac, I.; Van Damme, R.; Irschick, D.J.}}</ref><ref name=Losos1997>{{cite journal |year=1997 |title=Adaptive differentiation following experimental island colonization in Anolis lizards| journal=Nature |volume=387 |issue=6628 |pages=70–73 |doi=10.1038/387070a0 |author=Losos, J.B. Warhelt, K.I. Schoener, T.W.}}</ref> As selection and drift act independently on populations isolated from the rest of their species, separation may eventually produce organisms that cannot interbreed.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Hoskin CJ, Higgle M, McDonald KR, Moritz C |year=2005 |title=Reinforcement drives rapid allopatric speciation |journal=Nature |volume=437 |pages =1353–356|doi=10.1038/nature04004}}</ref>


The second mechanism of speciation is [[peripatric speciation]], which occurs when small populations of organisms become isolated in a new environment. This differs from allopatric speciation in that the isolated populations are numerically much smaller than the parental population. Here, the [[founder effect]] causes rapid speciation through both rapid genetic drift and selection on a small gene pool.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Templeton AR |title=The theory of speciation via the founder principle |url=http://www.genetics.org/cgi/reprint/94/4/1011 |journal=Genetics |volume=94 |issue=4 |pages=1011–38 |year=1980 |pmid=6777243}}</ref>
24 If Cain is avenged seven times,
then Lamech seventy-seven times."


The third mechanism of speciation is [[parapatric speciation]]. This is similar to peripatric speciation in that a small population enters a new habitat, but differs in that there is no physical separation between these two populations. Instead, speciation results from the evolution of mechanisms that reduce gene flow between the two populations.<ref name=Gavrilets/> Generally this occurs when there has been a drastic change in the environment within the parental species' habitat. One example is the grass ''[[Anthoxanthum|Anthoxanthum odoratum]]'', which can undergo parapatric speciation in response to localized metal pollution from mines.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Antonovics J |title=Evolution in closely adjacent plant populations X: long-term persistence of prereproductive isolation at a mine boundary |journal=Heredity |volume=97 |issue=1 |pages=33–37 |year=2006 |pmid=16639420 |url=http://www.nature.com/hdy/journal/v97/n1/full/6800835a.html |doi=10.1038/sj.hdy.6800835 }}</ref> Here, plants evolve that have resistance to high levels of metals in the soil. Selection against interbreeding with the metal-sensitive parental population produces a change in flowering time of the metal-resistant plants, causing reproductive isolation. Selection against hybrids between the two populations may cause ''reinforcement'', which is the evolution of traits that promote mating within a species, as well as [[character displacement]], which is when two species become more distinct in appearance.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Nosil P, Crespi B, Gries R, Gries G |title=Natural selection and divergence in mate preference during speciation |journal=Genetica |volume=129 |issue=3 |pages=309–27 |year=2007 |pmid=16900317 |doi=10.1007/s10709-006-0013-6 }}</ref>
25 Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, [aa] saying, "God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him." 26 Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh.
At that time men began to call on [ab] the name of the LORD.


[[Image:Darwin's finches cropped.jpeg|frame|right|[[Geographical isolation]] of [[Darwin's finches|finches]] on the [[Galápagos Islands]] produced over a dozen new species.]]
Genesis 5
Finally, in [[sympatric speciation]] species diverge without geographic isolation or changes in habitat. This form is rare since even a small amount of [[gene flow]] may remove genetic differences between parts of a population.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Savolainen V, Anstett M-C, Lexer C, Hutton I, Clarkson JJ, Norup MV, Powell MP, Springate D, Salamin N, Baker WJr |year=2006 |title=Sympatric speciation in palms on an oceanic island |journal=Nature |volume=441 |pages=210–13 | pmid=16467788 |doi=10.1038/nature04566}}<br />*{{cite journal| author=Barluenga M, Stölting KN, Salzburger W, Muschick M, Meyer A |year=2006 |title=Sympatric speciation in Nicaraguan crater lake cichlid fish |journal=Nature |volume=439 |pages=719–723 |pmid=16467837 |doi=10.1038/nature04325}}</ref> Generally, sympatric speciation in animals requires the evolution of both [[Polymorphism (biology)|genetic differences]] and [[assortative mating|non-random mating]], to allow reproductive isolation to evolve.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gavrilets S |title=The Maynard Smith model of sympatric speciation |journal=J. Theor. Biol. |volume=239 |issue=2 |pages=172–82 |year=2006 |pmid=16242727 |doi=10.1016/j.jtbi.2005.08.041 }}</ref>
From Adam to Noah
1 This is the written account of Adam's line.
When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them "man. [ac] "
3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. 4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 5 Altogether, Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.


One type of sympatric speciation involves cross-breeding of two related species to produce a new [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] species. This is not common in animals as animal hybrids are usually sterile, because during [[meiosis]] the [[homologous chromosome]]s from each parent, being from different species cannot successfully pair. It is more common in plants, however because plants often double their number of chromosomes, to form [[polyploidy|polyploids]]. This allows the chromosomes from each parental species to form a matching pair during meiosis, as each parent's chromosomes is represented by a pair already.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Hegarty Mf, Hiscock SJ |title=Genomic clues to the evolutionary success of polyploid plants |journal=Current Biology |volume=18 |issue=10 |pages=435–44 |year=2008 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2008.03.043}}</ref> An example of such a speciation event is when the plant species ''[[Arabidopsis thaliana]]'' and ''Arabidopsis arenosa'' cross-bred to give the new species ''Arabidopsis suecica''.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Jakobsson M, Hagenblad J, Tavaré S, ''et al'' |title=A unique recent origin of the allotetraploid species Arabidopsis suecica: Evidence from nuclear DNA markers |journal=Mol. Biol. Evol. |volume=23 |issue=6 |pages=1217–31 |year=2006 |pmid=16549398 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msk006 }}</ref> This happened about 20,000 years ago,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Säll T, Jakobsson M, Lind-Halldén C, Halldén C |title=Chloroplast DNA indicates a single origin of the allotetraploid Arabidopsis suecica |journal=J. Evol. Biol. |volume=16 |issue=5 |pages=1019–29 |year=2003 |pmid=14635917 |doi=10.1046/j.1420-9101.2003.00554.x }}</ref> and the speciation process has been repeated in the laboratory, which allows the study of the genetic mechanisms involved in this process.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Bomblies K, Weigel D |title=Arabidopsis-a model genus for speciation |journal=Curr Opin Genet Dev |volume=17 |issue=6 |pages=500–504 |year=2007 |pmid=18006296 |doi=10.1016/j.gde.2007.09.006 }}</ref> Indeed, chromosome doubling within a species may be a common cause of reproductive isolation, as half the doubled chromosomes will be unmatched when breeding with undoubled organisms.<ref name=Semon/>
6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father [ad] of Enosh. 7 And after he became the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Altogether, Seth lived 912 years, and then he died.


Speciation events are important in the theory of [[punctuated equilibrium]], which accounts for the pattern in the fossil record of short "bursts" of evolution interspersed with relatively long periods of stasis, where species remain relatively unchanged.<ref name=pe1972>Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould, 1972. [http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/ridley/classictexts/eldredge.asp "Punctuated equilibria: an alternative to phyletic gradualism"] In T.J.M. Schopf, ed., ''Models in Paleobiology''. San Francisco: Freeman Cooper. pp. 82-115. Reprinted in N. Eldredge ''Time frames''. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. 1985</ref> In this theory, speciation and rapid evolution are linked, with natural selection and genetic drift acting most strongly on organisms undergoing speciation in novel habitats or small populations. As a result, the periods of stasis in the fossil record correspond to the parental population, and the organisms undergoing speciation and rapid evolution are found in small populations or geographically-restricted habitats, and therefore rarely being preserved as fossils.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gould SJ |title=Tempo and mode in the macroevolutionary reconstruction of Darwinism |doi= 10.1073/pnas.91.15.6764 |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=91 |issue=15 |pages=6764–71 |year=1994 |pmid=8041695}}</ref>
9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan. 10 And after he became the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 Altogether, Enosh lived 905 years, and then he died.


===Extinction===
12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel. 13 And after he became the father of Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 Altogether, Kenan lived 910 years, and then he died.
{{details more|Extinction}}
[[Image:Tarbosaurus museum Muenster.jpg|thumb|left|225px|''[[Tarbosaurus]]'' fossil. Non-[[bird|avian]] [[dinosaur]]s died out in the [[Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event]] at the end of the [[Cretaceous]] period.]]
[[Extinction]] is the disappearance of an entire species. Extinction is not an unusual event, as species regularly appear through speciation, and disappear through extinction.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Benton MJ |title=Diversification and extinction in the history of life |journal=Science |volume=268 |issue=5207 |pages=52–58 |year=1995 |pmid=7701342 |doi=10.1126/science.7701342 }}</ref> Indeed, virtually all animal and plant species that have lived on earth are now extinct,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Raup DM |title=Biological extinction in earth history |journal=Science |volume=231 |issue= |pages=1528–33 |year=1986 |pmid=11542058 |doi=10.1126/science.11542058 }}</ref> and extinction appears to be the ultimate fate of all species.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Avise JC, Hubbell SP, Ayala FJ. |title=In the light of evolution II: Biodiversity and extinction |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=105 |issue=S1 |pages=11453-11457 |year=2008 |pmid=18695213 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0802504105 |url=http://www.pnas.org/content/105/suppl.1/11453.full}}</ref> These extinctions have happened continuously throughout the history of life, although the rate of extinction spikes in occasional mass [[extinction event]]s.<ref name=Raup>{{cite journal |author=Raup DM |title=The role of extinction in evolution |url=http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/91/15/6758.pdf |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=91 |issue=15 |pages=6758–63 |year=1994 |pmid=8041694 |doi=10.1073/pnas.91.15.6758 }}</ref> The [[Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event]], during which the dinosaurs went extinct, is the most well-known, but the earlier [[Permian–Triassic extinction event]] was even more severe, with approximately 96 percent of species driven to extinction.<ref name=Raup/> The [[Holocene extinction event]] is an ongoing mass extinction associated with humanity's expansion across the globe over the past few thousand years. Present-day extinction rates are 100-1000 times greater than the background rate, and up to 30 percent of species may be extinct by the mid 21st century.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Novacek MJ, Cleland EE |title=The current biodiversity extinction event: scenarios for mitigation and recovery |doi= 10.1073/pnas.091093698 |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=98 |issue=10 |pages=5466–70 |year=2001 |pmid=11344295}}</ref> Human activities are now the primary cause of the ongoing extinction event;<ref>{{cite journal |author=Pimm S, Raven P, Peterson A, Sekercioglu CH, Ehrlich PR |title=Human impacts on the rates of recent, present, and future bird extinctions |doi= 10.1073/pnas.0604181103 |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=103 |issue=29 |pages=10941–6 |year=2006 |pmid=16829570}}<br />*{{cite journal |author=Barnosky AD, Koch PL, Feranec RS, Wing SL, Shabel AB |title=Assessing the causes of late Pleistocene extinctions on the continents |journal=Science |volume=306 |issue=5693 |pages=70–05 |year=2004 |pmid=15459379 |doi=10.1126/science.1101476 }}</ref> [[global warming]] may further accelerate it in the future.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Lewis OT |title=Climate change, species-area curves and the extinction crisis |url=http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/content/711761513317h856/fulltext.pdf |journal=Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. |volume=361 |issue=1465 |pages=163–71 |year=2006 |pmid=16553315 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2005.1712}}</ref>


The role of extinction in evolution depends on which type is considered. The causes of the continuous "low-level" extinction events, which form the majority of extinctions, are not well understood and may be the result of competition between species for limited resources ([[competitive exclusion]]).<ref name=Kutschera/> If competition from other species does alter the probability that a species will become extinct, this could produce [[Unit of selection#Species selection and selection at higher taxonomic levels|species selection]] as a level of natural selection.<ref name=Gould/> The intermittent mass extinctions are also important, but instead of acting as a selective force, they drastically reduce diversity in a nonspecific manner and promote bursts of [[Adaptive radiation|rapid evolution]] and speciation in survivors.<ref name=Raup/>
15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared. 16 And after he became the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 Altogether, Mahalalel lived 895 years, and then he died.


==Evolutionary history of life==
18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. 19 And after he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Altogether, Jared lived 962 years, and then he died.
{{Main|Evolutionary history of life}}


===Origin of life===
21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
{{details more|Abiogenesis|RNA world hypothesis}}
The origin of [[life]] is a necessary precursor for biological evolution, but understanding that evolution occurred once organisms appeared and investigating how this happens does not depend on understanding exactly how life began.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Isaak |first=Mark |year=2005 |title=Claim CB090: Evolution without abiogenesis |publisher=[[TalkOrigins Archive]] |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CB/CB090.html |accessdate=2007-05-13}}</ref> The current [[scientific consensus]] is that the complex [[biochemistry]] that makes up life came from simpler chemical reactions, but it is unclear how this occurred.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Peretó J |title=Controversies on the origin of life |url=http://www.im.microbios.org/0801/0801023.pdf |journal=Int. Microbiol. |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=23&ndash;31 |year=2005 |pmid=15906258}}</ref> Not much is certain about the earliest developments in life, the structure of the first living things, or the identity and nature of any [[last universal ancestor|last universal common ancestor]] or ancestral gene pool.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Luisi PL, Ferri F, Stano P |title=Approaches to semi-synthetic minimal cells: a review |journal=Naturwissenschaften |volume=93 |issue=1 |pages=1&ndash;13 |year=2006 |pmid=16292523 |doi=10.1007/s00114-005-0056-z }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Trevors JT, Abel DL |title=Chance and necessity do not explain the origin of life |journal=Cell Biol. Int. |volume=28 |issue=11 |pages=729&ndash;39 |year=2004 |pmid=15563395 |doi=10.1016/j.cellbi.2004.06.006 }}{{cite journal |author=Forterre P, Benachenhou-Lahfa N, Confalonieri F, Duguet M, Elie C, Labedan B |title=The nature of the last universal ancestor and the root of the tree of life, still open questions |journal=BioSystems |volume=28 |issue=1–3 |pages=15&ndash;32 |year=1992 |pmid=1337989 |doi=10.1016/0303-2647(92)90004-I }}</ref> Consequently, there is no scientific consensus on how life began, but proposals include self-replicating molecules such as [[RNA]],<ref>{{cite journal |author=Joyce GF |title=The antiquity of RNA-based evolution |journal=Nature |volume=418 |issue=6894 |pages=214&ndash;21 |year=2002 |pmid=12110897 |doi=10.1038/418214a }}</ref> and the assembly of simple cells.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Trevors JT, Psenner R |title=From self-assembly of life to present-day bacteria: a possible role for nanocells |journal=FEMS Microbiol. Rev. |volume=25 |issue=5 |pages=573&ndash;82 |year=2001 |pmid=11742692 |doi=10.1111/j.1574-6976.2001.tb00592.x }}</ref>


===Common descent===
25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. 26 And after he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Altogether, Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died.
{{details more|Evidence of common descent|Common descent|Homology (biology)}}
[[Image:Ape skeletons.png|right|320px|thumbnail|The [[Ape|hominoids]] are descendants of a [[common descent|common ancestor]].]]
All [[organism]]s on [[Earth]] are descended from a common ancestor or ancestral gene pool.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Penny D, Poole A |title=The nature of the last universal common ancestor |journal=Curr. Opin. Genet. Dev. |volume=9 |issue=6 |pages=672&ndash;77 |year=1999 |pmid=10607605 |doi=10.1016/S0959-437X(99)00020-9}}</ref> Current species are a stage in the process of evolution, with their diversity the product of a long series of speciation and extinction events.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Bapteste E, Walsh DA |title=Does the 'Ring of Life' ring true? |journal=Trends Microbiol. |volume=13 |issue=6 |pages=256&ndash;61 |year=2005 |pmid=15936656 |doi=10.1016/j.tim.2005.03.012 }}</ref> The [[common descent]] of organisms was first deduced from four simple facts about organisms: First, they have geographic distributions that cannot be explained by local adaptation. Second, the diversity of life is not a set of completely unique organisms, but organisms that share morphological similarities. Third, vestigial traits with no clear purpose resemble functional ancestral traits, and finally, that organisms can be classified using these similarities into a hierarchy of nested groups.<ref name=Darwin/>


Past species have also left records of their evolutionary history. [[Fossil]]s, along with the comparative anatomy of present-day organisms, constitute the morphological, or anatomical, record.<ref name=Jablonski>{{cite journal |author=Jablonski D |title=The future of the fossil record |journal=Science |volume=284 |issue=5423 |pages=2114&ndash;16 |year=1999 |pmid=10381868 |doi=10.1126/science.284.5423.2114 }}</ref> By comparing the anatomies of both modern and extinct species, paleontologists can infer the lineages of those species. However, this approach is most successful for organisms that had hard body parts, such as shells, bones or teeth. Further, as prokaryotes such as [[bacteria]] and [[archaea]] share a limited set of common morphologies, their fossils do not provide information on their ancestry.
28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. 29 He named him Noah [ae] and said, "He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed." 30 After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Altogether, Lamech lived 777 years, and then he died.


More recently, evidence for common descent has come from the study of [[biochemistry|biochemical]] similarities between organisms. For example, all living cells use the same basic set of [[nucleotide]]s and [[amino acid]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Mason SF |title=Origins of biomolecular handedness |journal=Nature |volume=311 |issue=5981 |pages=19&ndash;23 |year=1984 |pmid=6472461 |doi=10.1038/311019a0 }}</ref> The development of [[molecular genetics]] has revealed the record of evolution left in organisms' [[genome]]s: dating when species diverged through the [[molecular clock]] produced by mutations.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Wolf YI, Rogozin IB, Grishin NV, Koonin EV |title=Genome trees and the tree of life |journal=Trends Genet. |volume=18 |issue=9 |pages=472&ndash;79 |year=2002 |pmid=12175808 |doi=10.1016/S0168-9525(02)02744-0}}</ref> For example, these DNA sequence comparisons have revealed the close genetic similarity between humans and chimpanzees and shed light on when the common ancestor of these species existed.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Varki A, Altheide TK |title=Comparing the human and chimpanzee genomes: searching for needles in a haystack |journal=Genome Res. |volume=15 |issue=12 |pages=1746&ndash;58 |year=2005 |pmid=16339373 |doi=10.1101/gr.3737405 }}</ref>
32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.


===Evolution of life===
Genesis 6
{{details|Timeline of evolution}}
The Flood
[[Image:Collapsed tree labels simplified.png|thumb|400px|left|[[Phylogenetic tree|Evolutionary tree]] showing the divergence of modern species from their common ancestor in the center.<ref name=Ciccarelli>{{cite journal |author=Ciccarelli FD, Doerks T, von Mering C, Creevey CJ, Snel B, Bork P |title=Toward automatic reconstruction of a highly resolved tree of life |journal=Science |volume=311 |issue=5765 |pages=1283&ndash;87 |year=2006 |pmid=16513982 |doi=10.1126/science.1123061 }}</ref> The three [[Domain (biology)|domains]] are colored, with [[bacteria]] blue, [[archaea]] green, and [[eukaryote]]s red.]]
1 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with [af] man forever, for he is mortal [ag] ; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."
Despite the uncertainty on how life began, it is clear that [[prokaryote]]s were the first organisms to inhabit Earth,<ref name=Cavalier-Smith>{{cite journal |author=Cavalier-Smith T |title=Cell evolution and Earth history: stasis and revolution |url=http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/content/0164755512w92302/fulltext.pdf |journal=Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci |volume=361 |issue=1470 |pages=969&ndash;1006 |year=2006 |pmid=16754610 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2006.1842}}</ref> approximately 3&ndash;4 billion years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Schopf J |title=Fossil evidence of Archaean life |journal=Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci |volume=361 |issue=1470 |pages=869&ndash;85 |year=2006 |pmid=16754604 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2006.1834}}<br />*{{cite journal |author=Altermann W, Kazmierczak J |title=Archean microfossils: a reappraisal of early life on Earth |journal=Res Microbiol |volume=154 |issue=9 |pages=611&ndash;17 |year=2003 |pmid=14596897 |doi=10.1016/j.resmic.2003.08.006 }}</ref> No obvious changes in [[morphology (biology)|morphology]] or cellular organization occurred in these organisms over the next few billion years.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Schopf J |title=Disparate rates, differing fates: tempo and mode of evolution changed from the Precambrian to the Phanerozoic |doi= 10.1073/pnas.91.15.6735 |journal=Proc Natl Acad Sci U S a |volume=91 |issue=15 |pages=6735&ndash;42 |year=1994 |pmid=8041691}}</ref>
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.


The [[eukaryote]]s were the next major development in cell evolution. These came from ancient bacteria being engulfed by the ancestors of eukaryotic cells, in a cooperative association called [[endosymbiont|endosymbiosis]].<ref name = "rgruqh"/><ref name=Dyall>{{cite journal |author=Dyall S, Brown M, Johnson P |title= Ancient invasions: from endosymbionts to organelles |journal=Science |volume=304 |issue=5668 |pages=253&ndash;57 |year=2004 |pmid=15073369 |doi=10.1126/science.1094884 }}</ref> The engulfed bacteria and the host cell then underwent co-evolution, with the bacteria evolving into either [[mitochondrion|mitochondria]] or [[hydrogenosome]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Martin W |title=The missing link between hydrogenosomes and mitochondria |journal=Trends Microbiol. |volume=13 |issue=10 |pages=457&ndash;59 |year=2005 |pmid=16109488 |doi=10.1016/j.tim.2005.08.005 }}</ref> An independent second engulfment of [[cyanobacteria]]l-like organisms led to the formation of [[chloroplast]]s in algae and plants.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Lang B, Gray M, Burger G |title=Mitochondrial genome evolution and the origin of eukaryotes |journal=Annu Rev Genet |volume=33 |pages=351&ndash;97 |year=1999 |pmid=10690412 |doi=10.1146/annurev.genet.33.1.351 }}<br />*{{cite journal |author=McFadden G |title=Endosymbiosis and evolution of the plant cell |journal=Curr Opin Plant Biol |volume=2 |issue=6 |pages= 513&ndash;19 |year=1999 |pmid=10607659 |doi=10.1016/S1369-5266(99)00025-4}}</ref> It is unknown when the first eukaryotic cells appeared though they first emerged between 1.6 - 2.7 billion years ago.
5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.


The history of life was that of the unicellular eukaryotes, prokaryotes, and archaea until about 610 million years ago when multicellular organisms began to appear in the oceans in the [[Ediacara biota|Ediacaran]] period.<ref name=Cavalier-Smith/><ref>{{cite journal |author=DeLong E, Pace N |title=Environmental diversity of bacteria and archaea |journal=Syst Biol |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=470&ndash;8 |year=2001|pmid=12116647 |doi=10.1080/106351501750435040}}</ref> The [[evolution of multicellularity]] occurred in multiple independent events, in organisms as diverse as [[sponge]]s, [[brown algae]], [[cyanobacteria]], [[slime mold|slime mould]]s and [[myxobacteria]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Kaiser D |title=Building a multicellular organism |journal=Annu. Rev. Genet. |volume=35 |pages=103&ndash;23 |year=2001 |pmid=11700279 |doi=10.1146/annurev.genet.35.102401.090145 }}</ref>
9 This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.


Soon after the emergence of these first multicellular organisms, a remarkable amount of biological diversity appeared over approximately 10 million years, in an event called the [[Cambrian explosion]]. Here, the majority of [[Phylum|types]] of modern animals appeared in the fossil record, as well as unique lineages that subsequently became extinct.<ref name=Valentine>{{cite journal |author=Valentine JW, Jablonski D, Erwin DH |title=Fossils, molecules and embryos: new perspectives on the Cambrian explosion |url=http://dev.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/126/5/851 |journal=Development |volume=126 |issue=5 |pages=851&ndash;9 |year=1999 |pmid=9927587}}</ref> Various triggers for the Cambrian explosion have been proposed, including the accumulation of [[oxygen]] in the [[atmosphere]] from [[photosynthesis]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Ohno S |title=The reason for as well as the consequence of the Cambrian explosion in animal evolution |journal=J. Mol. Evol. |volume=44 Suppl 1 |issue= |pages=S23&ndash;7 |year=1997 |pmid=9071008 |doi=10.1007/PL00000055}}<br />*{{cite journal |author=Valentine J, Jablonski D |title=Morphological and developmental macroevolution: a paleontological perspective |url=http://www.ijdb.ehu.es/web/paper.php?doi=14756327 |journal=Int. J. Dev. Biol. |volume=47 |issue=7&ndash;8 |pages=517&ndash;22 |year=2003 |pmid=14756327}}</ref> About 500 million years ago, [[plant]]s and [[fungus|fungi]] colonized the land, and were soon followed by [[arthropod]]s and other animals.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Waters ER |title=Molecular adaptation and the origin of land plants |journal=Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=456&ndash;63 |year=2003 |pmid=14615186 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2003.07.018 }}</ref> [[Amphibian]]s first appeared around 300 million years ago, followed by early [[amniote]]s, then [[mammal]]s around 200 million years ago and [[bird]]s around 100 million years ago (both from "[[reptile]]"-like lineages). However, despite the evolution of these large animals, smaller organisms similar to the types that evolved early in this process continue to be highly successful and dominate the Earth, with the majority of both [[Biomass (ecology)|biomass]] and species being prokaryotes.<ref name=Schloss/>
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress [ah] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. [ai] 16 Make a roof for it and finish [aj] the ark to within 18 inches [ak] of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them."


==History of evolutionary thought==
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
{{details|History of evolutionary thought}}
[[Image:Charles Darwin aged 51 crop.jpg|right|thumb|150px|[[Charles Darwin]] at age 51, just after publishing ''[[On the Origin of Species]]''.]]
Evolutionary ideas such as [[common descent]] and the [[transmutation of species]] have existed since at least the 6th century BC, when they were expounded by the [[Greek philosophy|Greek philosopher]] [[Anaximander]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Wright, S|year=1984|title=Evolution and the Genetics of Populations, Volume 1: Genetic and Biometric Foundations|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|isbn=0-226-91038-5}}</ref> Others who considered such ideas included the Greek philosopher [[Empedocles]], the [[History of Western philosophy|Roman philosopher-poet]] [[Lucretius]], the [[Islamic science|Arab biologist]] [[Al-Jahiz]],<ref>{{cite journal |author=Zirkle C |title=Natural Selection before the "Origin of Species" |journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society |volume=84 |issue=1 |pages=71&ndash;123 |year=1941}}</ref> the [[Early Islamic philosophy|Persian philosopher]] [[Ibn Miskawayh]], the [[Brethren of Purity]],<ref>[[Muhammad Hamidullah]] and Afzal Iqbal (1993), ''The Emergence of Islam: Lectures on the Development of Islamic World-view, Intellectual Tradition and Polity'', p. 143-144. Islamic Research Institute, Islamabad.</ref> and the Eastern philosopher [[Zhuangzi]].<ref> "A Source Book In Chinese Philosophy", Chan, Wing-Tsit, p. 204, 1962. </ref> As biological knowledge grew in the 18th century, evolutionary ideas were set out by a few natural philosophers including [[Pierre Louis Maupertuis|Pierre Maupertuis]] in 1745 and [[Erasmus Darwin]] in 1796.<ref>{{cite book|author=Terrall, M|year=2002|title=The Man Who Flattened the Earth: Maupertuis and the Sciences in the Enlightenment|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0226793610}}</ref> The ideas of the biologist [[Jean-Baptiste Lamarck]] about [[transmutation of species]] had wide influence. [[Charles Darwin]] formulated his idea of [[natural selection]] in 1838 and was still developing his theory in 1858 when [[Alfred Russel Wallace]] sent him a similar theory, and both were presented to the [[Linnean Society of London]] in [[On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection|separate papers]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Wallace, A|coauthors= Darwin, C|url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F350&viewtype=text&pageseq=1|title=On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties, and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection|journal=Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London. Zoology|volume=3|year=1858|pages=53–62|accessdate=2007-05-13|doi=10.1098/rsnr.2006.0171}}</ref> At the end of 1859 Darwin's publication of ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'' explained natural selection in detail and presented evidence leading to increasingly wide acceptance of the occurrence of evolution.


[[Image:Mendel.png|thumb|left|[[Gregor Mendel]], who laid the foundation for [[genetics]].]]
Genesis 7
Debate about the mechanisms of evolution continued, and Darwin could not explain the source of the heritable variations which would be acted on by natural selection. Like Lamarck, he thought that parents [[inheritance of acquired characters|passed on adaptations acquired]] during their lifetimes,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F391&pageseq=136 |title=Effects of the increased Use and Disuse of Parts, as controlled by Natural Selection |accessdate=2007-12-28 |author=Darwin, Charles |authorlink=Charles Darwin |year=1872 |work=[[On the Origin of Species|The Origin of Species]]. 6th edition, p. 108 |publisher=John Murray }}</ref> a theory which was subsequently dubbed [[Lamarckism]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Leakey, Richard E.; Darwin, Charles |title=The illustrated origin of species |publisher=Faber |location=London |year=1979 |pages= |isbn=0-571-14586-8 |oclc= |doi=}} p. 17-18 <!--superseded source {{cite journal |author=Stafleu F |title=Lamarck: The birth of biology |journal=Taxon |volume=20 |issue= |pages=397&ndash;442 |year=1971 |pmid=11636092 |doi=10.2307/1218244 }}--></ref> In the 1880s [[August Weismann|August Weismann's]] experiments indicated that changes from use and disuse were not heritable, and Lamarckism gradually fell from favour.<ref name= ImaginaryLamarck>{{citation |last =Ghiselin | first = Michael T.|authorlink=Michael Ghiselin | publication-date = September/October 1994| contribution =Nonsense in schoolbooks: 'The Imaginary Lamarck' | contribution-url =http://www.textbookleague.org/54marck.htm| title =The Textbook Letter | publisher =The Textbook League | url =http://www.textbookleague.org/|accessdate=2008-01-23 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Magner, LN|year=2002|title=A History of the Life Sciences, Third Edition, Revised and Expanded|publisher=CRC|isbn=978-0824708245}}</ref> More significantly, Darwin could not account for how traits were passed down from generation to generation. In 1865 [[Gregor Mendel]] found that traits were [[Mendelian inheritance|inherited]] in a predictable manner.<ref name=Weiling>{{cite journal |author=Weiling F |title=Historical study: Johann Gregor Mendel 1822–1884 |journal=Am. J. Med. Genet. |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=1&ndash;25; discussion 26 |year=1991 |pmid=1887835 |doi=10.1002/ajmg.1320400103 }}</ref> When Mendel's work was rediscovered in 1900, disagreements over the rate of evolution predicted by early geneticists and [[biostatistics|biometricians]] led to a rift between the Mendelian and Darwinian models of evolution.
1 The LORD then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven [al] of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made."


This contradiction was reconciled in the 1930s by biologists such as [[Ronald Fisher]]. The end result was a combination of evolution by natural selection and Mendelian inheritance, the [[modern evolutionary synthesis]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Bowler | first = Peter J. | authorlink = Peter J. Bowler | year = 1989 | title = The Mendelian Revolution: The Emergence of Hereditarian Concepts in Modern Science and Society | publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press | location = Baltimore|isbn=978-0801838880}}</ref> In the 1940s, the identification of [[DNA]] as the genetic material by [[Oswald Avery]] and colleagues and the subsequent publication of the structure of DNA by [[James D. Watson|James Watson]] and [[Francis Crick]] in 1953, demonstrated the physical basis for inheritance. Since then, [[genetics]] and [[molecular biology]] have become core parts of [[evolutionary biology]] and have revolutionized the field of [[phylogenetics]].<ref name=Kutschera>{{cite journal |author=Kutschera U, Niklas K |title=The modern theory of biological evolution: an expanded synthesis |journal=Naturwissenschaften |volume=91 |issue=6 |pages=255&ndash;76 |year=2004 |pmid=15241603 |doi=10.1007/s00114-004-0515-y }}</ref>
5 And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.


In its early history, evolutionary biology primarily drew in scientists from traditional taxonomically-oriented disciplines, whose specialist training in particular organisms addressed general questions in evolution. As evolutionary biology expanded as an academic discipline, particularly after the development of the modern evolutionary synthesis, it began to draw more widely from the biological sciences.<ref name=Kutschera/> Currently the study of evolutionary biology involves scientists from fields as diverse as [[biochemistry]], [[ecology]], [[genetics]] and [[physiology]], and evolutionary concepts are used in even more distant disciplines such as [[psychology]], [[medicine]], [[philosophy]] and [[computer science]].
6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, 9 male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.


==Social and cultural responses==
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
{{details more|Social effect of evolutionary theory}}
[[Image:Darwin ape.jpg|right|150px|thumb|As "[[Darwinism]]" became widely accepted in the 1870s, [[caricature]]s of [[Charles Darwin]] with a [[quadrupedal]] [[ape]] or [[monkey]] body symbolised evolution.<ref name=Browne2003e>{{cite book |author=Browne, Janet |title=Charles Darwin: The Power of Place |publisher=Pimlico |location=London |year=2003 |pages=376-379 |isbn=0-7126-6837-3 }}</ref>]]
In the 19th century, particularly after the publication of ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'', the idea that life had evolved was an active source of academic debate centered on the philosophical, social and religious implications of evolution. Nowadays, the fact that organisms evolve is uncontested in the [[scientific literature]] and the modern evolutionary synthesis is widely accepted by scientists. However, evolution remains a contentious concept for some religious groups.<ref>For an overview of the philosophical, religious, and cosmological controversies, see: {{cite book|authorlink=Daniel Dennett|last=Dennett|first=D|title=[[Darwin's Dangerous Idea|Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life]]|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=1995|isbn=978-0684824710}}<br />*For the scientific and social reception of evolution in the 19th and early 20th centuries, see: {{cite web | last = Johnston | first = Ian C. | title = History of Science: Origins of Evolutionary Theory | work = And Still We Evolve | publisher = Liberal Studies Department, Malaspina University College | url =http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/darwin/sect3.htm| accessdate =2007-05-24}}<br />*{{cite book|authorlink=Peter J. Bowler|last=Bowler|first=PJ|title=Evolution: The History of an Idea, Third Edition, Completely Revised and Expanded|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0520236936|year=2003}}<br />*{{cite journal |author=Zuckerkandl E |title=Intelligent design and biological complexity |journal=Gene |volume=385 |issue= |pages=2&ndash;18 |year=2006 |pmid=17011142 |doi=10.1016/j.gene.2006.03.025 }}</ref>


While [[Level of support for evolution#Support for evolution by religious bodies|many religions and denominations]] have reconciled their beliefs with evolution through various concepts of [[theistic evolution]], there are many [[creationism|creationists]] who believe that evolution is contradicted by the [[creation myth]]s found in their respective religions.<ref name=Ross2005>{{cite journal | author = Ross, M.R. | year = 2005 | title = Who Believes What? Clearing up Confusion over Intelligent Design and Young-Earth Creationism | journal = Journal of Geoscience Education | volume = 53 | issue = 3 | pages = 319 | url = http://www.nagt.org/files/nagt/jge/abstracts/Ross_v53n3p319.pdf | accessdate = 2008-04-28}}</ref> As Darwin recognized early on, the most controversial aspect of evolutionary biology is its implications for [[human evolution|human origins]]. In some countries—notably the United States—these tensions between science and religion have fueled the ongoing [[creation-evolution controversy|creation–evolution controversy]], a religious conflict focusing on [[politics of creationism|politics]] and [[creation and evolution in public education|public education]].<ref>{{cite journal | author = Spergel D. N. |title=Science communication. Public acceptance of evolution |journal=Science |volume=313 |issue=5788 |pages=765–66 |year=2006 |pmid=16902112 |doi=10.1126/science.1126746 }}</ref> While other scientific fields such as [[physical cosmology|cosmology]]<ref name="wmap">{{cite journal | doi=10.1086/377226 | title = First-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Determination of Cosmological Parameters | first = D. N. | last = Spergel | coauthors = et al. | journal = The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series | volume = 148 | year = 2003 | pages = 175&ndash;94}}</ref> and [[earth science]]<ref name="zircon">{{cite journal |author=Wilde SA, Valley JW, Peck WH, Graham CM |title=Evidence from detrital zircons for the existence of continental crust and oceans on the Earth 4.4 Gyr ago |journal=Nature |volume=409 |issue=6817 |pages=175&ndash;78 |year=2001 |pmid=11196637 |doi=10.1038/35051550 }}</ref> also conflict with literal interpretations of many religious texts, evolutionary biology experiences significantly more opposition from religious literalists.
13 On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. 14 They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. 15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.


Another example associated with evolutionary theory that is now widely regarded as unwarranted is misnamed "[[Social Darwinism]]," a term given to the 19th century [[British Whig Party|Whig]] [[Malthusianism|Malthusian]] theory developed by [[Herbert Spencer]] into ideas about "[[survival of the fittest]]" in commerce and human societies as a whole, and by others into claims that [[social inequality]], racism, and [[imperialism]] were justified.<ref>On the history of eugenics and evolution, see {{cite book|authorlink=Daniel Kevles |first=D |last=Kevles |year=1998 |title=In the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity |publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0674445574}}</ref> However, these ideas contradict [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]]'s own views, and contemporary scientists and philosophers consider these ideas to be neither mandated by evolutionary theory nor supported by data.<ref>[[Charles Darwin|Darwin]] strongly disagreed with attempts by Herbert Spencer and others to extrapolate evolutionary ideas to all possible subjects; see {{cite book|authorlink=Mary Midgley|first=M|last=Midgley|year=2004|title=The Myths we Live By|publisher=Routledge|pages=62|isbn=978-0415340779}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Allhoff F |title=Evolutionary ethics from Darwin to Moore |journal=History and philosophy of the life sciences |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=51&ndash;79 |year=2003 |pmid=15293515 |doi=10.1080/03919710312331272945}}</ref>
17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. [am] , [an] 21 Every living thing that moved on the earth perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.


==Applications==
24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.
{{details more|Artificial selection|Evolutionary computation}}


A major technological application of evolution is [[artificial selection]], which is the intentional selection of certain traits in a population of organisms. Humans have used artificial selection for thousands of years in the [[domestication]] of plants and animals.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Doebley JF, Gaut BS, Smith BD |title=The molecular genetics of crop domestication |journal=Cell |volume=127 |issue=7 |pages=1309–21 |year=2006 |pmid=17190597 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2006.12.006 }}</ref> More recently, such selection has become a vital part of [[genetic engineering]], with [[selectable marker]]s such as antibiotic resistance genes being used to manipulate DNA in [[molecular biology]].
Genesis 8
1 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. 2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. 3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, 4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.


As evolution can produce highly optimized processes and networks, it has many applications in [[computer science]]. Here, simulations of evolution using [[evolutionary algorithm]]s and [[artificial life]] started with the work of Nils Aall Barricelli in the 1960s, and was extended by [[Alex Fraser (scientist)|Alex Fraser]], who published a series of papers on simulation of [[artificial selection]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Fraser AS |title=Monte Carlo analyses of genetic models |journal=Nature |volume=181 |issue=4603 |pages=208–9 |year=1958 |pmid=13504138 |doi=10.1038/181208a0 }}</ref> [[Evolutionary algorithm|Artificial evolution]] became a widely recognized optimization method as a result of the work of [[Ingo Rechenberg]] in the 1960s and early 1970s, who used [[Evolution strategy|evolution strategies]] to solve complex engineering problems.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rechenberg |first=Ingo |year=1973 |title=Evolutionsstrategie - Optimierung technischer Systeme nach Prinzipien der biologischen Evolution (PhD thesis) |publisher=Fromman-Holzboog | language = German}}</ref> [[Genetic algorithm]]s in particular became popular through the writing of [[John Henry Holland|John Holland]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Holland |first=John H. |year=1975 |title=Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems | publisher=University of Michigan Press | isbn = 0262581116}}</ref> As academic interest grew, dramatic increases in the power of computers allowed practical applications, including the automatic evolution of computer programs.<ref>{{cite book |last=Koza|first=John R. |year=1992 |title=Genetic Programming| subtitle=On the Programming of Computers by Means of Natural Selection | publisher=MIT Press}}</ref> Evolutionary algorithms are now used to solve multi-dimensional problems more efficiently than software produced by human designers, and also to optimize the design of systems.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Jamshidi M |title=Tools for intelligent control: fuzzy controllers, neural networks and genetic algorithms |journal=Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences |volume=361 |issue=1809 |pages=1781–808 |year=2003 |pmid=12952685 |doi=10.1098/rsta.2003.1225}}</ref>
6 After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark 7 and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. 9 But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. 10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. 12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.


==Further reading==
13 By the first day of the first month of Noah's six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.
'''Introductory reading'''
* {{cite book |author=Carroll, S. |authorlink=Sean B. Carroll |title=Endless Forms Most Beautiful |publisher=W.W. Norton |location=New York |year=2005 |isbn=0-393-06016-0}}
* {{cite book |author=[[Brian Charlesworth|Charlesworth, C.B.]] and [[Deborah Charlesworth|Charlesworth, D.]] |title=Evolution |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxfordshire |year=2003 |isbn=0-192-80251-8}}
* {{cite book |author=Dawkins, R. |authorlink=Richard Dawkins |title=[[The Selfish Gene|The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition]] |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=0199291152 }}
* {{cite book |author=Gould, S.J. |authorlink=Stephen Jay Gould |title=[[Wonderful Life (book)|Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History]] |publisher=W.W. Norton |location=New York |year=1989 |isbn=0-393-30700-X}}
* {{cite book |author=Jones, S. |authorlink = Steve Jones (biologist) |title=[[Almost Like a Whale|Almost Like a Whale: The Origin of Species Updated]]. (''American title:'' ''Darwin's Ghost'') |publisher=Ballantine Books |location=New York |year=2001 |isbn=0-345-42277-5}}
* {{cite book |author=Maynard Smith, J. |authorlink=John Maynard Smith |title=[[The Theory of Evolution|The Theory of Evolution: Canto Edition]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1993 |isbn=0-521-45128-0}}
* {{cite book |author=Smith, C.B. and Sullivan, C. |title=The Top 10 Myths about Evolution |publisher=[[Prometheus Books]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-59102-479-8}}


'''History of evolutionary thought'''
15 Then God said to Noah, 16 "Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it."
* {{cite book |author=Larson, E.J. |authorlink=Edward Larson |title=Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory |publisher=Modern Library |location=New York |year=2004 |isbn=0-679-64288-9}}
* {{cite book |author=Zimmer, C. |authorlink=Carl Zimmer |title=Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea |publisher=HarperCollins |location=London |year=2001 |isbn=0-060-19906-7}}


'''Advanced reading'''
18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on the earth—came out of the ark, one kind after another.
* {{cite book |author=[[Nick Barton|Barton, N.H.]], [[Derek Briggs|Briggs, D.E.G.]], Eisen, J.A., Goldstein, D.B. and Patel, N.H. |title=Evolution |publisher=[[Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press]] |year=2007 |isbn=0-879-69684-2}}
* {{cite book |author=[[Jerry Coyne|Coyne, J.A.]] and [[H. Allen Orr|Orr, H.A.]] |title=Speciation |publisher=Sinauer Associates |location=Sunderland |year=2004 |isbn=0-878-93089-2}}
* {{cite book |author=Futuyma, D.J. |authorlink=Douglas J. Futuyma |title=Evolution |publisher=Sinauer Associates |location=Sunderland |year=2005 |isbn=0-878-93187-2}}
* {{cite book | author=Gould, S.J. |authorlink=Stephen Jay Gould |title=[[The Structure of Evolutionary Theory]] |publisher=Belknap Press (Harvard University Press) |location=Cambridge |year=2002 |isbn=0-674-00613-5}}
* {{cite book |author=[[John Maynard Smith|Maynard Smith, J.]] and [[Eörs Szathmáry|Szathmáry, E.]] |title=[[The Major Transitions in Evolution]] |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxfordshire |year=1997 |isbn=0-198-50294-X}}
* {{cite book |author=Mayr, E. |authorlink=Ernst W. Mayr |title=What Evolution Is |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |year=2001 |isbn=0-465-04426-3}}


==References==
20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though [ao] every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
{{reflist|2}}


==External links==
22 "As long as the earth endures,
<!-- IMPORTANT! Please do not add any links before discussing them on the talk page. -->
seedtime and harvest,
{{Spoken Wikipedia|Evolution.ogg|2005-04-18}} <!-- updated changed sections 2005-04-18 -->
cold and heat,
{{Sisterlinks|evolution}}
summer and winter,
'''General information'''
day and night
* [http://evolution.berkeley.edu/ Understanding Evolution from University of California, Berkeley]
will never cease."
* [http://nationalacademies.org/evolution/ National Academies Evolution Resources]
* [http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/evolution Everything you wanted to know about evolution by ''New Scientist'']
* [http://science.howstuffworks.com/evolution.htm/printable Howstuffworks.com — How Evolution Works]
* [http://anthro.palomar.edu/synthetic/ Synthetic Theory Of Evolution: An Introduction to Modern Evolutionary Concepts and Theories]


'''History of evolutionary thought'''
Genesis 9
* [http://darwin-online.org.uk The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online]
God's Covenant With Noah
* [http://www.rationalrevolution.net/articles/understanding_evolution.htm Understanding Evolution: History, Theory, Evidence, and Implications]
1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
4 "But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.


{{portal|Evolutionary biology|Charles Darwin aged 51 crop.jpg|25}}
6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man,
{{evolution}}
by man shall his blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made man.


[[Category:Evolution| ]]
7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it."
[[Category:Biology theories]]
[[Category:Evolutionary biology|*]]


{{link FA|bg}}
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."
{{link FA|simple}}

{{link FA|zh}}
12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
{{link FA|pt}}

[[af:Evolusie]]
17 So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."
[[ar:نظرية التطور]]

[[bn:বিবর্তন]]
The Sons of Noah
[[zh-min-nan:Ián-hoà]]
18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the earth.
[[be-x-old:Эвалюцыя]]
20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded [ap] to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father's nakedness.
[[bg:Еволюция]]

[[ca:Evolució]]
24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,
[[cs:Evoluce]]
"Cursed be Canaan!
[[cy:Esblygiad]]
The lowest of slaves
[[da:Evolution (biologi)]]
will he be to his brothers."
[[de:Evolution]]

[[et:Evolutsioon]]
26 He also said,
[[el:Εξέλιξη (βιολογία)]]
"Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem!
[[es:Evolución biológica]]
May Canaan be the slave of Shem. [aq]
[[eo:Evoluismo]]

[[fa:نظریه تکامل]]
27 May God extend the territory of Japheth [ar] ;
[[fr:Évolution (biologie)]]
may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
[[gl:Evolución biolóxica]]
and may Canaan be his [as] slave."
[[ko:진화]]

[[hr:Evolucija]]
28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 Altogether, Noah lived 950 years, and then he died.
[[id:Evolusi]]

[[is:Þróunarkenningin]]
Genesis 10
[[it:Evoluzione]]
The Table of Nations
[[he:אבולוציה]]
1 This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah's sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.
[[ka:ევოლუცია]]
The Japhethites
[[la:Evolutio]]
2 The sons [at] of Japheth:
[[lv:Evolūcija]]
Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras.
[[lb:Evolutioun]]
3 The sons of Gomer:
[[lt:Evoliucija]]
Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.
[[hu:Evolúció]]

[[mk:Еволуција]]
4 The sons of Javan:
[[ml:പരിണാമസിദ്ധാന്തം]]
Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim and the Rodanim. [au] 5 (From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.)
[[nl:Evolutie]]

[[ja:進化]]
The Hamites
[[no:Evolusjon]]
6 The sons of Ham:
[[uz:Evolutsiya]]
Cush, Mizraim, [av] Put and Canaan.
[[pl:Ewolucja biologiczna]]
7 The sons of Cush:
[[pt:Evolução]]
Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca.
[[qu:Rikch'aqyay]]
The sons of Raamah:
[[ru:Эволюция]]
Sheba and Dedan.
[[sq:Evolucioni]]

[[simple:Evolution]]
8 Cush was the father [aw] of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD." 10 The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in [ax] Shinar. [ay] 11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, [az] Calah 12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.
[[sl:Evolucija]]

[[sr:Еволуција (биологија)]]
13 Mizraim was the father of
[[su:Évolusi]]
the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 14 Pathrusites, Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites.
[[fi:Evoluutio]]

[[sv:Evolution]]
15 Canaan was the father of
[[tl:Ebolusyon]]
Sidon his firstborn, [ba] and of the Hittites, 16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites.
[[ta:படிவளர்ச்சிக் கொள்கை]]
Later the Canaanite clans scattered 19 and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
[[th:วิวัฒนาการ]]

[[vi:Tiến hóa]]
20 These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.
[[tr:Evrim]]

[[uk:Еволюція (біологія)]]
The Semites
[[yi:עוואלוציע]]
21 Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was [bb] Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.
[[zh:演化]]
22 The sons of Shem:
Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.

23 The sons of Aram:
Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshech. [bc]

24 Arphaxad was the father of [bd] Shelah,
and Shelah the father of Eber.

25 Two sons were born to Eber:
One was named Peleg, [be] because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.

26 Joktan was the father of
Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan.

30 The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country.

31 These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

32 These are the clans of Noah's sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.

Genesis 11
The Tower of Babel
1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As men moved eastward, [bf] they found a plain in Shinar [bg] and settled there.
3 They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel [bh] —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

From Shem to Abram
10 This is the account of Shem.
Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father [bi] of Arphaxad. 11 And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. 13 And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters. [bj]

14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. 15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. 17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. 19 And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. 21 And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. 23 And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. 25 And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

26 After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.

27 This is the account of Terah.
Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 28 While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth. 29 Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30 Now Sarai was barren; she had no children.

31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.

32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.

Genesis 12
The Call of Abram
1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."

4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring [bk] I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. 9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

Abram in Egypt
10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you."
14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. 15 And when Pharaoh's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

17 But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. "What have you done to me?" he said. "Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!" 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

Genesis 13
Abram and Lot Separate
1 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.
3 From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier 4 and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.

5 Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. 7 And quarreling arose between Abram's herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.

8 So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right; if you go to the right, I'll go to the left."

10 Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.

14 The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring [bl] forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you."

18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.

Genesis 14
Abram Rescues Lot
1 At this time Amraphel king of Shinar, [bm] Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim 2 went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3 All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (the Salt Sea [bn] ). 4 For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim 6 and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert. 7 Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar.

8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim 9 against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. 11 The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. 12 They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.

13 One who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother [bo] of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.

17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem [bp] brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying,
"Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator [bq] of heaven and earth.

20 And blessed be [br] God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand."
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself."

22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.' 24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their share."

Genesis 15
God's Covenant With Abram
1 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
"Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield, [bs]
your very great reward. [bt] "
2 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit [bu] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir."

4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." 5 He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

7 He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it."

8 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?"

9 So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."

10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."

17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river [bv] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates- 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites."

Genesis 16
Hagar and Ishmael
1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her."
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me."
6 "Your servant is in your hands," Abram said. "Do with her whatever you think best." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?"
"I'm running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered.

9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her." 10 The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count."

11 The angel of the LORD also said to her:
"You are now with child
and you will have a son.
You shall name him Ishmael, [bw]
for the LORD has heard of your misery.

12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward [bx] all his brothers."

13 She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen [by] the One who sees me." 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi [bz] ; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

Genesis 17
The Covenant of Circumcision
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty [ca] ; walk before me and be blameless. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers."
3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram [cb] ; your name will be Abraham, [cc] for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."

9 Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."

15 God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."

17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?" 18 And Abraham said to God, "If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!"

19 Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. [cd] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year." 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. 27 And every male in Abraham's household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

Genesis 18
The Three Visitors
1 The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
3 He said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, [ce] do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant."
"Very well," they answered, "do as you say."

6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. "Quick," he said, "get three seahs [cf] of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread."

7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

9 "Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him.
"There, in the tent," he said.

10 Then the LORD [cg] said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son."
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master [ch] is old, will I now have this pleasure?"

13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD ? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son."

15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, "I did not laugh."
But he said, "Yes, you did laugh."

Abraham Pleads for Sodom
16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."
20 Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."

22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. [ci] 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare [cj] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge [ck] of all the earth do right?"

26 The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."

27 Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?"
"If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it."

29 Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?"
He said, "For the sake of forty, I will not do it."

30 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?"
He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."

31 Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?"
He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it."

32 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?"
He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it."

33 When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.

Genesis 19
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning."
"No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square."
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."

6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."

9 "Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.

10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.

12 The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it."

14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry [cl] his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished."

16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!"

18 But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, [cm] please! 19 Your [cn] servant has found favor in your [co] eyes, and you [cp] have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared."

21 He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar. [cq] )

23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

Lot and His Daughters
30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let's get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father."
33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I lay with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father." 35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

36 So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab [cr] ; he is the father of the Moabites of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi [cs] ; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.

Genesis 20
Abraham and Abimelech
1 Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, 2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, "You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman."

4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, "Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation?
Genesis 1
The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Genesis 2
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested [c] from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Adam and Eve
4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- 5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth [d] and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth [e] and there was no man to work the ground, 6 but streams [f] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground- 7 the LORD God formed the man [g] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin [h] and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. [i] 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
But for Adam [j] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs [k] and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib [l] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman, [m] '
for she was taken out of man."

24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Genesis 3
The Fall of Man
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "

4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."

13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
"Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.

15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring [n] and hers;
he will crush [o] your head,
and you will strike his heel."

16 To the woman he said,
"I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;
with pain you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you."

17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'
"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.

18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.

19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return."

20 Adam [p] named his wife Eve, [q] because she would become the mother of all the living.

21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." 23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side [r] of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 4
Cain and Abel
1 Adam [s] lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. [t] She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth [u] a man." 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." [v] And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"
"I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"

10 The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."

13 Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."

15 But the LORD said to him, "Not so [w] ; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived in the land of Nod, [x] east of Eden.

17 Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.

19 Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. 21 His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute. 22 Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of [y] bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain's sister was Naamah.

23 Lamech said to his wives,
"Adah and Zillah, listen to me;
wives of Lamech, hear my words.
I have killed [z] a man for wounding me,
a young man for injuring me.

24 If Cain is avenged seven times,
then Lamech seventy-seven times."

25 Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, [aa] saying, "God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him." 26 Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh.
At that time men began to call on [ab] the name of the LORD.

Genesis 5
From Adam to Noah
1 This is the written account of Adam's line.
When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them "man. [ac] "
3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. 4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 5 Altogether, Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.

6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father [ad] of Enosh. 7 And after he became the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Altogether, Seth lived 912 years, and then he died.

9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan. 10 And after he became the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 Altogether, Enosh lived 905 years, and then he died.

12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel. 13 And after he became the father of Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 Altogether, Kenan lived 910 years, and then he died.

15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared. 16 And after he became the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 Altogether, Mahalalel lived 895 years, and then he died.

18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. 19 And after he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Altogether, Jared lived 962 years, and then he died.

21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. 26 And after he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Altogether, Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died.

28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. 29 He named him Noah [ae] and said, "He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed." 30 After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Altogether, Lamech lived 777 years, and then he died.

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

Genesis 6
The Flood
1 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with [af] man forever, for he is mortal [ag] ; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

9 This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress [ah] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. [ai] 16 Make a roof for it and finish [aj] the ark to within 18 inches [ak] of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them."

22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

Genesis 7
1 The LORD then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven [al] of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made."

5 And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.

6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, 9 male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

13 On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. 14 They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. 15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.

17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. [am] , [an] 21 Every living thing that moved on the earth perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.

24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.

Genesis 8
1 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. 2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. 3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, 4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

6 After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark 7 and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. 9 But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. 10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. 12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

13 By the first day of the first month of Noah's six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.

15 Then God said to Noah, 16 "Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it."

18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on the earth—came out of the ark, one kind after another.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though [ao] every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

22 "As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease."

Genesis 9
God's Covenant With Noah
1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
4 "But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.

6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made man.

7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it."

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."

12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

17 So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

The Sons of Noah
18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the earth.
20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded [ap] to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father's nakedness.

24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,
"Cursed be Canaan!
The lowest of slaves
will he be to his brothers."

26 He also said,
"Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem. [aq]

27 May God extend the territory of Japheth [ar] ;
may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
and may Canaan be his [as] slave."

28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 Altogether, Noah lived 950 years, and then he died.

Genesis 10
The Table of Nations
1 This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah's sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.
The Japhethites
2 The sons [at] of Japheth:
Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras.
3 The sons of Gomer:
Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.

4 The sons of Javan:
Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim and the Rodanim. [au] 5 (From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.)

The Hamites
6 The sons of Ham:
Cush, Mizraim, [av] Put and Canaan.
7 The sons of Cush:
Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca.
The sons of Raamah:
Sheba and Dedan.

8 Cush was the father [aw] of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD." 10 The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in [ax] Shinar. [ay] 11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, [az] Calah 12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.

13 Mizraim was the father of
the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 14 Pathrusites, Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites.

15 Canaan was the father of
Sidon his firstborn, [ba] and of the Hittites, 16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites.
Later the Canaanite clans scattered 19 and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

20 These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

The Semites
21 Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was [bb] Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.
22 The sons of Shem:
Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.

23 The sons of Aram:
Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshech. [bc]

24 Arphaxad was the father of [bd] Shelah,
and Shelah the father of Eber.

25 Two sons were born to Eber:
One was named Peleg, [be] because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.

26 Joktan was the father of
Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan.

30 The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country.

31 These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

32 These are the clans of Noah's sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.

Genesis 11
The Tower of Babel
1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As men moved eastward, [bf] they found a plain in Shinar [bg] and settled there.
3 They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel [bh] —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

From Shem to Abram
10 This is the account of Shem.
Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father [bi] of Arphaxad. 11 And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. 13 And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters. [bj]

14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. 15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. 17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. 19 And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. 21 And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. 23 And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. 25 And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

26 After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.

27 This is the account of Terah.
Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 28 While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth. 29 Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30 Now Sarai was barren; she had no children.

31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.

32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.

Genesis 12
The Call of Abram
1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."

4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring [bk] I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. 9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

Abram in Egypt
10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you."
14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. 15 And when Pharaoh's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

17 But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. "What have you done to me?" he said. "Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!" 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

Genesis 13
Abram and Lot Separate
1 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.
3 From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier 4 and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.

5 Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. 7 And quarreling arose between Abram's herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.

8 So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right; if you go to the right, I'll go to the left."

10 Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.

14 The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring [bl] forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you."

18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.

Genesis 14
Abram Rescues Lot
1 At this time Amraphel king of Shinar, [bm] Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim 2 went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3 All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (the Salt Sea [bn] ). 4 For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim 6 and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert. 7 Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar.

8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim 9 against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. 11 The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. 12 They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.

13 One who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother [bo] of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.

17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem [bp] brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying,
"Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator [bq] of heaven and earth.

20 And blessed be [br] God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand."
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself."

22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.' 24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their share."

Genesis 15
God's Covenant With Abram
1 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
"Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield, [bs]
your very great reward. [bt] "
2 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit [bu] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir."

4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." 5 He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

7 He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it."

8 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?"

9 So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."

10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."

17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river [bv] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates- 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites."

Genesis 16
Hagar and Ishmael
1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her."
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me."
6 "Your servant is in your hands," Abram said. "Do with her whatever you think best." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?"
"I'm running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered.

9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her." 10 The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count."

11 The angel of the LORD also said to her:
"You are now with child
and you will have a son.
You shall name him Ishmael, [bw]
for the LORD has heard of your misery.

12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward [bx] all his brothers."

13 She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen [by] the One who sees me." 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi [bz] ; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

Genesis 17
The Covenant of Circumcision
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty [ca] ; walk before me and be blameless. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers."
3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram [cb] ; your name will be Abraham, [cc] for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."

9 Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."

15 God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."

17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?" 18 And Abraham said to God, "If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!"

19 Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. [cd] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year." 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. 27 And every male in Abraham's household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

Genesis 18
The Three Visitors
1 The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
3 He said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, [ce] do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant."
"Very well," they answered, "do as you say."

6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. "Quick," he said, "get three seahs [cf] of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread."

7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

9 "Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him.
"There, in the tent," he said.

10 Then the LORD [cg] said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son."
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master [ch] is old, will I now have this pleasure?"

13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD ? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son."

15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, "I did not laugh."
But he said, "Yes, you did laugh."

Abraham Pleads for Sodom
16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."
20 Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."

22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. [ci] 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare [cj] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge [ck] of all the earth do right?"

26 The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."

27 Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?"
"If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it."

29 Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?"
He said, "For the sake of forty, I will not do it."

30 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?"
He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."

31 Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?"
He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it."

32 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?"
He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it."

33 When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.

Genesis 19
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning."
"No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square."
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."

6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."

9 "Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.

10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.

12 The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it."

14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry [cl] his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished."

16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!"

18 But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, [cm] please! 19 Your [cn] servant has found favor in your [co] eyes, and you [cp] have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared."

21 He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar. [cq] )

23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

Lot and His Daughters
30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let's get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father."
33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I lay with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father." 35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

36 So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab [cr] ; he is the father of the Moabites of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi [cs] ; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.

Genesis 20
Abraham and Abimelech
1 Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, 2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, "You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman."

4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, "Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation?
Genesis 1
The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Genesis 2
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested [c] from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Adam and Eve
4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- 5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth [d] and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth [e] and there was no man to work the ground, 6 but streams [f] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground- 7 the LORD God formed the man [g] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin [h] and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. [i] 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
But for Adam [j] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs [k] and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib [l] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman, [m] '
for she was taken out of man."

24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Genesis 3
The Fall of Man
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "

4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."

13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
"Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.

15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring [n] and hers;
he will crush [o] your head,
and you will strike his heel."

16 To the woman he said,
"I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;
with pain you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you."

17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'
"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.

18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.

19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return."

20 Adam [p] named his wife Eve, [q] because she would become the mother of all the living.

21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." 23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side [r] of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 4
Cain and Abel
1 Adam [s] lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. [t] She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth [u] a man." 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." [v] And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"
"I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"

10 The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."

13 Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."

15 But the LORD said to him, "Not so [w] ; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived in the land of Nod, [x] east of Eden.

17 Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.

19 Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. 21 His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute. 22 Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of [y] bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain's sister was Naamah.

23 Lamech said to his wives,
"Adah and Zillah, listen to me;
wives of Lamech, hear my words.
I have killed [z] a man for wounding me,
a young man for injuring me.

24 If Cain is avenged seven times,
then Lamech seventy-seven times."

25 Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, [aa] saying, "God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him." 26 Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh.
At that time men began to call on [ab] the name of the LORD.

Genesis 5
From Adam to Noah
1 This is the written account of Adam's line.
When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them "man. [ac] "
3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. 4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 5 Altogether, Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.

6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father [ad] of Enosh. 7 And after he became the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Altogether, Seth lived 912 years, and then he died.

9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan. 10 And after he became the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 Altogether, Enosh lived 905 years, and then he died.

12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel. 13 And after he became the father of Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 Altogether, Kenan lived 910 years, and then he died.

15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared. 16 And after he became the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 Altogether, Mahalalel lived 895 years, and then he died.

18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. 19 And after he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Altogether, Jared lived 962 years, and then he died.

21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. 26 And after he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Altogether, Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died.

28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. 29 He named him Noah [ae] and said, "He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed." 30 After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Altogether, Lamech lived 777 years, and then he died.

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

Genesis 6
The Flood
1 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with [af] man forever, for he is mortal [ag] ; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

9 This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress [ah] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. [ai] 16 Make a roof for it and finish [aj] the ark to within 18 inches [ak] of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them."

22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

Genesis 7
1 The LORD then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven [al] of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made."

5 And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.

6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, 9 male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

13 On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. 14 They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. 15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.

17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. [am] , [an] 21 Every living thing that moved on the earth perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.

24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.

Genesis 8
1 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. 2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. 3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, 4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

6 After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark 7 and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. 9 But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. 10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. 12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

13 By the first day of the first month of Noah's six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.

15 Then God said to Noah, 16 "Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it."

18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on the earth—came out of the ark, one kind after another.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though [ao] every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

22 "As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease."

Genesis 9
God's Covenant With Noah
1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
4 "But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.

6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made man.

7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it."

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."

12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

17 So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

The Sons of Noah
18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the earth.
20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded [ap] to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father's nakedness.

24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,
"Cursed be Canaan!
The lowest of slaves
will he be to his brothers."

26 He also said,
"Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem. [aq]

27 May God extend the territory of Japheth [ar] ;
may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
and may Canaan be his [as] slave."

28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 Altogether, Noah lived 950 years, and then he died.

Genesis 10
The Table of Nations
1 This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah's sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.
The Japhethites
2 The sons [at] of Japheth:
Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras.
3 The sons of Gomer:
Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.

4 The sons of Javan:
Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim and the Rodanim. [au] 5 (From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.)

The Hamites
6 The sons of Ham:
Cush, Mizraim, [av] Put and Canaan.
7 The sons of Cush:
Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca.
The sons of Raamah:
Sheba and Dedan.

8 Cush was the father [aw] of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD." 10 The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in [ax] Shinar. [ay] 11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, [az] Calah 12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.

13 Mizraim was the father of
the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 14 Pathrusites, Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites.

15 Canaan was the father of
Sidon his firstborn, [ba] and of the Hittites, 16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites.
Later the Canaanite clans scattered 19 and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

20 These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

The Semites
21 Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was [bb] Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.
22 The sons of Shem:
Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.

23 The sons of Aram:
Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshech. [bc]

24 Arphaxad was the father of [bd] Shelah,
and Shelah the father of Eber.

25 Two sons were born to Eber:
One was named Peleg, [be] because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.

26 Joktan was the father of
Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan.

30 The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country.

31 These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

32 These are the clans of Noah's sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.

Genesis 11
The Tower of Babel
1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As men moved eastward, [bf] they found a plain in Shinar [bg] and settled there.
3 They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel [bh] —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

From Shem to Abram
10 This is the account of Shem.
Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father [bi] of Arphaxad. 11 And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. 13 And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters. [bj]

14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. 15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. 17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. 19 And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. 21 And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. 23 And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. 25 And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

26 After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.

27 This is the account of Terah.
Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 28 While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth. 29 Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30 Now Sarai was barren; she had no children.

31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.

32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.

Genesis 12
The Call of Abram
1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."

4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring [bk] I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. 9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

Abram in Egypt
10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you."
14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. 15 And when Pharaoh's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

17 But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. "What have you done to me?" he said. "Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!" 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

Genesis 13
Abram and Lot Separate
1 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.
3 From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier 4 and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.

5 Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. 7 And quarreling arose between Abram's herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.

8 So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right; if you go to the right, I'll go to the left."

10 Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.

14 The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring [bl] forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you."

18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.

Genesis 14
Abram Rescues Lot
1 At this time Amraphel king of Shinar, [bm] Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim 2 went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3 All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (the Salt Sea [bn] ). 4 For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim 6 and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert. 7 Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar.

8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim 9 against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. 11 The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. 12 They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.

13 One who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother [bo] of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.

17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem [bp] brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying,
"Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator [bq] of heaven and earth.

20 And blessed be [br] God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand."
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself."

22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.' 24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their share."

Genesis 15
God's Covenant With Abram
1 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
"Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield, [bs]
your very great reward. [bt] "
2 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit [bu] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir."

4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." 5 He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

7 He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it."

8 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?"

9 So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."

10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."

17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river [bv] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates- 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites."

Genesis 16
Hagar and Ishmael
1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her."
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me."
6 "Your servant is in your hands," Abram said. "Do with her whatever you think best." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?"
"I'm running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered.

9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her." 10 The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count."

11 The angel of the LORD also said to her:
"You are now with child
and you will have a son.
You shall name him Ishmael, [bw]
for the LORD has heard of your misery.

12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward [bx] all his brothers."

13 She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen [by] the One who sees me." 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi [bz] ; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

Genesis 17
The Covenant of Circumcision
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty [ca] ; walk before me and be blameless. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers."
3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram [cb] ; your name will be Abraham, [cc] for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."

9 Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."

15 God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."

17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?" 18 And Abraham said to God, "If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!"

19 Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. [cd] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year." 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. 27 And every male in Abraham's household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

Genesis 18
The Three Visitors
1 The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
3 He said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, [ce] do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant."
"Very well," they answered, "do as you say."

6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. "Quick," he said, "get three seahs [cf] of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread."

7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

9 "Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him.
"There, in the tent," he said.

10 Then the LORD [cg] said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son."
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master [ch] is old, will I now have this pleasure?"

13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD ? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son."

15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, "I did not laugh."
But he said, "Yes, you did laugh."

Abraham Pleads for Sodom
16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."
20 Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."

22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. [ci] 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare [cj] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge [ck] of all the earth do right?"

26 The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."

27 Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?"
"If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it."

29 Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?"
He said, "For the sake of forty, I will not do it."

30 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?"
He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."

31 Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?"
He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it."

32 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?"
He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it."

33 When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.

Genesis 19
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning."
"No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square."
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."

6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."

9 "Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.

10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.

12 The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it."

14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry [cl] his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished."

16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!"

18 But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, [cm] please! 19 Your [cn] servant has found favor in your [co] eyes, and you [cp] have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared."

21 He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar. [cq] )

23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

Lot and His Daughters
30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let's get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father."
33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I lay with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father." 35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

36 So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab [cr] ; he is the father of the Moabites of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi [cs] ; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.

Genesis 20
Abraham and Abimelech
1 Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, 2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, "You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman."

4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, "Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation?</nowiki>

Revision as of 20:26, 24 October 2008

In biology, evolution is the process of change in the inherited traits of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. Genes that are passed on to an organism's offspring produce the inherited traits that are the basis of evolution. Mutations in genes can produce new or altered traits in individuals, resulting in the appearance of heritable differences between organisms. New traits may also arise from the transfer of genes between populations, as in migration, or between species, in horizontal gene transfer. In species that reproduce sexually, new combinations of genes are produced by genetic recombination, which can increase the variation in traits between organisms. Evolution occurs when these heritable differences become more common or rare in a population.

It is important to note that biological evolution is a physical process occurring in the natural realm. The mechanisms that drive evolution also control it.

Two major mechanisms drive evolution. The first is natural selection, a process causing heritable traits that are helpful for survival and reproduction to become more common in a population, and harmful traits to become more rare. This occurs because individuals with advantageous traits are more likely to reproduce, so that more individuals in the next generation inherit these traits.[1][2] Over many generations, adaptations occur through a combination of successive, small, random changes in traits, and natural selection of those variants best-suited for their environment.[3] The second is genetic drift, an independent process that produces random changes in the frequency of traits in a population. Genetic drift results from the role probability plays in whether a given trait will be passed on as individuals survive and reproduce. Though the changes produced in any one generation by drift and selection are small, differences accumulate with each subsequent generation and can, over time, cause substantial changes in the organisms.

One definition of a species is a group of organisms that can reproduce with one another and produce fertile offspring. When a species is separated into populations that are prevented from interbreeding, mutations, genetic drift, and natural selection cause the accumulation of differences over generations and the emergence of new species.[4] The similarities between organisms suggest that all known species are descended from a common ancestor (or ancestral gene pool) through this process of gradual divergence.[1]

Evolutionary biology documents the fact that evolution occurs, and also develops and tests theories that explain its causes. Studies of the fossil record and the diversity of living organisms had convinced most scientists by the mid-nineteenth century that species changed over time.[5][6] However, the mechanism driving these changes remained unclear until the 1859 publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, detailing the theory of evolution by natural selection.[7] Darwin's work soon led to overwhelming acceptance of evolution within the scientific community.[8][9][10][11] In the 1930s, Darwinian natural selection was combined with Mendelian inheritance to form the modern evolutionary synthesis,[12] in which the connection between the units of evolution (genes) and the mechanism of evolution (natural selection) was made. This powerful explanatory and predictive theory directs research by constantly raising new questions, and it has become the central organizing principle of modern biology, providing a unifying explanation for the diversity of life on Earth.[9][10][13]

Heredity

DNA structure. Bases are in the center, surrounded by phosphate–sugar chains in a double helix.

Evolution in organisms occurs through changes in heritable traits – particular characteristics of an organism. In humans, for example, eye color is an inherited characteristic, which individuals can inherit from one of their parents.[14] Inherited traits are controlled by genes and the complete set of genes within an organism's genome is called its genotype.[15]

The complete set of observable traits that make up the structure and behavior of an organism is called its phenotype. These traits come from the interaction of its genotype with the environment.[16] As a result, not every aspect of an organism's phenotype is inherited. Suntanned skin results from the interaction between a person's genotype and sunlight; thus, suntans are not passed on to people's children. However, people have different responses to sunlight, arising from differences in their genotype; a striking example is individuals with the inherited trait of albinism, who do not tan and are highly sensitive to sunburn.[17]

Heritable traits are propagated between generations via DNA, a molecule which is capable of encoding genetic information.[15] DNA is a polymer composed of four types of bases. The sequence of bases along a particular DNA molecule specify the genetic information, in a manner akin to a sequence of letters specifying a text or a sequence of bits specifying a computer program. Portions of a DNA molecule that specify a single functional unit are called genes; different genes have different sequences of bases. Within cells, the long strands of DNA associate with proteins to form condensed structures called chromosomes. A specific location within a chromosome is known as a locus. If the DNA sequence at a locus varies between individuals, the different forms of this sequence are called alleles. DNA sequences can change through mutations, producing new alleles. If a mutation occurs within a gene, the new allele may affect the trait that the gene controls, altering the phenotype of the organism. However, while this simple correspondence between an allele and a trait works in some cases, most traits are more complex and are controlled by multiple interacting genes.[18][19]

Variation

An individual organism's phenotype results from both its genotype and the influence from the environment it has lived in. A substantial part of the variation in phenotypes in a population is caused by the differences between their genotypes.[19] The modern evolutionary synthesis defines evolution as the change over time in this genetic variation. The frequency of one particular allele will fluctuate, becoming more or less prevalent relative to other forms of that gene. Evolutionary forces act by driving these changes in allele frequency in one direction or another. Variation disappears when an allele reaches the point of fixation — when it either disappears from the population or replaces the ancestral allele entirely.[20]

Variation comes from mutations in genetic material, migration between populations (gene flow), and the reshuffling of genes through sexual reproduction. Variation also comes from exchanges of genes between different species; for example, through horizontal gene transfer in bacteria, and hybridization in plants.[21] Despite the constant introduction of variation through these processes, most of the genome of a species is identical in all individuals of that species.[22] However, even relatively small changes in genotype can lead to dramatic changes in phenotype: chimpanzees and humans differ in only about 5% of their genomes.[23]

Mutation

Duplication of part of a chromosome

Genetic variation comes from random mutations that occur in the genomes of organisms. Mutations are changes in the DNA sequence of a cell's genome and are caused by radiation, viruses, transposons and mutagenic chemicals, as well as errors that occur during meiosis or DNA replication.[24][25][26] These mutagens produce several different types of change in DNA sequences; these can either have no effect, alter the product of a gene, or prevent the gene from functioning. Studies in the fly Drosophila melanogaster suggest that if a mutation changes a protein produced by a gene, this will probably be harmful, with about 70 percent of these mutations having damaging effects, and the remainder being either neutral or weakly beneficial.[27] Due to the damaging effects that mutations can have on cells, organisms have evolved mechanisms such as DNA repair to remove mutations.[24] Therefore, the optimal mutation rate for a species is a trade-off between costs of a high mutation rate, such as deleterious mutations, and the metabolic costs of maintaining systems to reduce the mutation rate, such as DNA repair enzymes.[28] Some species such as retroviruses have such high mutation rates that most of their offspring will possess a mutated gene.[29] Such rapid mutation may have been selected so that these viruses can constantly and rapidly evolve, and thus evade the responses of the human immune system.[30]

Mutations can involve large sections of DNA becoming duplicated, which is a major source of raw material for evolving new genes, with tens to hundreds of genes duplicated in animal genomes every million years.[31] Most genes belong to larger families of genes of shared ancestry.[32] Novel genes are produced by several methods, commonly through the duplication and mutation of an ancestral gene, or by recombining parts of different genes to form new combinations with new functions.[33][34] For example, the human eye uses four genes to make structures that sense light: three for color vision and one for night vision; all four arose from a single ancestral gene.[35] An advantage of duplicating a gene (or even an entire genome) is that overlapping or redundant functions in multiple genes allows alleles to be retained that would otherwise be harmful, thus increasing genetic diversity.[36]

Changes in chromosome number may involve even larger mutations, where segments of the DNA within chromosomes break and then rearrange. For example, two chromosomes in the Homo genus fused to produce human chromosome 2; this fusion did not occur in the lineage of the other apes, and they retain these separate chromosomes.[37] In evolution, the most important role of such chromosomal rearrangements may be to accelerate the divergence of a population into new species by making populations less likely to interbreed, and thereby preserving genetic differences between these populations.[38]

Sequences of DNA that can move about the genome, such as transposons, make up a major fraction of the genetic material of plants and animals, and may have been important in the evolution of genomes.[39] For example, more than a million copies of the Alu sequence are present in the human genome, and these sequences have now been recruited to perform functions such as regulating gene expression.[40] Another effect of these mobile DNA sequences is that when they move within a genome, they can mutate or delete existing genes and thereby produce genetic diversity.[41]

Sex and recombination

In asexual organisms, genes are inherited together, or linked, as they cannot mix with genes in other organisms during reproduction. However, the offspring of sexual organisms contain random mixtures of their parents' chromosomes that are produced through independent assortment. In the related process of genetic recombination, sexual organisms can also exchange DNA between two matching chromosomes.[42] Recombination and reassortment do not alter allele frequencies, but instead change which alleles are associated with each other, producing offspring with new combinations of alleles.[43] While this process increases the variation in any individual's offspring, genetic mixing can be predicted to either have no effect, increase, or decrease the genetic variation in the population, depending on how the various alleles in the population are distributed. For example, if two alleles are randomly distributed in a population, then sex will have no effect on variation; however, if two alleles tend to be found as a pair, then genetic mixing will even out this non-random distribution and over time make the organisms in the population more similar to each other.[43] The overall effect of sex on natural variation remains unclear, but recent research suggests that sex usually increases genetic variation and may increase the rate of evolution.[44][45]

Recombination allows even alleles that are close together in a strand of DNA to be inherited independently. However, the rate of recombination is low, since in humans in a stretch of DNA one million base pairs long there is about a one in a hundred chance of a recombination event occurring per generation. As a result, genes close together on a chromosome may not always be shuffled away from each other, and genes that are close together tend to be inherited together.[46] This tendency is measured by finding how often two alleles of different genes occur together, which is called their linkage disequilibrium. A set of alleles that is usually inherited in a group is called a haplotype.

Sexual reproduction helps to remove harmful mutations and retain beneficial mutations.[47] Consequently, when alleles cannot be separated by recombination – such as in mammalian Y chromosomes, which pass intact from fathers to sons – harmful mutations accumulate.[48][49] In addition, recombination and reassortment can produce individuals with new and advantageous gene combinations. These positive effects are balanced by the fact that this process can cause mutations and separate beneficial combinations of genes.[47]

Population genetics

From a genetic viewpoint, evolution is a generation-to-generation change in the frequencies of alleles within a population that shares a common gene pool.[50] A population is a localized group of individuals belonging to the same species. For example, all of the moths of the same species living in an isolated forest represent a population. A single gene in this population may have several alternate forms, which account for variations between the phenotypes of the organisms. An example might be a gene for coloration in moths that has two alleles: black and white. A gene pool is the complete set of alleles in a single population, so each allele occurs a certain number of times in a gene pool. The fraction of genes within the gene pool that are a particular allele is called the allele frequency. Evolution occurs when there are changes in the frequencies of alleles within a population of interbreeding organisms; for example the allele for black color in a population of moths becoming more common.

To understand the mechanisms that cause a population to evolve, it is useful to consider what conditions are required for a population not to evolve. The Hardy-Weinberg principle states that the frequencies of alleles (variations in a gene) in a sufficiently large population will remain constant if the only forces acting on that population are the random reshuffling of alleles during the formation of the sperm or egg, and the random combination of the alleles in these sex cells during fertilization.[51] Such a population is said to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium - it is not evolving.[52]

Mechanisms

Two basic mechanisms produce evolutionary change: natural selection and genetic drift. A third is gene flow. Natural selection favors genes that improve capacity for survival and reproduction. Genetic drift is random change in the frequency of alleles, caused by the random sampling of a generation's genes during reproduction. Gene flow is the transfer of genes within and between populations. The relative importance of natural selection and genetic drift in a population varies depending on the strength of the selection and the effective population size, which is the number of individuals capable of breeding.[53] Natural selection usually predominates in large populations, while genetic drift dominates in small populations. The dominance of genetic drift in small populations can even lead to the fixation of slightly deleterious mutations.[54] As a result, changing population size can dramatically influence the course of evolution. Population bottlenecks, where the population shrinks temporarily and therefore loses genetic variation, result in a more uniform population.[20] Bottlenecks also result from alterations in gene flow such as decreased migration, expansions into new habitats, or population subdivision.[53]

Natural selection

Natural selection of a population for dark coloration.

Natural selection is the process by which genetic mutations that enhance reproduction become, and remain, more common in successive generations of a population. It has often been called a "self-evident" mechanism because it necessarily follows from three simple facts:

  • Heritable variation exists within populations of organisms.
  • Organisms produce more offspring than can survive.
  • These offspring vary in their ability to survive and reproduce.

These conditions produce competition between organisms for survival and reproduction. Consequently, organisms with traits that give them an advantage over their competitors pass these advantageous traits on, while traits that do not confer an advantage are not passed on to the next generation.

The central concept of natural selection is the evolutionary fitness of an organism. This measures the organism's genetic contribution to the next generation. However, this is not the same as the total number of offspring: instead fitness measures the proportion of subsequent generations that carry an organism's genes.[55] Consequently, if an allele increases fitness more than the other alleles of that gene, then with each generation this allele will become more common within the population. These traits are said to be "selected for". Examples of traits that can increase fitness are enhanced survival, and increased fecundity. Conversely, the lower fitness caused by having a less beneficial or deleterious allele results in this allele becoming rarer — they are "selected against".[2] Importantly, the fitness of an allele is not a fixed characteristic, if the environment changes, previously neutral or harmful traits may become beneficial and previously beneficial traits become harmful.[1].

Natural selection within a population for a trait that can vary across a range of values, such as height, can be categorized into three different types. The first is directional selection, which is a shift in the average value of a trait over time — for example organisms slowly getting taller.[56] Secondly, disruptive selection is selection for extreme trait values and often results in two different values becoming most common, with selection against the average value. This would be when either short or tall organisms had an advantage, but not those of medium height. Finally, in stabilizing selection there is selection against extreme trait values on both ends, which causes a decrease in variance around the average value.[57] This would, for example, cause organisms to slowly become all the same height.

A special case of natural selection is sexual selection, which is selection for any trait that increases mating success by increasing the attractiveness of an organism to potential mates.[58] Traits that evolved through sexual selection are particularly prominent in males of some animal species, despite traits such as cumbersome antlers, mating calls or bright colors that attract predators, decreasing the survival of individual males.[59] This survival disadvantage is balanced by higher reproductive success in males that show these hard to fake, sexually selected traits.[60]

An active area of research is the unit of selection, with natural selection being proposed to work at the level of genes, cells, individual organisms, groups of organisms and even species.[61][62] None of these models are mutually-exclusive and selection may act on multiple levels simultaneously.[63] Below the level of the individual, genes called transposons try to copy themselves throughout the genome.[64] Selection at a level above the individual, such as group selection, may allow the evolution of co-operation, as discussed below.[65]

Genetic drift

Simulation of genetic drift of 20 unlinked alleles in populations of 10 (top) and 100 (bottom). Drift to fixation is more rapid in the smaller population.

Genetic drift is the change in allele frequency from one generation to the next that occurs because alleles in offspring are a random sample of those in the parents, as well as from the role that chance plays in determining whether a given individual will survive and reproduce.[20] In mathematical terms, alleles are subject to sampling error. As a result, when selective forces are absent or relatively weak, allele frequencies tend to "drift" upward or downward randomly (in a random walk). This drift halts when an allele eventually becomes fixed, either by disappearing from the population, or replacing the other alleles entirely. Genetic drift may therefore eliminate some alleles from a population due to chance alone. Even in the absence of selective forces, genetic drift can cause two separate populations which began with the same genetic structure to drift apart into two divergent populations with different sets of alleles.[66]

The time for an allele to become fixed by genetic drift depends on population size, with fixation occurring more rapidly in smaller populations.[67] The precise measure of populations that is important here is called the effective population size, which was defined by Sewall Wright as a theoretical number representing the number of breeding individuals that would exhibit the same observed degree of inbreeding.

Although natural selection is responsible for adaptation, the relative importance of the two forces of natural selection and genetic drift in driving evolutionary change in general is an area of current research in evolutionary biology.[68] These investigations were prompted by the neutral theory of molecular evolution, which proposed that most evolutionary changes are the result of the fixation of neutral mutations that do not have any immediate effects on the fitness of an organism.[69] Hence, in this model, most genetic changes in a population are the result of constant mutation pressure and genetic drift.[70]

Gene flow

Male lions leave the pride where they are born and take over a new pride to mate. This results in gene flow between prides.

Gene flow is the exchange of genes between populations, which are usually of the same species.[71] Examples of gene flow within a species include the migration and then breeding of organisms, or the exchange of pollen. Gene transfer between species includes the formation of hybrid organisms and horizontal gene transfer.

Migration into or out of a population can change allele frequencies, as well as introducing genetic variation into a population. Immigration may add new genetic material to the established gene pool of a population. Conversely, emigration may remove genetic material. As barriers to reproduction between two diverging populations are required for the populations to become new species, gene flow may slow this process by spreading genetic differences between the populations. Gene flow is hindered by mountain ranges, oceans and deserts or even man-made structures such as the Great Wall of China, which has hindered the flow of plant genes.[72]

Depending on how far two species have diverged since their most recent common ancestor, it may still be possible for them to produce offspring, as with horses and donkeys mating to produce mules.[73] Such hybrids are generally infertile, due to the two different sets of chromosomes being unable to pair up during meiosis. In this case, closely-related species may regularly interbreed, but hybrids will be selected against and the species will remain distinct. However, viable hybrids are occasionally formed and these new species can either have properties intermediate between their parent species, or possess a totally new phenotype.[74] The importance of hybridization in creating new species of animals is unclear, although cases have been seen in many types of animals,[75] with the gray tree frog being a particularly well-studied example.[76]

Hybridization is, however, an important means of speciation in plants, since polyploidy (having more than two copies of each chromosome) is tolerated in plants more readily than in animals.[77][78] Polyploidy is important in hybrids as it allows reproduction, with the two different sets of chromosomes each being able to pair with an identical partner during meiosis.[79] Polyploids also have more genetic diversity, which allows them to avoid inbreeding depression in small populations.[80]

Horizontal gene transfer is the transfer of genetic material from one organism to another organism that is not its offspring; this is most common among bacteria.[81] In medicine, this contributes to the spread of antibiotic resistance, as when one bacteria acquires resistance genes it can rapidly transfer them to other species.[82] Horizontal transfer of genes from bacteria to eukaryotes such as the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the adzuki bean beetle Callosobruchus chinensis may also have occurred.[83][84] An example of larger-scale transfers are the eukaryotic bdelloid rotifers, which appear to have received a range of genes from bacteria, fungi, and plants.[85] Viruses can also carry DNA between organisms, allowing transfer of genes even across biological domains.[86] Large-scale gene transfer has also occurred between the ancestors of eukaryotic cells and prokaryotes, during the acquisition of chloroplasts and mitochondrial.[87]

Outcomes

Evolution influences every aspect of the form and behavior of organisms. Most prominent are the specific behavioral and physical adaptations that are the outcome of natural selection. These adaptations increase fitness by aiding activities such as finding food, avoiding predators or attracting mates. Organisms can also respond to selection by co-operating with each other, usually by aiding their relatives or engaging in mutually-beneficial symbiosis. In the longer term, evolution produces new species through splitting ancestral populations of organisms into new groups that cannot or will not interbreed.

These outcomes of evolution are sometimes divided into macroevolution, which is evolution that occurs at or above the level of species, such as extinction and speciation, and microevolution, which is smaller evolutionary changes, such as adaptations, within a species or population. In general, macroevolution is regarded as the outcome of long periods of microevolution.[88] Thus, the distinction between micro- and macroevolution is not a fundamental one - the difference is simply the time involved.[89] However, in macroevolution, the traits of the entire species may be important. For instance, a large amount of variation among individuals allows a species to rapidly adapt to new habitats, lessening the chance of it going extinct, while a wide geographic range increases the chance of speciation, by making it more likely that part of the population will become isolated. In this sense, microevolution and macroevolution might involve selection at different levels - with microevolution acting on genes and organisms, versus macroevolutionary processes acting on entire species and affecting the rate of speciation and extinction.[90][91][92]

A common misconception is that evolution is "progressive," but natural selection has no long-term goal and does not necessarily produce greater complexity.[93] Although complex species have evolved, this occurs as a side effect of the overall number of organisms increasing, and simple forms of life remain more common.[94] For example, the overwhelming majority of species are microscopic prokaryotes, which form about half the world's biomass despite their small size,[95] and constitute the vast majority of Earth's biodiversity.[96] Simple organisms have therefore been the dominant form of life on Earth throughout its history and continue to be the main form of life up to the present day, with complex life only appearing more diverse because it is more noticeable.[97]

Adaptation

Adaptations are structures or behaviors that enhance a specific function, causing organisms to become better at surviving and reproducing.[7] They are produced by a combination of the continuous production of small, random changes in traits, followed by natural selection of the variants best-suited for their environment.[98] This process can cause either the gain of a new feature, or the loss of an ancestral feature. An example that shows both types of change is bacterial adaptation to antibiotic selection, with genetic changes causing antibiotic resistance by both modifying the target of the drug, or increasing the activity of transporters that pump the drug out of the cell.[99] Other striking examples are the bacteria Escherichia coli evolving the ability to use citric acid as a nutrient in a long-term laboratory experiment,[100] or Flavobacterium evolving a novel enzyme that allows these bacteria to grow on the by-products of nylon manufacturing.[101][102]

However, many traits that appear to be simple adaptations are in fact exaptations: structures originally adapted for one function, but which coincidentally became somewhat useful for some other function in the process.[103] One example is the African lizard Holaspis guentheri, which developed an extremely flat head for hiding in crevices, as can be seen by looking at its near relatives. However, in this species, the head has become so flattened that it assists in gliding from tree to tree—an exaptation.[103] Another is the recruitment of enzymes from glycolysis and xenobiotic metabolism to serve as structural proteins called crystallins within the lenses of organisms' eyes.[104][105]

A baleen whale skeleton, a and b label flipper bones, which were adapted from front leg bones: while c indicates vestigial leg bones.[106]

As adaptation occurs through the gradual modification of existing structures, structures with similar internal organization may have very different functions in related organisms. This is the result of a single ancestral structure being adapted to function in different ways. The bones within bat wings, for example, are structurally similar to both human hands and seal flippers, due to the common descent of these structures from an ancestor that also had five digits at the end of each forelimb. Other idiosyncratic anatomical features, such as bones in the wrist of the panda being formed into a false "thumb," indicate that an organism's evolutionary lineage can limit what adaptations are possible.[107]

During adaptation, some structures may lose their original function and become vestigial structures.[108] Such structures may have little or no function in a current species, yet have a clear function in ancestral species, or other closely-related species. Examples include pseudogenes,[109] the non-functional remains of eyes in blind cave-dwelling fish,[110] wings in flightless birds,[111] and the presence of hip bones in whales and snakes.[112] Examples of vestigial structures in humans include wisdom teeth,[113] the coccyx,[108] and the vermiform appendix.[108]

An area of current investigation in evolutionary developmental biology is the developmental basis of adaptations and exaptations.[114] This research addresses the origin and evolution of embryonic development and how modifications of development and developmental processes produce novel features.[115] These studies have shown that evolution can alter development to create new structures, such as embryonic bone structures that develop into the jaw in other animals instead forming part of the middle ear in mammals.[116] It is also possible for structures that have been lost in evolution to reappear due to changes in developmental genes, such as a mutation in chickens causing embryos to grow teeth similar to those of crocodiles.[117] It is now becoming clear that most alterations in the form of organisms are due to changes in the level and timing of the expression of a small set of conserved genes.[118]

Co-evolution

Interactions between organisms can produce both conflict and co-operation. When the interaction is between pairs of species, such as a pathogen and a host, or a predator and its prey, these species can develop matched sets of adaptations. Here, the evolution of one species causes adaptations in a second species. These changes in the second species then, in turn, cause new adaptations in the first species. This cycle of selection and response is called co-evolution.[119] An example is the production of tetrodotoxin in the rough-skinned newt and the evolution of tetrodotoxin resistance in its predator, the common garter snake. In this predator-prey pair, an evolutionary arms race has produced high levels of toxin in the newt and correspondingly high levels of resistance in the snake.[120]

Co-operation

However, not all interactions between species involve conflict.[121] Many cases of mutually beneficial interactions have evolved. For instance, an extreme cooperation exists between plants and the mycorrhizal fungi that grow on their roots and aid the plant in absorbing nutrients from the soil.[122] This is a reciprocal relationship as the plants provide the fungi with sugars from photosynthesis. Here, the fungi actually grow inside plant cells, allowing them to exchange nutrients with their hosts, while sending signals that suppress the plant immune system.[123]

Coalitions between organisms of the same species have also evolved. An extreme case is the eusociality found in social insects, such as bees, termites and ants, where sterile insects feed and guard the small number of organisms in a colony that are able to reproduce. On an even smaller scale, the somatic cells that make up the body of an animal limit their reproduction so they can maintain a stable organism, which then supports a small number of the animal's germ cells to produce offspring. Here, somatic cells respond to specific signals that instruct them to either grow or kill themselves. If cells ignore these signals and attempt to multiply inappropriately, their uncontrolled growth causes cancer.[24]

These examples of cooperation within species are thought to have evolved through the process of kin selection, which is where one organism acts to help raise a relative's offspring.[124] This activity is selected for because if the helping individual contains alleles which promote the helping activity, it is likely that its kin will also contain these alleles and thus those alleles will be passed on.[125] Other processes that may promote cooperation include group selection, where cooperation provides benefits to a group of organisms.[126]

Speciation

The four mechanisms of speciation.

Speciation is the process where a species diverges into two or more descendant species.[127] It has been observed multiple times under both controlled laboratory conditions and in nature.[128] In sexually-reproducing organisms, speciation results from reproductive isolation followed by genealogical divergence. There are four mechanisms for speciation. The most common in animals is allopatric speciation, which occurs in populations initially isolated geographically, such as by habitat fragmentation or migration. Selection under these conditions can produce very rapid changes in the appearance and behaviour of organisms.[129][130] As selection and drift act independently on populations isolated from the rest of their species, separation may eventually produce organisms that cannot interbreed.[131]

The second mechanism of speciation is peripatric speciation, which occurs when small populations of organisms become isolated in a new environment. This differs from allopatric speciation in that the isolated populations are numerically much smaller than the parental population. Here, the founder effect causes rapid speciation through both rapid genetic drift and selection on a small gene pool.[132]

The third mechanism of speciation is parapatric speciation. This is similar to peripatric speciation in that a small population enters a new habitat, but differs in that there is no physical separation between these two populations. Instead, speciation results from the evolution of mechanisms that reduce gene flow between the two populations.[127] Generally this occurs when there has been a drastic change in the environment within the parental species' habitat. One example is the grass Anthoxanthum odoratum, which can undergo parapatric speciation in response to localized metal pollution from mines.[133] Here, plants evolve that have resistance to high levels of metals in the soil. Selection against interbreeding with the metal-sensitive parental population produces a change in flowering time of the metal-resistant plants, causing reproductive isolation. Selection against hybrids between the two populations may cause reinforcement, which is the evolution of traits that promote mating within a species, as well as character displacement, which is when two species become more distinct in appearance.[134]

File:Darwin's finches cropped.jpeg
Geographical isolation of finches on the Galápagos Islands produced over a dozen new species.

Finally, in sympatric speciation species diverge without geographic isolation or changes in habitat. This form is rare since even a small amount of gene flow may remove genetic differences between parts of a population.[135] Generally, sympatric speciation in animals requires the evolution of both genetic differences and non-random mating, to allow reproductive isolation to evolve.[136]

One type of sympatric speciation involves cross-breeding of two related species to produce a new hybrid species. This is not common in animals as animal hybrids are usually sterile, because during meiosis the homologous chromosomes from each parent, being from different species cannot successfully pair. It is more common in plants, however because plants often double their number of chromosomes, to form polyploids. This allows the chromosomes from each parental species to form a matching pair during meiosis, as each parent's chromosomes is represented by a pair already.[137] An example of such a speciation event is when the plant species Arabidopsis thaliana and Arabidopsis arenosa cross-bred to give the new species Arabidopsis suecica.[138] This happened about 20,000 years ago,[139] and the speciation process has been repeated in the laboratory, which allows the study of the genetic mechanisms involved in this process.[140] Indeed, chromosome doubling within a species may be a common cause of reproductive isolation, as half the doubled chromosomes will be unmatched when breeding with undoubled organisms.[78]

Speciation events are important in the theory of punctuated equilibrium, which accounts for the pattern in the fossil record of short "bursts" of evolution interspersed with relatively long periods of stasis, where species remain relatively unchanged.[141] In this theory, speciation and rapid evolution are linked, with natural selection and genetic drift acting most strongly on organisms undergoing speciation in novel habitats or small populations. As a result, the periods of stasis in the fossil record correspond to the parental population, and the organisms undergoing speciation and rapid evolution are found in small populations or geographically-restricted habitats, and therefore rarely being preserved as fossils.[142]

Extinction

Tarbosaurus fossil. Non-avian dinosaurs died out in the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous period.

Extinction is the disappearance of an entire species. Extinction is not an unusual event, as species regularly appear through speciation, and disappear through extinction.[143] Indeed, virtually all animal and plant species that have lived on earth are now extinct,[144] and extinction appears to be the ultimate fate of all species.[145] These extinctions have happened continuously throughout the history of life, although the rate of extinction spikes in occasional mass extinction events.[146] The Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event, during which the dinosaurs went extinct, is the most well-known, but the earlier Permian–Triassic extinction event was even more severe, with approximately 96 percent of species driven to extinction.[146] The Holocene extinction event is an ongoing mass extinction associated with humanity's expansion across the globe over the past few thousand years. Present-day extinction rates are 100-1000 times greater than the background rate, and up to 30 percent of species may be extinct by the mid 21st century.[147] Human activities are now the primary cause of the ongoing extinction event;[148] global warming may further accelerate it in the future.[149]

The role of extinction in evolution depends on which type is considered. The causes of the continuous "low-level" extinction events, which form the majority of extinctions, are not well understood and may be the result of competition between species for limited resources (competitive exclusion).[12] If competition from other species does alter the probability that a species will become extinct, this could produce species selection as a level of natural selection.[61] The intermittent mass extinctions are also important, but instead of acting as a selective force, they drastically reduce diversity in a nonspecific manner and promote bursts of rapid evolution and speciation in survivors.[146]

Evolutionary history of life

Origin of life

The origin of life is a necessary precursor for biological evolution, but understanding that evolution occurred once organisms appeared and investigating how this happens does not depend on understanding exactly how life began.[150] The current scientific consensus is that the complex biochemistry that makes up life came from simpler chemical reactions, but it is unclear how this occurred.[151] Not much is certain about the earliest developments in life, the structure of the first living things, or the identity and nature of any last universal common ancestor or ancestral gene pool.[152][153] Consequently, there is no scientific consensus on how life began, but proposals include self-replicating molecules such as RNA,[154] and the assembly of simple cells.[155]

Common descent

The hominoids are descendants of a common ancestor.

All organisms on Earth are descended from a common ancestor or ancestral gene pool.[156] Current species are a stage in the process of evolution, with their diversity the product of a long series of speciation and extinction events.[157] The common descent of organisms was first deduced from four simple facts about organisms: First, they have geographic distributions that cannot be explained by local adaptation. Second, the diversity of life is not a set of completely unique organisms, but organisms that share morphological similarities. Third, vestigial traits with no clear purpose resemble functional ancestral traits, and finally, that organisms can be classified using these similarities into a hierarchy of nested groups.[7]

Past species have also left records of their evolutionary history. Fossils, along with the comparative anatomy of present-day organisms, constitute the morphological, or anatomical, record.[158] By comparing the anatomies of both modern and extinct species, paleontologists can infer the lineages of those species. However, this approach is most successful for organisms that had hard body parts, such as shells, bones or teeth. Further, as prokaryotes such as bacteria and archaea share a limited set of common morphologies, their fossils do not provide information on their ancestry.

More recently, evidence for common descent has come from the study of biochemical similarities between organisms. For example, all living cells use the same basic set of nucleotides and amino acids.[159] The development of molecular genetics has revealed the record of evolution left in organisms' genomes: dating when species diverged through the molecular clock produced by mutations.[160] For example, these DNA sequence comparisons have revealed the close genetic similarity between humans and chimpanzees and shed light on when the common ancestor of these species existed.[161]

Evolution of life

Evolutionary tree showing the divergence of modern species from their common ancestor in the center.[162] The three domains are colored, with bacteria blue, archaea green, and eukaryotes red.

Despite the uncertainty on how life began, it is clear that prokaryotes were the first organisms to inhabit Earth,[163] approximately 3–4 billion years ago.[164] No obvious changes in morphology or cellular organization occurred in these organisms over the next few billion years.[165]

The eukaryotes were the next major development in cell evolution. These came from ancient bacteria being engulfed by the ancestors of eukaryotic cells, in a cooperative association called endosymbiosis.[87][166] The engulfed bacteria and the host cell then underwent co-evolution, with the bacteria evolving into either mitochondria or hydrogenosomes.[167] An independent second engulfment of cyanobacterial-like organisms led to the formation of chloroplasts in algae and plants.[168] It is unknown when the first eukaryotic cells appeared though they first emerged between 1.6 - 2.7 billion years ago.

The history of life was that of the unicellular eukaryotes, prokaryotes, and archaea until about 610 million years ago when multicellular organisms began to appear in the oceans in the Ediacaran period.[163][169] The evolution of multicellularity occurred in multiple independent events, in organisms as diverse as sponges, brown algae, cyanobacteria, slime moulds and myxobacteria.[170]

Soon after the emergence of these first multicellular organisms, a remarkable amount of biological diversity appeared over approximately 10 million years, in an event called the Cambrian explosion. Here, the majority of types of modern animals appeared in the fossil record, as well as unique lineages that subsequently became extinct.[171] Various triggers for the Cambrian explosion have been proposed, including the accumulation of oxygen in the atmosphere from photosynthesis.[172] About 500 million years ago, plants and fungi colonized the land, and were soon followed by arthropods and other animals.[173] Amphibians first appeared around 300 million years ago, followed by early amniotes, then mammals around 200 million years ago and birds around 100 million years ago (both from "reptile"-like lineages). However, despite the evolution of these large animals, smaller organisms similar to the types that evolved early in this process continue to be highly successful and dominate the Earth, with the majority of both biomass and species being prokaryotes.[96]

History of evolutionary thought

Charles Darwin at age 51, just after publishing On the Origin of Species.

Evolutionary ideas such as common descent and the transmutation of species have existed since at least the 6th century BC, when they were expounded by the Greek philosopher Anaximander.[174] Others who considered such ideas included the Greek philosopher Empedocles, the Roman philosopher-poet Lucretius, the Arab biologist Al-Jahiz,[175] the Persian philosopher Ibn Miskawayh, the Brethren of Purity,[176] and the Eastern philosopher Zhuangzi.[177] As biological knowledge grew in the 18th century, evolutionary ideas were set out by a few natural philosophers including Pierre Maupertuis in 1745 and Erasmus Darwin in 1796.[178] The ideas of the biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck about transmutation of species had wide influence. Charles Darwin formulated his idea of natural selection in 1838 and was still developing his theory in 1858 when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him a similar theory, and both were presented to the Linnean Society of London in separate papers.[179] At the end of 1859 Darwin's publication of On the Origin of Species explained natural selection in detail and presented evidence leading to increasingly wide acceptance of the occurrence of evolution.

Gregor Mendel, who laid the foundation for genetics.

Debate about the mechanisms of evolution continued, and Darwin could not explain the source of the heritable variations which would be acted on by natural selection. Like Lamarck, he thought that parents passed on adaptations acquired during their lifetimes,[180] a theory which was subsequently dubbed Lamarckism.[181] In the 1880s August Weismann's experiments indicated that changes from use and disuse were not heritable, and Lamarckism gradually fell from favour.[182][183] More significantly, Darwin could not account for how traits were passed down from generation to generation. In 1865 Gregor Mendel found that traits were inherited in a predictable manner.[184] When Mendel's work was rediscovered in 1900, disagreements over the rate of evolution predicted by early geneticists and biometricians led to a rift between the Mendelian and Darwinian models of evolution.

This contradiction was reconciled in the 1930s by biologists such as Ronald Fisher. The end result was a combination of evolution by natural selection and Mendelian inheritance, the modern evolutionary synthesis.[185] In the 1940s, the identification of DNA as the genetic material by Oswald Avery and colleagues and the subsequent publication of the structure of DNA by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953, demonstrated the physical basis for inheritance. Since then, genetics and molecular biology have become core parts of evolutionary biology and have revolutionized the field of phylogenetics.[12]

In its early history, evolutionary biology primarily drew in scientists from traditional taxonomically-oriented disciplines, whose specialist training in particular organisms addressed general questions in evolution. As evolutionary biology expanded as an academic discipline, particularly after the development of the modern evolutionary synthesis, it began to draw more widely from the biological sciences.[12] Currently the study of evolutionary biology involves scientists from fields as diverse as biochemistry, ecology, genetics and physiology, and evolutionary concepts are used in even more distant disciplines such as psychology, medicine, philosophy and computer science.

Social and cultural responses

As "Darwinism" became widely accepted in the 1870s, caricatures of Charles Darwin with a quadrupedal ape or monkey body symbolised evolution.[186]

In the 19th century, particularly after the publication of On the Origin of Species, the idea that life had evolved was an active source of academic debate centered on the philosophical, social and religious implications of evolution. Nowadays, the fact that organisms evolve is uncontested in the scientific literature and the modern evolutionary synthesis is widely accepted by scientists. However, evolution remains a contentious concept for some religious groups.[187]

While many religions and denominations have reconciled their beliefs with evolution through various concepts of theistic evolution, there are many creationists who believe that evolution is contradicted by the creation myths found in their respective religions.[188] As Darwin recognized early on, the most controversial aspect of evolutionary biology is its implications for human origins. In some countries—notably the United States—these tensions between science and religion have fueled the ongoing creation–evolution controversy, a religious conflict focusing on politics and public education.[189] While other scientific fields such as cosmology[190] and earth science[191] also conflict with literal interpretations of many religious texts, evolutionary biology experiences significantly more opposition from religious literalists.

Another example associated with evolutionary theory that is now widely regarded as unwarranted is misnamed "Social Darwinism," a term given to the 19th century Whig Malthusian theory developed by Herbert Spencer into ideas about "survival of the fittest" in commerce and human societies as a whole, and by others into claims that social inequality, racism, and imperialism were justified.[192] However, these ideas contradict Darwin's own views, and contemporary scientists and philosophers consider these ideas to be neither mandated by evolutionary theory nor supported by data.[193][194]

Applications

A major technological application of evolution is artificial selection, which is the intentional selection of certain traits in a population of organisms. Humans have used artificial selection for thousands of years in the domestication of plants and animals.[195] More recently, such selection has become a vital part of genetic engineering, with selectable markers such as antibiotic resistance genes being used to manipulate DNA in molecular biology.

As evolution can produce highly optimized processes and networks, it has many applications in computer science. Here, simulations of evolution using evolutionary algorithms and artificial life started with the work of Nils Aall Barricelli in the 1960s, and was extended by Alex Fraser, who published a series of papers on simulation of artificial selection.[196] Artificial evolution became a widely recognized optimization method as a result of the work of Ingo Rechenberg in the 1960s and early 1970s, who used evolution strategies to solve complex engineering problems.[197] Genetic algorithms in particular became popular through the writing of John Holland.[198] As academic interest grew, dramatic increases in the power of computers allowed practical applications, including the automatic evolution of computer programs.[199] Evolutionary algorithms are now used to solve multi-dimensional problems more efficiently than software produced by human designers, and also to optimize the design of systems.[200]

Further reading

Introductory reading

  • Carroll, S. (2005). Endless Forms Most Beautiful. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-06016-0.
  • Charlesworth, C.B. and Charlesworth, D. (2003). Evolution. Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-192-80251-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Dawkins, R. (2006). The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199291152.
  • Gould, S.J. (1989). Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-30700-X.
  • Jones, S. (2001). Almost Like a Whale: The Origin of Species Updated. (American title: Darwin's Ghost). New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-42277-5.
  • Maynard Smith, J. (1993). The Theory of Evolution: Canto Edition. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-45128-0.
  • Smith, C.B. and Sullivan, C. (2007). The Top 10 Myths about Evolution. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-59102-479-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

History of evolutionary thought

Advanced reading

References

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