THE CREATION

1 In the beginninga God created the heavens and the earth.A,b

2 Now the earth was formless and empty,c darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.d 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,”e and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was an evening, and there was a morning: one day.

6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.”f 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse.g And it was so. 8 God called the expanse “sky.”B Evening came and then morning: the second day.

9 Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place,h and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of the water he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.”i And it was so. 12 The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 Evening came and then morning: the third day.

14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signsj for seasonsC and for days and years.k 15 They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night—as well as the stars.l 17 God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth, 18 to rule the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.m And God saw that it was good. 19 Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.

20 Then God said, “Let the water swarm withD living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 21 So God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water,n according to their kinds. He also created every winged creature according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them: “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”o 23 Evening came and then morning: the fifth day.

24 Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let usp make man* inG our image, according to our likeness.q They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawlI on the earth.”r

27 So God created man in his own image;

he created him in the image of God;

he created them male and female.s

28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth,t and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” 29 God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you,u 30 for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it—I have givenL every green plant for food.”v And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed.w Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.

2 So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed.a 2 On the seventhA day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested* on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.b 3 God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he restedc from all his work of creation.d

MAN AND WOMAN IN THE GARDEN

4 These are the recordse of the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation. At the timeD that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 no shrub of the fieldf had yet grown on the land,E and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground. 6 But mist would come up from the earth and water all the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the groundg and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils,h and the man became a living being.i

8 The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,j and there he placed the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden,k as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.l

10 A river wentF out from Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became the source of four rivers.G 11 The name of the first is Pishon, which flows through the entire land of Havilah,H,m where there is gold. 12 Gold from that land is pure;I bdelliumJ and onyxK are also there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon, which flows through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris,n which runs east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.o

15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden,p 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”q 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper correspondingr to him.” 19 The Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it.s And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the manL no helper was found corresponding to him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man,t and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. 22 Then the Lord God made the rib he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man.u 23 And the man said:

This one, at last, is bone of my bone

and flesh of my flesh;

this one will be called “woman,”

for she was taken from man.v

24 This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.w 25 Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.