Genesis 1–2

The Creation

1In the beginning ^aGod created the heavens and the earth. ^bc

²Now the earth was ^dformless and empty, ^edarkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. ^f3Then God said, “Let there be light,” ^gand there was light. ⁴God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵God called the light “day,” and He called the darkness “night.” Evening came and then morning: the first day.

⁶Then God said, “Let there be an expanse ^hbetween the waters, separating water from water.” ⁱ⁷So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. ^jAnd it was so. ⁸God called the expanse “sky.” ^kEvening came and then morning: the second day.

⁹Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, ^land let the dry land appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰God called the dry land “earth,” and He called the gathering of the water “seas.” And God saw that it was good. ¹¹Then 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.” ^mAnd it was so. ¹²The 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. ¹³Evening came and then morning: the third day.

¹⁴Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs ⁿfor festivals ^oand for days and years. ^p15They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶God made the two great lights—the greater light to have dominion over the day and the lesser light to have dominion over the night—as well as the stars. ^q17God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth, ¹⁸to dominate the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. ^rAnd God saw that it was good. ¹⁹Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.

²⁰Then God said, “Let the water swarm with ^sliving creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” ²¹So God created the large sea-creatures ^tand every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, ^uaccording to their kinds. He also created every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²²So God blessed them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” ^v23Evening came and then morning: the fifth day.

²⁴Then 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. ²⁵So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶Then God said, “Let Us ^wmake man in Our image, according to Our likeness. ^xThey will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, ^yand the creatures that crawl ^zon the earth.” ^a

²⁷So God created man in His own image;

He created him in the image of God;

He created them male and female. ^b

²⁸God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, ^cand subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls ^don the earth.” ²⁹God 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 food will be for you, ^e30for 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 given every green plant for food.” ^fAnd it was so. ³¹God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. ^gEvening came and then morning: the sixth day.

2So the heavens and the earth and everything in them ^hwere completed. ⁱ²By the seventh ^jday God completed His work that He had done, and He rested ^kon the seventh day from all His work that He had done. ^l3God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested ^mfrom His work of creation. ^no

Man and Woman in the Garden

⁴These are the records ^pof the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation at the time ^qthat the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. ⁵No shrub of the field ^rhad yet grown on the land, ^sand 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. ⁶But water would come out of the ground and water the entire surface of the land. ⁷Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground ^tand breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, ^uand the man became a living being. ^v

⁸The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, ^wand there He placed the man He had formed. ⁹The 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, ^xas well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ^y

¹⁰A river went ^zout from Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became the source of four rivers. ^a11The name of the first is Pishon, which flows through the entire land of Havilah, ^bcwhere there is gold. ¹²Gold from that land is pure; ^dbdellium ^eand onyx ^fare also there. ¹³The name of the second river is Gihon, which flows through the entire land of Cush. ¹⁴The name of the third river is the Tigris, ^gwhich runs east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. ^h

¹⁵The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. ¹⁶And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, ⁱ¹⁷but you must not eat ^jfrom the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” ^k18Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement.” ^l19So 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. ^mAnd whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. ²⁰The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man ⁿno helper was found as his complement. ²¹So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, ^oand he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. ²²Then the Lord God made the rib He had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. ^p23And 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. ^q

²⁴This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh. ^r25Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.