Genesis 1–3

Chapter 1

The Creation

^1aIn the beginning ^bGod ^ccreated the heavens and the earth.

²The earth was ^1aformless and void, and ^bdarkness was over the ²surface of the deep, and ^cthe Spirit of God ^dwas ³moving over the surface of the waters.

³Then ^aGod said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

⁴God saw that the light was ^agood; and God ^bseparated the light from the darkness.

^5aGod called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And ^bthere was evening and there was morning, one day.

⁶Then God said, “Let there be ¹an ^aexpanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”

⁷God made the ¹expanse, and separated ^athe waters which were below the expanse from the waters ^bwhich were above the expanse; and it was so.

⁸God called the ¹expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

⁹Then God said, “^aLet the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let ^bthe dry land appear”; and it was so.

¹⁰God called the dry land earth, and the ^agathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.

¹¹Then God said, “Let the earth sprout ^1avegetation, ²plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after ³their kind ⁴with seed in them”; and it was so.

¹²The earth brought forth ¹vegetation, ²plants yielding seed after ³their kind, and trees bearing fruit ⁴with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.

¹³There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

¹⁴Then God said, “Let there be ^1alights in the ^2bexpanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for ^csigns and for ^dseasons and for days and years;

¹⁵and let them be for ¹lights in the ²expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.

¹⁶God made the two ¹great lights, the ^agreater ²light ³to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made ^bthe stars also.

^17aGod placed them in the ¹expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,

¹⁸and ¹to ^agovern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.

¹⁹There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

²⁰Then God said, “Let the waters ¹teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth ²in the open ³expanse of the heavens.”

²¹God created ^athe great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

²²God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

²³There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

^24aThen God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after ¹their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.

²⁵God made the ^abeasts of the earth after ¹their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

²⁶Then God said, “Let ^aUs make ^bman in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them ^crule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the ¹sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

²⁷God created man ^ain His own image, in the image of God He created him; ^bmale and female He created them.

²⁸God blessed them; and God said to them, “^aBe fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the ¹sky and over every living thing that ²moves on the earth.”

²⁹Then God said, “Behold, ^aI have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the ¹surface of all the earth, and every tree ²which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;

³⁰and ^ato every beast of the earth and to every bird of the ¹sky and to every thing that ²moves on the earth ³which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so.

³¹God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very ^agood. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Chapter 2

The Creation of Man and Woman

¹Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all ^atheir hosts.

²By ^athe seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and ^bHe rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

³Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created ¹and made.

^41aThis is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in ^bthe day that the Lord God made earth and heaven.

^5aNow no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, ^bfor the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to ¹cultivate the ground.

⁶But a ¹mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole ²surface of the ground.

⁷Then the Lord God formed man of ^adust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and ^bman became a living ¹being.

⁸The Lord God planted a ^agarden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.

⁹Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow ^aevery tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; ^bthe tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰Now a ^ariver ¹flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four ²rivers.

¹¹The name of the first is Pishon; it ¹flows around the whole land of ^aHavilah, where there is gold.

¹²The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there.

¹³The name of the second river is Gihon; it ¹flows around the whole land of Cush.

¹⁴The name of the third river is ^1aTigris; it ²flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the ^3bEuphrates.

¹⁵Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.

¹⁶The Lord God ^acommanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;

¹⁷but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not ¹eat, for in the day that you eat from it ^ayou will surely die.”

¹⁸Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; ^aI will make him a helper ¹suitable for him.”

^19aOut of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the ¹sky, and ^bbrought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

²⁰The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the ¹sky, and to every beast of the field, but for ²Adam there was not found ^aa helper ³suitable for him.

²¹So the Lord God caused a ^adeep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.

²²The Lord God ¹fashioned into a woman ^athe rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

²³The man said,

“^aThis is now bone of my bones,

And flesh of my flesh;

¹She shall be called ²Woman,

Because she was taken out of ³Man.”

^24aFor this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

^25aAnd the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Chapter 3

The Fall of Man

¹Now ^athe serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from ¹any tree of the garden’?”

²The woman said to the serpent, “^aFrom the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;

³but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”

^4aThe serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!

⁵“For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and ^ayou will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

^6aWhen the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

⁷Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they ^aknew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves ¹loin coverings.

⁸They heard the sound of ^athe Lord God walking in the garden in the ¹cool of the day, ^band the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

⁹Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “^aWhere are you?”

¹⁰He said, “^aI heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

¹¹And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

^12aThe man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”

¹³Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “^aThe serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴The Lord God said to the serpent,

“^aBecause you have done this,

Cursed are you more than all cattle,

And more than every beast of the field;

On your belly you will go,

And ^bdust you will eat

All the days of your life;

¹⁵And I will put ^aenmity

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her seed;

^bHe shall ¹bruise you on the head,

And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

¹⁶To the woman He said,

“I will greatly multiply

Your pain ¹in childbirth,

In pain you will ^abring forth children;

Yet your desire will be for your husband,

And ^bhe will rule over you.”

¹⁷Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;

^aCursed is the ground because of you;

^bIn ¹toil you will eat of it

All the days of your life.

¹⁸“Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;

And you will eat the ¹plants of the field;

¹⁹By the sweat of your face

You will eat bread,

Till you ^areturn to the ground,

Because ^bfrom it you were taken;

For you are dust,

And to…