The Beginning

1 In the beginninga God createdb the heavensc and the earth.d 2 Now the earth was formlesse and empty,f darkness was over the surface of the deep,g and the Spirit of Godh was hoveringi over the waters.

3 And God said,j “Let there be light,” and there was light.k 4 God saw that the light was good,l and he separated the light from the darkness.m 5 God calledn the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”o And there was evening, and there was morningp—the first day.

6 And God said,q “Let there be a vaultr between the waterss to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it.t And it was so.u 8 God calledv the vault “sky.”w And there was evening, and there was morningx—the second day.

9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place,y and let dry groundz appear.” And it was so.a 10 God calledb the dry ground “land,” and the gathered watersc he called “seas.”d And God saw that it was good.e

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

14 And God said, “Let there be lightsl in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night,m and let them serve as signsn to mark sacred times,o and days and years,p 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.q 16 God made two great lights—the greater lightr to governs the day and the lesser light to governt the night.u He also made the stars.v 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night,w and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.x 19 And there was evening, and there was morningy—the fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures,z and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”a 21 So God createdb the great creatures of the seac and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it,d according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.e And God saw that it was good.f 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.”g 23 And there was evening, and there was morningh—the fifth day.

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

26 Then God said, “Let uso make mankindp in our image,q in our likeness,r so that they may rules over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky,t over the livestock and all the wild animals,a and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God createdu mankindv in his own image,w

in the image of Godx he created them;

male and femaley he created them.z

28 God blessed them and said to them,a “Be fruitful and increase in number;b fill the earthc and subdue it. Rule overd the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.e”

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.f 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of lifeg in it—I give every green plant for food.h” And it was so.

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

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

2 By the seventh daym God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.n 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,o because on it he restedp from all the work of creatingq that he had done.

Adam and Eve

4 This is the accountr of the heavens and the earth when they were created,s when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the eartha and no plant had yet sprung up,t for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earthu and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streamsb came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formedv a manc w from the dustx of the groundy and breathed into his nostrils the breathz of life,a and the man became a living being.b

8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden;c and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—treesd that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of lifee and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.f

10 A riverg watering the garden flowed from Eden;h 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,i where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resind j and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.e 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris;k it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.l

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Edenm 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;n 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,o for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”p

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”q

19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animalsr and all the birds in the sky.s He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man calledt each living creature,u that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adamf no suitable helperv was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep;w and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribsg and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the ribh x 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;y

she shall be calledz ‘woman,’

for she was taken out of man.a”

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is unitedb to his wife, and they become one flesh.c

25 Adam and his wife were both naked,d and they felt no shame.

The Fall

3 Now the serpente 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’?f”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,g 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.’ ”h

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.i 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,j 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 desirablek for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband,l who was with her, and he ate it.m 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked;n so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.o

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walkingp in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hidq from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”r

10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraids because I was naked;t so I hid.”

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

12 The man said, “The woman you put here with mew—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,x and I ate.”

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursedy are you above all livestock

and all wild animals!

You will crawl on your belly

and you will eat dustz

all the days of your life.

15 And I will put enmity

between you and the woman,

and between your offspringa a and hers;b

he will crushb your head,c

and you will strike his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;

with painful labor you will give birth to children.d

Your desire will be for your husband,

and he will rule over you.e”

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’f

“Cursedg is the groundh because of you;

through painful toili you will eat food from it

all the days of your life.j

18 It will produce thorns and thistlesk for you,

and you will eat the plants of the field.l

19 By the sweat of your browm

you will eat your foodn

until you return to the ground,

since from it you were taken;

for dust you are

and to dust you will return.”o

20 Adamc named his wife Eve,d p because she would become the mother of all the living.

21 The