The History of Creation

1 In the abeginning bGod created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was cwithout form, and void; and darkness 1was on the face of the deep. dAnd the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

3 eThen God said, f“Let there be glight”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the hdarkness He called Night. 2So the evening and the morning were the first day.

6 Then God said, i“Let there be a 3firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 7 Thus God made the firmament, jand divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were kabove the firmament; and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 Then God said, l“Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and mlet the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, “Let the earth nbring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the ofruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 Then God said, “Let there be plights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and qseasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16 Then God made two great 4lights: the rgreater light to rule the day, and the slesser light to rule the night. He made tthe stars also. 17 God set them in the firmament of the uheavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to vrule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20 Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living 5creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the 6firmament of the heavens.” 21 So wGod created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, x“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, y“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; zlet them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over 7all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man ain His own image; in the image of God He created him; bmale and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, c“Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and dsubdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that 8moves on the earth.”

29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; eto you it shall be for food. 30 Also, to fevery beast of the earth, to every gbird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is 9life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. 31 Then hGod saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

2 Thus the heavens and the earth, and aall the host of them, were finished. 2 bAnd on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God cblessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

4 dThis is the 1history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 before any eplant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not fcaused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man gto till the ground; 6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.

7 And the Lord God formed man of the hdust of the ground, and ibreathed into his jnostrils the breath of life; and kman became a living being.

Life in God’s Garden

8 The Lord God planted la garden meastward in nEden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made oevery tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. pThe tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and qevil.

10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts rthe whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. sBdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is tHiddekel; 2it is the one which goes toward the east of 3Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 Then the Lord God took 4the man and put him in the garden of Eden to 5tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil uyou shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it vyou 6shall surely wdie.”

18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; xI will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 yOut of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and zbrought them to 7Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.

21 And the Lord God caused a adeep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He 8made into a woman, band He cbrought her to the man.

23 And Adam said:

“This is now dbone of my bones

And flesh of my flesh;

She shall be called 9Woman,

Because she was etaken out of 1Man.”

24 fTherefore a man shall leave his father and mother and gbe 2joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

25 hAnd they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not iashamed.

The Temptation and Fall of Man

3 Now athe serpent was bmore cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the cfruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you dtouch it, lest you die.’ ”

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

6 So when the woman fsaw that the tree was good for food, that it was 1pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit gand ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, hand they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves 2coverings.

8 And they heard ithe 3sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the 4cool of the day, and Adam and his wife jhid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, kand I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

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

12 Then the man said, l“The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, m“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent:

“Because you have done this,

You are cursed more than all cattle,

And more than every beast of the field;

On your belly you shall go,

And nyou shall eat dust

All the days of your life.

15 And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

And between oyour seed and pher Seed;

qHe shall bruise your head,

And you shall bruise His heel.”

16 To the woman He said:

“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;

rIn pain you shall bring forth children;

sYour desire shall be 5for your husband,

And he shall trule over you.”

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

w“Cursed is the ground for your sake;

xIn toil you shall eat of it

All the days of your life.

18 Both thorns and thistles it shall 6bring forth for you,

And yyou shall eat the herb of the field.

19 zIn the …