Genesis 2–4

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

^4dThis 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, ⁵before 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; ⁶but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.

⁷And 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

⁸The Lord God planted ^la garden ^meastward in ⁿEden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. ⁹And 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.

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

¹⁵Then the Lord God took ⁴the man and put him in the garden of Eden to ⁵tend and keep it. ¹⁶And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷but 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.”

¹⁸And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; ^xI will make him a helper comparable to him.” ^19yOut 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. ²⁰So 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.

²¹And 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. ²²Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He ⁸made into a woman, ^band He ^cbrought her to the man.

²³And 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.”

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

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

The Temptation and Fall of Man

3Now ^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’?”

²And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the ^cfruit of the trees of the garden; ³but 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.’ ”

^4eThen the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵For 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.”

⁶So 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. ⁷Then 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.

⁸And 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.

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

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

¹¹And 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?”

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

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

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

¹⁴So 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.

¹⁵And 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.”

¹⁶To 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.”

¹⁷Then 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.

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

And ^yyou shall eat the herb of the field.

^19zIn the sweat of your face you shall eat bread

Till you return to the ground,

For out of it you were taken;

^aFor dust you are,

And ^bto dust you shall return.”

²⁰And Adam called his wife’s name ^cEve, ⁷because she was the mother of all living.

²¹Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.

²²Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—²³therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden ^dto till the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴So ^eHe drove out the man; and He placed ^fcherubim ^gat the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of ^hlife.

Cain Murders Abel

4Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore ¹Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” ²Then she bore again, this time his brother ²Abel. Now ^aAbel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ³And ³in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit ^bof the ground to the Lord. ⁴Abel also brought of ^cthe firstborn of his flock and of ^dtheir fat. And the Lord ^erespected Abel and his offering, ⁵but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

⁶So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is ⁴for you, but you should rule over it.”

⁸Now Cain ⁵talked with Abel his ⁶brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and ^fkilled him.

⁹Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”

He said, ^g“I do not know. Am I ^hmy brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood ⁱcries out to Me from the ground. ¹¹So now ^jyou are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹²When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”

¹³And Cain said to the Lord, “My ⁷punishment is greater than I can bear! ¹⁴Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; ^kI shall be ^lhidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that ^manyone who finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵And the Lord said to him, ⁸“Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him ⁿsevenfold.” And the Lord set a ^omark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.

The Family of Cain

¹⁶Then Cain ^pwent out from the ^qpresence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of ⁹Nod on the east of Eden. ¹⁷And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, ^rand called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch. ¹⁸To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.

¹⁹Then Lamech took for himself ^stwo wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. ²⁰And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. ²¹His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and ¹flute. ²²And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

²³Then Lamech said to his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;

Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech!

For I have ²killed a man for wounding me,

Even a young man ³for hurting me.

^24tIf Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,

Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

A New Son

²⁵And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and ^unamed him ⁴Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” ²⁶And as for Seth, ^vto him also a son was born; and he named him ⁵Enosh. Then men began ^wto call on the name of the Lord.