Genesis 2:4–4:26

⁴These are births of the heavens and of the earth in their being prepared, in the day of Jehovah God’s making earth and heavens; ⁵and no shrub of the field is yet in the earth, and no herb of the field yet sprouteth, for Jehovah God hath not rained upon the earth, and a man there is not to serve the ground, ⁶and a mist goeth up from the earth, and hath watered the whole face of the ground. ⁷And Jehovah God formeth the man—dust from the ground, and breatheth into his nostrils breath of life, and the man becometh a living creature.

⁸And Jehovah God planteth a garden in Eden, at the east, and He setteth there the man whom He hath formed; ⁹and Jehovah God causeth to sprout from the ground every tree desirable for appearance, and good for food, and the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. ¹⁰And a river is going out from Eden to water the garden, and from thence it is parted, and hath become four chief rivers; ¹¹the name of the one is Pison, it is that which is surrounding the whole land of the Havilah where the gold is, ¹²and the gold of that land is good, there is the bdolach and the shoham stone; ¹³and the name of the second river is Gibon, it is that which is surrounding the whole land of Cush; ¹⁴and the name of the third river is Hiddekel, it is that which is going east of Asshur; and the fourth river is Phrat. ¹⁵And Jehovah God taketh the man, and causeth him to rest in the garden of Eden, to serve it, and to keep it.

¹⁶And Jehovah God layeth a charge on the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden eating thou dost eat; ¹⁷and of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou dost not eat of it, for in the day of thine eating of it—dying thou dost die.’

¹⁸And Jehovah God saith, ‘Not good for the man to be alone, I do make to him an helper—as his counterpart.’ ¹⁹And Jehovah God formeth from the ground every beast of the field, and every fowl of the heavens, and bringeth in unto the man, to see what he doth call it; and whatever the man calleth a living creature, that is its name. ²⁰And the man calleth names to all the cattle, and to fowl of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; and to man hath not been found an helper—as his counterpart.

²¹And Jehovah God causeth a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he sleepeth, and He taketh one of his ribs, and closeth up flesh in its stead. ²²And Jehovah God buildeth up the rib which He hath taken out of the man into a woman, and bringeth her in unto the man; ²³and the man saith, ‘This is the proper step! bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh!’ for this it is called Woman, for from a man hath this been taken; ²⁴therefore doth a man leave his father and his mother, and hath cleaved unto his wife, and they have become one flesh. ²⁵And they are both of them naked, the man and his wife, and they are not ashamed of themselves.

Chapter 3

¹And the serpent hath been subtile above every beast of the field which Jehovah God hath made, and he saith unto the woman, ‘Is it true that God hath said, Ye do not eat of every tree of the garden?’ ²And the woman saith unto the serpent, ‘Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we do eat, ³and of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath said, Ye do not eat of it, nor touch it, lest ye die.’ ⁴And the serpent saith unto the woman, ‘Dying, ye do not die, ⁵for God doth know that in the day of your eating of it—your eyes have been opened, and ye have been as God, knowing good and evil.’

⁶And the woman seeth that the tree is good for food, and that it is pleasant to the eyes, and the tree is desirable to make one wise, and she taketh of its fruit and eateth, and giveth also to her husband with her, and he doth eat; ⁷and the eyes of them both are opened, and they know that they are naked, and they sew fig-leaves, and make to themselves girdles. ⁸And they hear the sound of Jehovah God walking up and down in the garden at the breeze of the day, and the man and his wife hide themselves from the face of Jehovah God in the midst of the trees of the garden.

⁹And Jehovah God calleth unto the man, and saith to him, ‘Where art thou?’ ¹⁰and he saith, ‘Thy sound I have heard in the garden, and I am afraid, for I am naked, and I hide myself.’

¹¹And He saith, ‘Who hath declared to thee that thou art naked? of the tree of which I have commanded thee not to eat, hast thou eaten?’ ¹²and the man saith, ‘The woman whom Thou didst place with me—she hath given to me of the tree—and I do eat.’ ¹³And Jehovah God saith to the woman, ‘What is this thou hast done?’ and the woman saith, ‘The serpent hath caused me to forget—and I do eat.’

¹⁴And Jehovah God saith unto the serpent, ‘Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all the cattle, and above every beast of the field: on thy belly dost thou go, and dust thou dost eat, all days of thy life; ¹⁵and enmity I put between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he doth bruise thee—the head, and thou dost bruise him—the heel.’

¹⁶Unto the woman He said, ‘Multiplying I multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, in sorrow dost thou bear children, and toward thy husband is thy desire, and he doth rule over thee.’

¹⁷And to the man He said, ‘Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and dost eat of the tree concerning which I have charged thee, saying, Thou dost not eat of it, cursed is the ground on thine account; in sorrow thou dost eat of it all days of thy life, ¹⁸and thorn and bramble it doth bring forth to thee, and thou hast eaten the herb of the field; ¹⁹by the sweat of thy face thou dost eat bread till thy return unto the ground, for out of it hast thou been taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust thou turnest back.’

²⁰And the man calleth his wife’s name Eve: for she hath been mother of all living.

²¹And Jehovah God doth make to the man and to his wife coats of skin, and doth clothe them.

²²And Jehovah God saith, ‘Lo, the man was as one of Us, as to the knowledge of good and evil; and now, lest he send forth his hand, and have taken also of the tree of life, and eaten, and lived to the age,’— ²³Jehovah God sendeth him forth from the garden of Eden to serve the ground from which he hath been taken; ²⁴yea, he casteth out the man, and causeth to dwell at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubs and the flame of the sword which is turning itself round to guard the way of the tree of life.

Chapter 4

¹And the man knew Eve his wife, and she conceiveth and beareth Cain, and saith, ‘I have gotten a man by Jehovah;’ ²and she addeth to bear his brother, even Abel. And Abel is feeding a flock, and Cain hath been servant of the ground.

³And it cometh to pass at the end of days that Cain bringeth from the fruit of the ground a present to Jehovah; ⁴and Abel, he hath brought, he also, from the female firstlings of his flock, even from their fat ones; and Jehovah looketh unto Abel and unto his present, ⁵and unto Cain and unto his present He hath not looked; and it is very displeasing to Cain, and his countenance is fallen.

⁶And Jehovah saith unto Cain, ‘Why hast thou displeasure? and why hath thy countenance fallen? ⁷Is there not, if thou dost well, acceptance? and if thou dost not well, at the opening a sin-offering is crouching, and unto thee its desire, and thou rulest over it.’

⁸And Cain saith unto Abel his brother, ‘Let us go into the field;’ and it cometh to pass in their being in the field, that Cain riseth up against Abel his brother, and slayeth him.

⁹And Jehovah saith unto Cain, ‘Where is Abel thy brother?’ and he saith, ‘I have not known; my brother’s keeper—I?’ ¹⁰And He saith, ‘What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood is crying unto Me from the ground; ¹¹and now, cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened her mouth to receive the blood of thy brother from thy hand; ¹²when thou tillest the ground, it doth not add to give its strength to thee—a wanderer, even a trembling one, thou art in the earth.’

¹³And Cain saith unto Jehovah, ‘Greater is my punishment than to be borne; ¹⁴lo, Thou hast driven me to-day from off the face of the ground, and from Thy face I am hid; and I have been a wanderer, even a trembling one, in the earth, and it hath been—every one finding me doth slay me.’ ¹⁵And Jehovah saith to him, ‘Therefore—of any slayer of Cain sevenfold it is required;’ and Jehovah setteth to Cain a token that none finding him doth slay him.

¹⁶And Cain goeth out from before Jehovah, and dwelleth in the land, moving about east of Eden; ¹⁷and Cain knoweth his wife, and she conceiveth, and beareth Enoch; and he is building a city, and he calleth the name of the city, according to the name of his son—Enoch. ¹⁸And born to Enoch is Irad; and Irad hath begotten Mehujael; and Mehujael hath begotten Methusael; and Methusael hath begotten Lamech.

¹⁹And Lamech taketh to himself two wives, the name of the one Adah, and the name of the second Zillah. ²⁰And Adah beareth Jabal, he hath been father of those inhabiting tents and purchased possessions; ²¹and the name of his brother is Jubal, he hath been father of every one handling harp and organ. ²²And Zillah she also bare Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron; and a sister of Tubal-Cain is Naamah.

²³And Lamech saith to his wives:—‘Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Wives of Lamech, give ear to my saying: For a man I have slain for my wound, Even a young man for my hurt; ²⁴For sevenfold is required for Cain, And for Lamech seventy and sevenfold.’

²⁵And Adam again knoweth his wife, and she beareth a son, and calleth his name Seth, ‘for God hath appointed for me another seed instead of Abel:’ for Cain had slain him. ²⁶And to Seth, to him also a son hath been born, and he calleth his name Enos; then a beginning was made of preaching in the name of Jehovah.

Chapter 5