Genesis 1-2

New International Version

The Beginning

1 In the beginning^(A) God created^(B) the heavens^(C) and the earth.^(D) ²Now the earth was formless^(E) and empty,^(F) darkness was over the surface of the deep,^(G) and the Spirit of God^(H) was hovering^(I) over the waters.

³And God said,^(J) “Let there be light,” and there was light.^(K) ⁴God saw that the light was good,^(L) and he separated the light from the darkness.^(M) ⁵God called^(N) the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”^(O) And there was evening, and there was morning^(P)—the first day.

⁶And God said,^(Q) “Let there be a vault^(R) between the waters^(S) to separate water from water.” ⁷So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it.^(T) And it was so.^(U) ⁸God called^(V) the vault “sky.”^(W) And there was evening, and there was morning^(X)—the second day.

⁹And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place,^(Y) and let dry ground^(Z) appear.” And it was so.^(AA) ¹⁰God called^(AB) the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters^(AC) he called “seas.”^(AD) And God saw that it was good.^(AE)

¹¹Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation:^(AF) seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.^(AG)” And it was so.^(AH) ¹²The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds^(AI) and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.^(AJ) ¹³And there was evening, and there was morning^(AK)—the third day.

¹⁴And God said, “Let there be lights^(AL) in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night,^(AM) and let them serve as signs^(AN) to mark sacred times,^(AO) and days and years,^(AP) ¹⁵and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.^(AQ) ¹⁶God made two great lights—the greater light^(AR) to govern^(AS) the day and the lesser light to govern^(AT) the night.^(AU) He also made the stars.^(AV) ¹⁷God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸to govern the day and the night,^(AW) and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.^(AX) ¹⁹And there was evening, and there was morning^(AY)—the fourth day.

²⁰And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures,^(AZ) and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”^(BA) ²¹So God created^(BB) the great creatures of the sea^(BC) and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it,^(BD) according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.^(BE) And God saw that it was good.^(BF) ²²God 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.”^(BG) ²³And there was evening, and there was morning^(BH)—the fifth day.

²⁴And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures^(BI) according to their kinds:^(BJ) the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.^(BK) ²⁵God made the wild animals^(BL) according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds.^(BM) And God saw that it was good.^(BN)

²⁶Then God said, “Let us^(BO) make mankind^(BP) in our image,^(BQ) in our likeness,^(BR) so that they may rule^(BS) over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky,^(BT) over the livestock and all the wild animals,^[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

²⁷So God created^(BU) mankind^(BV) in his own image,^(BW)
in the image of God^(BX) he created them;
male and female^(BY) he created them.^(BZ)

²⁸God blessed them and said to them,^(CA) “Be fruitful and increase in number;^(CB) fill the earth^(CC) and subdue it. Rule over^(CD) the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.^(CE)”

²⁹Then 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.^(CF) ³⁰And 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 life^(CG) in it—I give every green plant for food.^(CH)” And it was so.

³¹God saw all that he had made,^(CI) and it was very good.^(CJ) And there was evening, and there was morning^(CK)—the sixth day.

2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.^(CL)

²By the seventh day^(CM) God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.^(CN) ³Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,^(CO) because on it he rested^(CP) from all the work of creating^(CQ) that he had done.

Adam and Eve

⁴This is the account^(CR) of the heavens and the earth when they were created,^(CS) when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

⁵Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth^[b] and no plant had yet sprung up,^(CT) for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth^(CU) and there was no one to work the ground, ⁶but streams^[c] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. ⁷Then the Lord God formed^(CV) a man^[d]^(CW) from the dust^(CX) of the ground^(CY) and breathed into his nostrils the breath^(CZ) of life,^(DA) and the man became a living being.^(DB)

⁸Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden;^(DC) and there he put the man he had formed. ⁹The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees^(DD) that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life^(DE) and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.^(DF)

¹⁰A river^(DG) watering the garden flowed from Eden;^(DH) from there it was separated into four headwaters. ¹¹The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah,^(DI) where there is gold. ¹²(The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin^[e]^(DJ) and onyx are also there.) ¹³The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.^[f] ¹⁴The name of the third river is the Tigris;^(DK) it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.^(DL)

¹⁵The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden^(DM) to work it and take care of it. ¹⁶And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;^(DN) ¹⁷but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,^(DO) for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”^(DP)

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

¹⁹Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals^(DR) and all the birds in the sky.^(DS) He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called^(DT) each living creature,^(DU) that was its name. ²⁰So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam^[g] no suitable helper^(DV) was found. ²¹So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep;^(DW) and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs^[h] and then closed up the place with flesh. ²²Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib^[i]^(DX) he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

²³The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;^(DY)
she shall be called^(DZ) ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.^(EA)”

²⁴That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united^(EB) to his wife, and they become one flesh.^(EC)

²⁵Adam and his wife were both naked,^(ED) and they felt no shame.

Footnotes

Genesis 1:26 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text (see Syriac); Masoretic Text the earth
Genesis 2:5 Or land; also in verse 6
Genesis 2:6 Or mist
Genesis 2:7 The Hebrew for man (adam) sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for ground (adamah); it is also the name Adam (see verse 20).
Genesis 2:12 Or good; pearls
Genesis 2:13 Possibly southeast Mesopotamia
Genesis 2:20 Or the man
Genesis 2:21 Or took part of the man’s side
Genesis 2:22 Or part