Genesis 1-3
Complete Jewish Bible
Parashah 1: B’resheet (In the beginning) 1:1–6:8
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was unformed and void, darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the water. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. So there was evening, and there was morning, one day.
6 God said, “Let there be a dome in the middle of the water; let it divide the water from the water.” 7 God made the dome and divided the water under the dome from the water above the dome; that is how it was, 8 and God called the dome Sky. So there was evening, and there was morning, a second day.
9 God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let dry land appear,” and that is how it was. 10 God called the dry land Earth, the gathering together of the water he called Seas, and God saw that it was good.
11 God said, “Let the earth put forth grass, seed-producing plants, and fruit trees, each yielding its own kind of seed-bearing fruit, on the earth”; and that is how it was. 12 The earth brought forth grass, plants each yielding its own kind of seed, and trees each producing its own kind of seed-bearing fruit; and God saw that it was good. 13 So there was evening, and there was morning, a third day.
(A: ii) 14 God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to divide the day from the night; let them be for signs, seasons, days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth”; and that is how it was. 16 God made the two great lights — the larger light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night — and the stars. 17 God put them in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. 19 So there was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.
20 God said, “Let the water swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open dome of the sky.” 21 God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that creeps, so that the water swarmed with all kinds of them, and there was every kind of winged bird; and God saw that it was good. 22 Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, multiply and fill the water of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 So there was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.
(A: iii) 24 God said, “Let the earth bring forth each kind of living creature — each kind of livestock, crawling animal and wild beast”; and that is how it was. 25 God made each kind of wild beast, each kind of livestock and every kind of animal that crawls along the ground; and God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, in the likeness of ourselves; and let them rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the animals, and over all the earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the earth.”
27 So God created humankind in his own image;
in the image of God he created him:
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them: God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air and every living creature that crawls on the earth.” 29 Then God said, “Here! Throughout the whole earth I am giving you as food every seed-bearing plant and every tree with seed-bearing fruit. 30 And to every wild animal, bird in the air and creature crawling on the earth, in which there is a living soul, I am giving as food every kind of green plant.” And that is how it was. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. So there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day.
2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, along with everything in them. 2 On the seventh day God was finished with his work which he had made, so he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 God blessed the seventh day and separated it as holy; because on that day God rested from all his work which he had created, so that it itself could produce.
(A: iv, S: ii) 4 Here is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created. On the day when Adonai, God, made earth and heaven, 5 there was as yet no wild bush on the earth, and no wild plant had as yet sprung up; for Adonai, God, had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no one to cultivate the ground. 6 Rather, a mist went up from the earth which watered the entire surface of the ground.
7 Then Adonai, God, formed a person [a] from the dust of the ground [b] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living being. 8 Adonai, God, planted a garden toward the east, in ‘Eden, and there he put the person whom he had formed. 9 Out of the ground Adonai, God, caused to grow every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 A river went out of ‘Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided into four streams. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it winds throughout the land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. 13 The name of the second river is Gichon; it winds throughout the land of Kush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris; it is the one that flows toward the east of Ashur. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 Adonai, God, took the person and put him in the garden of ‘Eden to cultivate and care for it. 16 Adonai, God, gave the person this order: “You may freely eat from every tree in the garden 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You are not to eat from it, because on the day that you eat from it, it will become certain that you will die.”
18 Adonai, God, said, “It isn’t good that the person should be alone. I will make for him a companion suitable for helping him.” 19 So from the ground Adonai, God, formed every wild animal and every bird that flies in the air, and he brought them to the person to see what he would call them. Whatever the person would call each living creature, that was to be its name. (S: iii) 20 So the person gave names to all the livestock, to the birds in the air and to every wild animal. But for Adam there was not found a companion suitable for helping him.
21 Then God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the person; and while he was sleeping, he took one of his ribs and closed up the place from which he took it with flesh. 22 The rib which Adonai, God, had taken from the person, he made a woman-person; and he brought her to the man-person. 23 The man-person said, “At last! This is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh. She is to be called Woman [c], because she was taken out of Man [d].” 24 This is why a man is to leave his father and mother and stick with his wife, and they are to be one flesh.
25 They were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.
3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any wild animal which Adonai, God, had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You are not to eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat from the fruit of the trees of the garden, 3 but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, ‘You are neither to eat from it nor touch it, or you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “It is not true that you will surely die; 5 because God knows that on the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it had a pleasing appearance and that the tree was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her; and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together to make themselves loincloths.
8 They heard the voice of Adonai, God, walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, so the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Adonai, God, among the trees in the garden. 9 Adonai, God, called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I ordered you not to eat?” 12 The man replied, “The woman you gave to be with me — she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” 13 Adonai, God, said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me, so I ate.”
14 Adonai, God, said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all livestock and wild animals. You will crawl on your belly and eat dust as long as you live. 15 I will put animosity between you and the woman, and between your descendant and her descendant; he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pain in childbirth. You will bring forth children in pain. Your desire will be toward your husband, but he will rule over you.”
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to what your wife said and ate from the tree about which I gave you the order, ‘You are not to eat from it,’ the ground is cursed on your account; you will work hard to eat from it as long as you live. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat field plants. 19 You will eat bread by the sweat of your forehead till you return to the ground — for you were taken out of it: you are dust, and you will return to dust.”
20 The man called his wife Havah [life], because she was the mother of all living.
21 Adonai, God, made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
(A: v, S: iv) 22 Adonai, God, said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, to prevent his putting out his hand and taking also from the tree of life, eating, and living forever — ” 23 therefore Adonai, God, sent him out of the garden of ‘Eden to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 So he drove the man out, and he placed at the east of the garden of ‘Eden the k’ruvim and a flaming sword which turned in every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.
Footnotes
- Genesis 2:7 Hebrew: adam
- Genesis 2:7 Hebrew: adamah
- Genesis 2:23 Hebrew: ishah
- Genesis 2:23 Hebrew: ish
Bereshis 1-3
Orthodox Jewish Bible
1 In the beginning Elohim created hashomayim (the heavens, Himel) and haaretz (the earth).
2 And the earth was tohu vavohu (without form, and void); and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Ruach Elohim was hovering upon the face of the waters.
3 And Elohim said, Let there be light: and there was light [Tehillim 33:6,9].
4 And Elohim saw the light, that it was tov (good); and Elohim divided the ohr (light) from the choshech (darkness).
5 And Elohim called the light Yom (Day), and the darkness He called Lailah (Night). And the erev (evening) and the boker (morning) were Yom Echad (Day One, the First Day, Mk 16:2).
6 And Elohim said, Let there be a raki’a (expanse, dome, firmament) in the midst of the mayim (waters), and let it divide the mayim from the mayim.
7 And Elohim made the raki’a, and divided the waters under the raki’a from the waters which were above the raki’a; and it was so.
8 And Elohim called the raki’a Shomayim (Heaven). And the erev and the boker were Yom Sheni (Day Two, the Second Day).
9 And Elohim said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the yabashah (dry land) appear; and it was so.
10 And Elohim called the yabashah Eretz (Earth); and the mikveh (gathering together of the waters) called He Seas; and Elohim saw that it was tov.
11 And Elohim said, Let the earth bring forth vegetation, the herb yielding zera (seed), and the fruit tree yielding pri (fruit) after its kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth; and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth vegetation, and herb yielding zera (seed) after its kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after its kind; and Elohim saw that it was tov (good).
13 And the erev and the boker were Yom Shlishi (Day Three, the Third Day).
14 And Elohim said, Let there be lights in the raki’a of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for otot (signs), and for mo’adim (seasons), and for yamim (days), and shanim (years);
15 And let them be for lights in the raki’a of the heaven to give light upon the earth; and it was so.
16 And Elohim made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; He made the kokhavim (stars) also.
17 And Elohim set them in the raki’a of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and Elohim saw that it was tov.
19 And the erev and the boker were Yom Revi’i (Day Four, the Fourth Day).
20 And Elohim said, Let the waters bring forth an abundance of living creatures, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open raki’a of heaven.
21 And Elohim created great sea creatures, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth in abundance, after their kind, and every winged fowl after its kind; and Elohim saw that it was tov.
22 And Elohim blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the erev and the boker were Yom Chamishi (Day Five, the Fifth Day).
24 And G-d said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after its kind; and it was so.
25 And G-d made the beast of the earth after its kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after its kind; and G-d saw that it was tov.
26 And G-d said, Let Us make man in Our tzelem, after Our demut: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon ha’aretz (the earth).
27 So G-d created humankind in His own tzelem, in the tzelem Elohim (image of G-d) created He him; zachar (male) and nekevah (female) created He them.
28 And G-d blessed them, and G-d said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And G-d said, Hinei, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of kol ha’aretz (all the earth), and every etz (tree), in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for food; and it was so.
31 And G-d saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was tov me’od (very good). And the erev and the boker were Yom Shishi (Day Six, the Sixth Day).
2 Thus HaShomayim and Ha’Aretz were finished, and all the tza’va of them.
2 And on Yom HaShevi’i Elohim finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the Yom HaShevi’i from all His work which He had made.
3 Vayevarech Elohim et Yom HaShevi’i, and set it apart as kadosh: because that in it shavat (He had rested) from all His work which bara Elohim (G-d created) and made.
4 These are the toldot of HaShomayim and of Ha’Aretz when they were created, in the Yom that Hashem Elohim made Eretz v’Shomayim,
5 And every plant of the sadeh was not yet in ha’aretz, and every herb of the sadeh had not yet yitzmach (sprung up, T.N. Moshiach is Tzemach [Zecharyah 3:8]); for Hashem Elohim had not caused it to rain upon ha’aretz, and there was not an adam (man) la’avod (to till, to work) haadamah (the ground).
6 But there went up a mist from ha’aretz, and watered the whole face of the adamah.
7 And Hashem Elohim formed the adam of the aphar min haadamah, and breathed into his nostrils the nishmat chayyim; and the adam became a nefesh chayyah.
8 And Hashem Elohim planted a gan (garden) eastward in Eden; and there He put the adam whom He had formed.
9 And out of the adamah made Hashem Elohim to spring up (T.N. see verse 5) kol etz (every tree) that is pleasing to the sight, and tov for food; the Etz HaChayyim (Tree of Life) also in the midst of the gan (garden), and the Etz HaDa’as Tov v’Rah (see 3:22, i.e., representing moral autonomy; contrast Exodus 9:20-21 where the Dvar Hashem is the guide of life, even for Gentiles).
10 And a nahar (river) flowed out of Eden to water the gan (garden); and from there it divided, and became four headwaters.
11 The shem of the first is Pishon; that is it which winds through the kol eretz Chavilah, where there is zahav;
12 And the zahav of that land is tov; there is [the gemstone] bedolach and the even (gemstone) hashoham [T.N.: this onyx gemstone is used in the construction of the Kohen Gadol’s Bigdei HaKodesh].
13 And the shem of the second nahar is Gihon; the same is it that winds through kol eretz Cush.
14 And the shem of the third nahar is Chiddekel (Tigris [see Daniel 10:4]): that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth nahar is Euphrates.
15 And Hashem Elohim took the adam and put him in the Gan Eden la’avod (to till, to work) it and to be shomer over it.
16 And Hashem Elohim commanded the adam, saying, Of every etz of the gan thou mayest freely eat;
17 But of the Etz HaDa’as Tov v’Rah, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the yom that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
18 And Hashem Elohim said, It is not tov that the adam should be alone; I will make him an ezer (a helper) suitable for him.
19 And out of the adamah Hashem Elohim formed every beast of the sadeh, and every oph HaShomayim; and brought them unto the adam to see what he would name them; and whatsoever the adam named kol nefesh chayyah, that was shmo.
20 And the adam gave shemot to all behemah, and to the oph HaShomayim, and to every beast of the sadeh; but for Adam there was not found an ezer for him.
21 And Hashem Elohim caused a tardemah (deep sleep) to fall upon the adam, and he slept; and He took from one of his tzalelot (sides, ribs), and closed up the basar in the place thereof;
22 And the tzela (rib), which Hashem Elohim had taken from the adam, made He an isha, and brought her unto the adam.
23 And the adam said, This is now etzem of my etzem, and basar of my basar; she shall be called Isha, because she was taken out of Ish.
24 Therefore shall an ish leave his av and his em, and shall cleave unto his isha: and they shall be basar echad.
25 And they were both arummim (naked ones), the adam and his isha, and were not ashamed.
3 Now the Nachash was more arum (cunning, crafty, wiley) than any beast of the sadeh which Hashem Elohim had made. And he said unto the isha, Really? Hath Elohim said, Ye shall not eat of kol etz hagan?
2 And the isha said unto the Nachash, We may eat of the p’ri etz hagan;
3 But of the p’ri haEtz which is in the middle of the gan (garden), Elohim hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the Nachash said unto the isha, Ye shall not surely die;
5 For Elohim doth know that in the yom ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be like Elohim, knowing tov and rah.
6 And when the isha saw that HaEtz was tov for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and HaEtz to be desired to make one have seichel, she took of the p’ri thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her ish with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were eirummim (naked ones); and they sewed aleh te’enah (fig leaves) together, and made themselves khagorot (loin covering girdles).
8 And they heard the kol of Hashem Elohim walking in the gan in the cool of the day; and HaAdam and his isha hid from the presence of Hashem Elohim amongst the etz hagan.
9 And Hashem Elohim called unto HaAdam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard Thy voice in the gan (garden), and I was afraid, because I was eirom (naked); and so I hid.
11 And He said, Who told thee that thou wast eirom (naked)? Hast thou eaten of HaEtz, which I commanded thee that thou not eat thereof?
12 And HaAdam said,The isha whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of HaEtz, and I did eat.
13 And Hashem Elohim said unto the isha, What is this that thou hast done? And the isha said, The Nachash beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 And Hashem Elohim said unto the Nachash, Because thou hast done this, thou art arur (cursed) above kol habehemah, and above every beast of the sadeh; upon thy gakhon (belly) shalt thou go, and aphar shalt thou eat all the days of thy life;
15 And I will put eivah (enmity, Midrash Rabbah 23:5) between thee and HaIsha (see HaAlmah, Yeshayah 7:14), and between thy zera and her Zera; it shall crush thy rosh, and thou shalt strike his akev (heel).
16 Unto HaIsha He said, I will greatly multiply thy itzavon ([labor] pain) and thy childbearing; in pain thou shalt bring forth banim; and thy teshukah (longing, desire) shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam He said, Because thou paid heed unto the voice of thy isha, and hast eaten of HaEtz, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it, arurah (cursed) is haadamah because of thee; in itzavon (pain, suffering, see verse 16) shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Kotz also and dardar shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the esev of the sadeh;
19 In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat lechem, till thou return unto haadamah; for out of it wast thou taken; for aphar thou art, and unto aphar shalt thou return.
20 And HaAdam called the shem of his isha Chavah (Eve); because she was the Em kol chai.
21 Unto Adam also and to his isha did Hashem Elohim make kesonos ohr, and clothed them.
22 And Hashem Elohim said, See, HaAdam is become like one of Us, knowing tov v’rah; and now, lest he put forth his yad, and take also of HaEtz HaChayyim, and eat, and chai l’olam (live forever);
23 Therefore Hashem Elohim sent him forth from the Gan Eden, to work haadamah from which place he was taken.
24 So He drove out HaAdam; and He placed miKedem (at the east) of the Gan Eden HaKeruvim, and a flaming cherev which was ever-turning, to be shomer over the Derech Etz HaChayyim (the Way of the Tree of Life, see Yn 14:6 on Derech).
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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