Genesis 2:4-4:26

New American Standard Bible

The Creation of Man and Woman

⁴^[a]^(A)This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in ^(B)the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven. ⁵^(C)Now no shrub of the field was yet on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, ^(D)for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to ^[b]cultivate the ground. ⁶But a ^[c]mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole ^[d]surface of the ground. ⁷Then the Lord God formed the man of ^(E)dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the ^(F)man became a living ^[e]person. ⁸The Lord God planted a ^(G)garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. ⁹Out of the ground the Lord God caused ^(H)every tree to grow that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; ^(I)the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰Now a ^(J)river ^[f]flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four ^[g]rivers. ¹¹The name of the first is Pishon; it ^[h]flows around the whole land of ^(K)Havilah, where there is gold. ¹²The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there as well. ¹³The name of the second river is Gihon; it ^[i]flows around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴The name of the third river is ^[j]^(L)Tigris; it ^[k]flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the ^[l]^(M)Euphrates.

¹⁵Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and tend it. ¹⁶The Lord God ^(N)commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not ^[m]eat, for on the day that you eat from it ^(O)you will certainly die.”

¹⁸Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; ^(P)I will make him a helper ^[n]suitable for him.” ¹⁹^(Q)And out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the sky, and ^(R)brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. ²⁰The man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field, but for ^[o]Adam there was not found ^(S)a helper ^[p]suitable for him. ²¹So the Lord God caused a ^(T)deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. ²²And the Lord God ^[q]fashioned into a woman ^(U)the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. ²³Then the man said,

“^(V)At last this is bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
^[r]She shall be called ^[s]‘woman,’
Because ^[t]she was taken out of ^[u]man.”

²⁴^(W)For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. ²⁵^(X)And the man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed.

The Fall of Mankind

3 Now ^(Y)the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” ²The woman said to the serpent, “^(Z)From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; ³but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” ⁴^(AA)The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! ⁵For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and ^(AB)you will ^[v]become like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶^(AC)When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they ^(AD)knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings.

⁸Now they heard the sound of ^(AE)the Lord God walking in the garden in the ^[w]cool of the day, ^(AF)and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “^(AG)Where are you?” ¹⁰He said, “^(AH)I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” ¹¹And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹²^(AI)The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me some of the fruit of the tree, and I ate.” ¹³Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” And the woman said, “^(AJ)The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” ¹⁴Then the Lord God said to the serpent,

“^(AK)Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all the livestock,
And more than any animal of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And ^(AL)dust you shall eat
All the days of your life;
¹⁵And I will ^[x]^(AM)make enemies
Of you and the woman,
And of your ^[y]offspring and her ^[z]Descendant;
^(AN)He shall ^[aa]bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise Him on the heel.”

¹⁶To the woman He said,

“I will greatly multiply
Your pain ^[ab]in childbirth,
In pain you shall ^(AO)deliver children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And ^(AP)he shall rule over you.”

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

^(AQ)Cursed is the ground because of you;
^(AR)With ^[ac]hard labor you shall eat from it
All the days of your life.
¹⁸Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
Yet you shall eat the ^[ad]plants of the field;
¹⁹By the sweat of your face
You shall eat bread,
Until you ^(AS)return to the ground,
Because ^(AT)from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.”

²⁰Now the man named his wife ^[ae]^(AU)Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. ²¹And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

²²Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of ^(AV)Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out with his hand, and take fruit also from ^(AW)the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— ²³therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴So ^(AX)He drove the man out; and at the ^(AY)east of the Garden of Eden He stationed the ^(AZ)cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to ^(BA)the tree of life.

Cain and Abel

4 Now the man ^[af]had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have obtained a male child with the help of the Lord.” ²And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now ^(BB)Abel was ^(BC)a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a cultivator of the ground. ³So it came about ^[ag]in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the ground. ⁴^(BD)Abel, on his part also brought an offering, from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat portions. And ^(BE)the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering; ⁵but ^(BF)for Cain and his offering He had no regard. So ^(BG)Cain became very angry and his face ^[ah]was gloomy. ⁶Then the Lord said to Cain, “^(BH)Why are you angry? And why is your face ^[ai]gloomy? ⁷^(BI)If you do well, ^[aj]will your face not be ^[ak]cheerful? ^(BJ)And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; and its desire is for you, ^(BK)but you must master it.” ⁸Cain ^[al]talked to his brother Abel; and it happened that when they were in the field Cain rose up against his brother Abel and ^(BL)killed him.

⁹Then the Lord said to Cain, “^(BM)Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰Then He said, “What have you done? ^(BN)The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground. ¹¹Now ^(BO)you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹²^(BP)When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; ^(BQ)you will be a wanderer and a drifter on the earth.” ¹³Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to endure! ¹⁴Behold, You have ^(BR)driven me this day from the face of the ground; and I will be hidden from Your face, and ^(BS)I will be a wanderer and a drifter on the earth, and ^(BT)whoever finds me will kill me.” ¹⁵So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him ^(BU)seven times as much.” And the Lord ^[am]^(BV)placed a mark on Cain, so that no one finding him would kill him.

¹⁶Then Cain left the presence ^(BW)of the Lord, and ^[an]settled in the land of ^[ao]Nod, east of Eden.

¹⁷Cain ^[ap]had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and Cain built a city, and named the city Enoch, after the name of his son. ¹⁸Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. ¹⁹Lamech took ^(BX)two wives for himself: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. ²⁰Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and have livestock. ²¹His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and flute. ²²As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

²³Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah,
Listen to my voice,
You wives of Lamech,
Pay attention to my words,
^(BY)For I have killed a man for wounding me;
And a boy for striking me!
²⁴If Cain is avenged ^(BZ)seven times,
Then Lamech seventy-seven times!”

²⁵^(CA)Adam ^[aq]had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him ^[ar]Seth, for, she said, “God ^[as]has appointed me another ^[at]child in place of Abel, ^(CB)because Cain killed him.” ²⁶To Seth also ^(CC)a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then people began ^(CD)to call ^[au]upon the name of the Lord.