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Genesis 2-4
New Living Translation
Genesis 2-4
New Living Translation
2 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested[a] from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.
4 This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.
The Man and Woman in Eden
When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. 6 Instead, springs[b] came up from the ground and watered all the land. 7 Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.
8 Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. 9 The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. 11 The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. 12 The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. 13 The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. 14 The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” 19 So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man[c] to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. 20 He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.
21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs[d] and closed up the opening. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.
23 “At last!” the man exclaimed.
“This one is bone from my bone,
and flesh from my flesh!
She will be called ‘woman,’
because she was taken from ‘man.’”
24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.
25 Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.
The Man and Woman Sin
3 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”
4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man[e] and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”
“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, you are cursed
more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
groveling in the dust as long as you live.
15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike[f] your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
16 Then he said to the woman,
“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
but he will rule over you.[g]”
17 And to the man he said,
“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
18 It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
19 By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.”
Paradise Lost: God’s Judgment
20 Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live.[h] 21 And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.
22 Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings[i] have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” 23 So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. 24 After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Cain and Abel
4 Now Adam[j] had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced[k] a man!” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel.
When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. 3 When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, 5 but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.
6 “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”
8 One day Cain suggested to his brother, “Let’s go out into the fields.”[l] And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him.
9 Afterward the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother? Where is Abel?”
“I don’t know,” Cain responded. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”
10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! 11 Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed your brother’s blood. 12 No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.”
13 Cain replied to the Lord, “My punishment[m] is too great for me to bear! 14 You have banished me from the land and from your presence; you have made me a homeless wanderer. Anyone who finds me will kill me!”
15 The Lord replied, “No, for I will give a sevenfold punishment to anyone who kills you.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him. 16 So Cain left the Lord’s presence and settled in the land of Nod,[n] east of Eden.
The Descendants of Cain
17 Cain had sexual relations with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain founded a city, which he named Enoch, after his son. 18 Enoch had a son named Irad. Irad became the father of[o] Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech.
19 Lamech married two women. The first was named Adah, and the second was Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the first of those who raise livestock and live in tents. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal, the first of all who play the harp and flute. 22 Lamech’s other wife, Zillah, gave birth to a son named Tubal-cain. He became an expert in forging tools of bronze and iron. Tubal-cain had a sister named Naamah. 23 One day Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
listen to me, you wives of Lamech.
I have killed a man who attacked me,
a young man who wounded me.
24 If someone who kills Cain is punished seven times,
then the one who kills me will be punished seventy-seven times!”
The Birth of Seth
25 Adam had sexual relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to another son. She named him Seth,[p] for she said, “God has granted me another son in place of Abel, whom Cain killed.” 26 When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. At that time people first began to worship the Lord by name.
Footnotes
- 2:2 Or ceased; also in 2:3.
- 2:6 Or mist.
- 2:19 Or Adam, and so throughout the chapter.
- 2:21 Or took a part of the man’s side.
- 3:8 Or Adam, and so throughout the chapter.
- 3:15 Or bruise; also in 3:15b.
- 3:16 Or And though you will have desire for your husband, / he will rule over you.
- 3:20 Eve sounds like a Hebrew term that means “to give life.”
- 3:22 Or the man; Hebrew reads ha-adam.
- 4:1a Or the man; also in 4:25.
- 4:1b Or I have acquired. Cain sounds like a Hebrew term that can mean “produce” or “acquire.”
- 4:8 As in Samaritan Pentateuch, Greek and Syriac versions, and Latin Vulgate; Masoretic Text lacks “Let’s go out into the fields.”
- 4:13 Or My sin.
- 4:16 Nod means “wandering.”
- 4:18 Or the ancestor of, and so throughout the verse.
- 4:25 Seth probably means “granted”; the name may also mean “appointed.”
Genesis 2-4
New International Version
Genesis 2-4
New International Version
2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.(A)
2 By the seventh day(B) God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.(C) 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,(D) because on it he rested(E) from all the work of creating(F) that he had done.
Adam and Eve
4 This is the account(G) of the heavens and the earth when they were created,(H) when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[a] and no plant had yet sprung up,(I) for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth(J) and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams[b] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed(K) a man[c](L) from the dust(M) of the ground(N) and breathed into his nostrils the breath(O) of life,(P) and the man became a living being.(Q)
8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden;(R) and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees(S) that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life(T) and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.(U)
10 A river(V) watering the garden flowed from Eden;(W) from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah,(X) where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin[d](Y) and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.[e] 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris;(Z) it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.(AA)
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden(AB) to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;(AC) 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,(AD) for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”(AE)
18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”(AF)
19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals(AG) and all the birds in the sky.(AH) He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called(AI) each living creature,(AJ) that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
But for Adam[f] no suitable helper(AK) was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep;(AL) and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[g] and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib[h](AM) he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;(AN)
she shall be called(AO) ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.(AP)”
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united(AQ) to his wife, and they become one flesh.(AR)
25 Adam and his wife were both naked,(AS) and they felt no shame.
The Fall
3 Now the serpent(AT) was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?(AU)”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,(AV) 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”(AW)
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.(AX) 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,(AY) knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable(AZ) for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband,(BA) who was with her, and he ate it.(BB) 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked;(BC) so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.(BD)
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking(BE) in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid(BF) from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”(BG)
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid(BH) because I was naked;(BI) so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked?(BJ) Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?(BK)”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me(BL)—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me,(BM) and I ate.”
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed(BN) are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust(BO)
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring[i](BP) and hers;(BQ)
he will crush[j] your head,(BR)
and you will strike his heel.”
16 To the woman he said,
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to children.(BS)
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.(BT)”
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’(BU)
“Cursed(BV) is the ground(BW) because of you;
through painful toil(BX) you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.(BY)
18 It will produce thorns and thistles(BZ) for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.(CA)
19 By the sweat of your brow(CB)
you will eat your food(CC)
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”(CD)
20 Adam[k] named his wife Eve,[l](CE) because she would become the mother of all the living.
21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.(CF) 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us,(CG) knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life(CH) and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden(CI) to work the ground(CJ) from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side[m] of the Garden of Eden(CK) cherubim(CL) and a flaming sword(CM) flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.(CN)
Cain and Abel
4 Adam[n] made love to his wife(CO) Eve,(CP) and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.[o](CQ) She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth[p] a man.” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.(CR)
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.(CS) 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering(CT) to the Lord.(CU) 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions(CV) from some of the firstborn of his flock.(CW) The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering,(CX) 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry?(CY) Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door;(CZ) it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.(DA)”
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”[q] While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.(DB)
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”(DC)
“I don’t know,(DD)” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.(DE) 11 Now you are under a curse(DF) and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you.(DG) You will be a restless wanderer(DH) on the earth.(DI)”
13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence;(DJ) I will be a restless wanderer on the earth,(DK) and whoever finds me will kill me.”(DL)
15 But the Lord said to him, “Not so[r]; anyone who kills Cain(DM) will suffer vengeance(DN) seven times over.(DO)” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence(DP) and lived in the land of Nod,[s] east of Eden.(DQ)
17 Cain made love to his wife,(DR) and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city,(DS) and he named it after his son(DT) Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.
19 Lamech married(DU) two women,(DV) one named Adah and the other Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments(DW) and pipes.(DX) 22 Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged(DY) all kinds of tools out of[t] bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.
23 Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah, listen to me;
wives of Lamech, hear my words.
I have killed(DZ) a man for wounding me,
a young man for injuring me.
24 If Cain is avenged(EA) seven times,(EB)
then Lamech seventy-seven times.(EC)”
25 Adam made love to his wife(ED) again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth,[u](EE) saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”(EF) 26 Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh.(EG)
At that time people began to call on[v] the name of the Lord.(EH)
Footnotes
- 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
- Genesis 3:15 Or seed
- Genesis 3:15 Or strike
- Genesis 3:20 Or The man
- Genesis 3:20 Eve probably means living.
- Genesis 3:24 Or placed in front
- Genesis 4:1 Or The man
- Genesis 4:1 Cain sounds like the Hebrew for brought forth or acquired.
- Genesis 4:1 Or have acquired
- Genesis 4:8 Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Masoretic Text does not have “Let’s go out to the field.”
- Genesis 4:15 Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew Very well
- Genesis 4:16 Nod means wandering (see verses 12 and 14).
- Genesis 4:22 Or who instructed all who work in
- Genesis 4:25 Seth probably means granted.
- Genesis 4:26 Or to proclaim
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.