The Creation

1 ^(A)In the beginning ^(B)God ^(C)created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was ^[a](D)formless and void, and ^(E)darkness was over the ^[b]surface of the deep, and ^(F)the Spirit of God ^(G)was ^[c]moving over the ^[d]surface of the waters. ³ Then ^(H)God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was ^(I)good; and God ^(J)separated the light from the darkness. ^5 (K)God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And ^(L)there was evening and there was morning, one day.

⁶ Then God said, “Let there be ^[e]an ^(M)expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷ God made the ^[f]expanse, and separated ^(N)the waters which were below the ^[g]expanse from the waters ^(O)which were above the ^[h]expanse; and it was so. ⁸ God called the ^[i]expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

⁹ Then God said, “^(P)Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let ^(Q)the dry land appear”; and it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land earth, and the ^(R)gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. ¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth sprout ^[j](S)vegetation, ^[k]plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after ^[l]their kind ^[m]with seed in them”; and it was so. ¹² The earth brought forth ^[n]vegetation, ^[o]plants yielding seed after ^[p]their kind, and trees bearing fruit ^[q]with seed in them, after ^[r]their kind; and God saw that it was good. ¹³ There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

¹⁴ Then God said, “Let there be ^[s](T)lights in the ^[t](U)expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for ^(V)signs and for ^(W)seasons and for days and years; ¹⁵ and let them be for ^[u]lights in the ^[v]expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. ¹⁶ God made the two ^[w]great lights, the ^(X)greater ^[x]light ^[y]to govern the day, and the lesser ^[z]light ^[aa]to govern the night; He made ^(Y)the stars also. ^17 (Z)God placed them in the ^[ab]expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ and ^[ac]to ^(AA)govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

²⁰ Then God said, “Let the waters ^[ad]teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth ^[ae]in the open ^[af]expanse of the heavens.” ²¹ God created ^(AB)the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

^24 (AC)Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after ^[ag]their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after ^[ah]their kind”; and it was so. ²⁵ God made the ^(AD)beasts of the earth after ^[ai]their kind, and the cattle after ^[aj]their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let ^(AE)Us make ^(AF)man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them ^(AG)rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the ^[ak]sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ God created man ^(AH)in His own image, in the image of God He created him; ^(AI)male and female He created them. ²⁸ God blessed them; and God said to them, “^(AJ)Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the ^[al]sky and over every living thing that ^[am]moves on the earth.” ²⁹ Then God said, “Behold, ^(AK)I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the ^[an]surface of all the earth, and every tree ^[ao]which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; ³⁰ and ^(AL)to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the ^[ap]sky and to every thing that ^[aq]moves on the earth ^[ar]which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. ³¹ God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very ^(AM)good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

The Creation of Man and Woman

2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all ^(A)their hosts. ² By ^(B)the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and ^(C)He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created ^[a]and made.

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

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

¹⁵ Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. ¹⁶ The Lord God ^(Q)commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; ¹⁷ but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not ^[n]eat, for in the day that you eat from it ^(R)you will surely die.”

¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; ^(S)I will make him a helper ^[o]suitable for him.” ^19 (T)Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the ^[p]sky, and ^(U)brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the ^[q]sky, and to every beast of the field, but for ^[r]Adam there was not found ^(V)a helper ^[s]suitable for him. ²¹ So the Lord God caused a ^(W)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. ²² The Lord God ^[t]fashioned into a woman ^(X)the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. ²³ The man said,

^24 (Z)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 (AA)And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.