The History of Creation^(A)

1 In the ^(B)beginning ^(C)God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was ^(D)without form, and void; and darkness ^[a]was on the face of the deep. ^(E)And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

^3 (F)Then God said, ^(G)“Let there be ^(H)light”; and there was light. ⁴ And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light Day, and the ^(I)darkness He called Night. ^[b]So the evening and the morning were the first day.

⁶ Then God said, ^(J)“Let there be a ^[c]firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” ⁷ Thus God made the firmament, ^(K)and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were ^(L)above the firmament; and it was so. ⁸ And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

⁹ Then God said, ^(M)“Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and ^(N)let the dry land appear”; and it was so. ¹⁰ And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth ^(O)bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the ^(P)fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. ¹² And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ So the evening and the morning were the third day.

¹⁴ Then God said, “Let there be ^(Q)lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and ^(R)seasons, and for days and years; ¹⁵ and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. ¹⁶ Then God made two great ^[d]lights: the ^(S)greater light to rule the day, and the ^(T)lesser light to rule the night. He made ^(U)the stars also. ¹⁷ God set them in the firmament of the ^(V)heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ and to ^(W)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 the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

²⁰ Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living ^[e]creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the ^[f]firmament of the heavens.” ²¹ So ^(X)God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² And God blessed them, saying, ^(Y)“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

²⁴ Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. ²⁵ And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, ^(Z)“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; ^(AA)let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over ^[g]all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man ^(AB)in His own image; in the image of God He created him; ^(AC)male and female He created them. ²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ^(AD)“Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and ^(AE)subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that ^[h]moves on the earth.”

³¹ Then ^(A)God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

The Garden of Eden

2 Thus the heavens and the earth, and ^(A)all the host of them, were finished. ^2 (B)And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. ³ Then God ^(C)blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

^4 (D)This is the ^[a]history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, ⁵ before any ^(E)plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not ^(F)caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man ^(G)to till the ground; ⁶ but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.

⁷ And the Lord God formed man of the ^(H)dust of the ground, and ^(I)breathed into his ^(J)nostrils the breath of life; and ^(K)man became a living being.

Life in God’s Garden

⁸ The Lord God planted ^(L)a garden ^(M)eastward in ^(N)Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. ⁹ And out of the ground the Lord God made ^(O)every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. ^(P)The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and ^(Q)evil.

¹⁰ Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. ¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts ^(R)the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² And the gold of that land is good. ^(S)Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. ¹³ The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is ^(T)Hiddekel;^[b] it is the one which goes toward the east of ^[c]Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵ Then the Lord God took ^[d]the man and put him in the garden of Eden to ^[e]tend and keep it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ^(U)you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it ^(V)you^[f] shall surely ^(W)die.”

¹⁸ And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; ^(X)I will make him a helper comparable to him.” ^19 (Y)Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and ^(Z)brought them to ^[g]Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.

²¹ And the Lord God caused a ^(AA)deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. ²² Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He ^[h]made into a woman, ^(AB)and He ^(AC)brought her to the man.

²³ And Adam said:

^24 (AF)Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and ^(AG)be^[k] joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

^25 (AH)And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ^(AI)ashamed.

The Family of Adam^(A)

5 This is the book of the ^(B)genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in ^(C)the likeness of God.

² He created them ^(A)male and female, and ^(B)blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.

Hannah’s Prayer^(A)

2 And Hannah ^(B)prayed and said:

¹¹ Then Elkanah went to his house at Ramah. But the child ^[d]ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest.

The Wicked Sons of Eli

¹² Now the sons of Eli were ^(AB)corrupt;^{[e] (AC)}they did not know the Lord. ¹³ And the priests’ custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the meat was boiling. ¹⁴ Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. So they did in ^(AD)Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. ¹⁵ Also, before they ^(AE)burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, “Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw.”

¹⁶ And if the man said to him, “They should really burn the fat first; then you may take as much as your heart desires,” he would then answer him, “No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force.”

¹⁷ Therefore the sin of the young men was very great ^(AF)before the Lord, for men ^(AG)abhorred^[f] the offering of the Lord.

Samuel’s Childhood Ministry

^18 (AH)But Samuel ministered before the Lord, even as a child, ^(AI)wearing a linen ephod. ¹⁹ Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she ^(AJ)came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰ And Eli ^(AK)would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “The Lord give you descendants from this woman for the ^[g]loan that was ^(AL)given to the Lord.” Then they would go to their own home.

²¹ And the Lord ^(AM)visited^[h] Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel ^(AN)grew before the Lord.

Prophecy Against Eli’s Household

²² Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, ^[i]and how they lay with ^(AO)the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. ²³ So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. ²⁴ No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord’s people transgress. ²⁵ If one man sins against another, ^(AP)God^[j] will judge him. But if a man ^(AQ)sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?” Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, ^(AR)because the Lord desired to kill them.

²⁶ And the child Samuel ^(AS)grew in stature, and ^(AT)in favor both with the Lord and men.

²⁷ Then a ^(AU)man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ^(AV)‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? ²⁸ Did I not ^(AW)choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And ^(AX)did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? ²⁹ Why do you ^(AY)kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My ^(AZ)dwelling place, and honor your sons more than ^(BA)Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’ ³⁰ Therefore the Lord God of Israel says: ^(BB)‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the Lord says: ^(BC)‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and ^(BD)those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. ³¹ Behold, ^(BE)the days are coming that I will cut off your ^[k]arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. ³² And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be ^(BF)an old man in your house forever. ³³ But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age. ³⁴ Now this shall be ^(BG)a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: ^(BH)in one day they shall die, both of them. ³⁵ Then ^(BI)I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. ^(BJ)I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before ^(BK)My anointed forever. ^36 (BL)And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and say, “Please, ^[l]put me in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a piece of bread.” ’ ”