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.”

²⁹ And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; ^(AF)to you it shall be for food. ³⁰ Also, to ^(AG)every beast of the earth, to every ^(AH)bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is ^[i]life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. ³¹ Then ^(AI)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 ^(AJ)all the host of them, were finished. ^2 (AK)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 ^(AL)blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

^4 (AM)This is the ^[j]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 ^(AN)plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not ^(AO)caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man ^(AP)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 ^(AQ)dust of the ground, and ^(AR)breathed into his ^(AS)nostrils the breath of life; and ^(AT)man became a living being.

Life in God’s Garden

⁸ The Lord God planted ^(AU)a garden ^(AV)eastward in ^(AW)Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. ⁹ And out of the ground the Lord God made ^(AX)every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. ^(AY)The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and ^(AZ)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 ^(BA)the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² And the gold of that land is good. ^(BB)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 ^(BC)Hiddekel;^[k] it is the one which goes toward the east of ^[l]Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵ Then the Lord God took ^[m]the man and put him in the garden of Eden to ^[n]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 ^(BD)you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it ^(BE)you^[o] shall surely ^(BF)die.”

¹⁸ And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; ^(BG)I will make him a helper comparable to him.” ^19 (BH)Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and ^(BI)brought them to ^[p]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 ^(BJ)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 ^[q]made into a woman, ^(BK)and He ^(BL)brought her to the man.

²³ And Adam said:

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

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

Cain Murders Abel^(A)

4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore ^[a]Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” ² Then she bore again, this time his brother ^[b]Abel. Now ^(B)Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ³ And ^[c]in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit ^(C)of the ground to the Lord. ⁴ Abel also brought of ^(D)the firstborn of his flock and of ^(E)their fat. And the Lord ^(F)respected Abel and his offering, ⁵ but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

⁶ So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷ If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is ^[d]for you, but you should rule over it.”

⁸ Now Cain ^[e]talked with Abel his ^[f]brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and ^(G)killed him.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”

He said, ^(H)“I do not know. Am I ^(I)my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰ And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood ^(J)cries out to Me from the ground. ¹¹ So now ^(K)you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹² When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”

¹³ And Cain said to the Lord, “My ^[g]punishment is greater than I can bear! ¹⁴ Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; ^(L)I shall be ^(M)hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that ^(N)anyone who finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵ And the Lord said to him, ^[h]“Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him ^(O)sevenfold.” And the Lord set a ^(P)mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.

The Family of Cain

¹⁶ Then Cain ^(Q)went out from the ^(R)presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of ^[i]Nod on the east of Eden. ¹⁷ And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, ^(S)and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch. ¹⁸ To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.

¹⁹ Then Lamech took for himself ^(T)two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. ²⁰ And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. ²¹ His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and ^[j]flute. ²² And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

²³ Then Lamech said to his wives:

A New Son

²⁵ And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and ^(V)named him ^[m]Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” ²⁶ And as for Seth, ^(W)to him also a son was born; and he named him ^[n]Enosh. Then men began ^(X)to call on the name of the Lord.

The Family of Adam^(Y)

5 This is the book of the ^(Z)genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in ^(AA)the likeness of God. ² He created them ^(AB)male and female, and ^(AC)blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. ³ And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son ^(AD)in his own likeness, after his image, and ^(AE)named him Seth. ⁴ After he begot Seth, ^(AF)the days of Adam were eight hundred years; ^(AG)and he had sons and daughters. ⁵ So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; ^(AH)and he died.

⁶ Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot ^(AI)Enosh. ⁷ After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters. ⁸ So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died.

⁹ Enosh lived ninety years, and begot ^[o]Cainan. ¹⁰ After he begot Cainan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters. ¹¹ So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died.

¹² Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel. ¹³ After he begot Mahalalel, Cainan lived eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters. ¹⁴ So all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.

¹⁵ Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared. ¹⁶ After he begot Jared, Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters. ¹⁷ So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years; and he died.

¹⁸ Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot ^(AJ)Enoch. ¹⁹ After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters. ²⁰ So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died.

²¹ Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. ²² After he begot Methuselah, Enoch ^(AK)walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. ²³ So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. ²⁴ And ^(AL)Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God ^(AM)took him.

²⁵ Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech. ²⁶ After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had sons and daughters. ²⁷ So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died.

²⁸ Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son. ²⁹ And he called his name ^(AN)Noah,^[p] saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground ^(AO)which the Lord has cursed.” ³⁰ After he begot Noah, Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters. ³¹ So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died.

³² And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot ^(AP)Shem, Ham, ^(AQ)and Japheth.

Nations Descended from Noah^(A)

10 Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. ^(B)And sons were born to them after the flood.

^2 (C)The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. ³ The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, ^[a]Riphath, and Togarmah. ⁴ The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and ^[b]Dodanim. ⁵ From these ^(D)the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.

^6 (E)The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, ^[c]Put, and Canaan. ⁷ The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.

⁸ Cush begot ^(F)Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. ⁹ He was a mighty ^(G)hunter ^(H)before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.” ^10 (I)And the beginning of his kingdom was ^(J)Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. ¹¹ From that land he went ^(K)to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, ¹² and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).

¹³ Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, ¹⁴ Pathrusim, and Casluhim ^(L)(from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim).

¹⁵ Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and ^(M)Heth; ^16 (N)the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; ¹⁷ the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; ¹⁸ the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed. ^19 (O)And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. ²⁰ These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations.

²¹ And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, ^[d]the brother of Japheth the elder. ²² The ^(P)sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, ^(Q)Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. ²³ The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and ^[e]Mash. ^24 [f]Arphaxad begot ^(R)Salah, and Salah begot Eber. ^25 (S)To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was ^[g]Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. ²⁶ Joktan begot Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²⁷ Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ^28 [h]Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ²⁹ Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. ³⁰ And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. ³¹ These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations.

^32 (T)These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; ^(U)and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.

The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole earth had one language and one ^[i]speech. ² And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land ^(V)of Shinar, and they dwelt there. ³ Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and ^[j]bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. ⁴ And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower ^(W)whose top is in the heavens; let us make a ^(X)name for ourselves, lest we ^(Y)be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

^5 (Z)But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. ⁶ And the Lord said, “Indeed ^(AA)the people are one and they all have ^(AB)one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they ^(AC)propose to do will be withheld from them. ⁷ Come, ^(AD)let Us go down and there ^(AE)confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸ So ^(AF)the Lord scattered them abroad from there ^(AG)over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. ⁹ Therefore its name is called ^[k]Babel, ^(AH)because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Shem’s Descendants^(AI)

^10 (AJ)This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. ¹¹ After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

¹² Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, ^(AK)and begot Salah. ¹³ After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.

¹⁴ Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. ¹⁵ After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.

^16 (AL)Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot ^(AM)Peleg. ¹⁷ After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.

¹⁸ Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. ¹⁹ After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters.

²⁰ Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot ^(AN)Serug. ²¹ After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.

²² Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. ²³ After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

²⁴ Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot ^(AO)Terah. ²⁵ After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters.

²⁶ Now Terah lived seventy years, and ^(AP)begot ^[l]Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Terah’s Descendants

²⁷ This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot ^(AQ)Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. ²⁸ And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹ Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was ^(AR)Sarai,^[m] and the name of Nahor’s wife, ^(AS)Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. ³⁰ But ^(AT)Sarai was barren; she had no child.

³¹ And Terah ^(AU)took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from ^(AV)Ur of the Chaldeans to go to ^(AW)the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. ³² So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

¹⁶ For ^(A)by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or ^(B)dominions or ^[a]principalities or ^[b]powers. All things were created ^(C)through Him and for Him. ^17 (D)And He is before all things, and in Him ^(E)all things consist.

^3 (A)All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.