^4 (A)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 ^(B)plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not ^(C)caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man ^(D)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 ^(E)dust of the ground, and ^(F)breathed into his ^(G)nostrils the breath of life; and ^(H)man became a living being.

Life in God’s Garden

⁸ The Lord God planted ^(I)a garden ^(J)eastward in ^(K)Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. ⁹ And out of the ground the Lord God made ^(L)every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. ^(M)The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and ^(N)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 ^(O)the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² And the gold of that land is good. ^(P)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 ^(Q)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 ^(R)you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it ^(S)you^[f] shall surely ^(T)die.”

¹⁸ And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; ^(U)I will make him a helper comparable to him.” ^19 (V)Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and ^(W)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 ^(X)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, ^(Y)and He ^(Z)brought her to the man.

²³ And Adam said:

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

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

^25 (A)And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of ^(B)Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, ^(C)balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. ²⁶ So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and ^(D)conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and ^(E)let not our hand be upon him, for he is ^(F)our brother and ^(G)our flesh.” And his brothers listened. ²⁸ Then ^(H)Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, ^(I)and sold him to the Ishmaelites for ^(J)twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

²⁹ Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he ^(K)tore his clothes. ³⁰ And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad ^(L)is no more; and I, where shall I go?”

³¹ So they took ^(M)Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. ³² Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”

³³ And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A ^(N)wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” ³⁴ Then Jacob ^(O)tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and ^(P)mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ And all his sons and all his daughters ^(Q)arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For ^(R)I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

³⁶ Now ^(S)the ^[a]Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

The Loveless Church

2 “To the ^[a]angel of the church of Ephesus write,

‘These things says ^(A)He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, ^(B)who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: ^2 (C)“I know your works, your labor, your ^[b]patience, and that you cannot ^[c]bear those who are evil. And ^(D)you have tested those ^(E)who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; ³ and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have ^(F)not become weary. ⁴ Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵ Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, ^(G)or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. ⁶ But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

^7 (H)“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give ^(I)to eat from ^(J)the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” ’

The Persecuted Church

⁸ “And to the ^[d]angel of the church in Smyrna write,

‘These things says ^(K)the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life: ⁹ “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are ^(L)rich); and I know the blasphemy of ^(M)those who say they are Jews and are not, ^(N)but are a ^[e]synagogue of Satan. ^10 (O)Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. ^(P)Be faithful until death, and I will give you ^(Q)the crown of life.

^11 (R)“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by ^(S)the second death.” ’