Genesis 1-5
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Creation of the World
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was undeveloped[a] and empty. Darkness covered the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good. He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was evening and there was morning—the first day.
6 God said, “Let there be an expanse[b] between the waters, and let it separate the water from the water.” 7 God made the expanse, and he separated the water that was below the expanse from the water that was above the expanse, and it was so. 8 God called the expanse “sky.” [c]There was evening and there was morning—the second day.
9 God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear,” and it was so. ⎣The waters under the sky gathered to their own places, and the dry land appeared.⎦[d] 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathering places of the waters he called “seas.” God saw that it was good. 11 God said, “Let the earth produce plants—vegetation that produces seed, and trees that bear fruit with its seed in it—each according to its own kind on the earth,” and it was so. 12 The earth brought forth plants, vegetation that produces seed according to its own kind, and trees that bear fruit with its seed in it, each according to its own kind, and God saw that it was good. 13 There was evening and there was morning—the third day.
14 God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night, and let them serve as markers to indicate seasons, days, and years. 15 Let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth,” and it was so. 16 God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set these lights in place in the expanse of the sky to provide light for the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. 19 There was evening and there was morning—the fourth day.
20 God said, “Let the waters swarm with living creatures, and let birds and other winged creatures[e] fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” 21 God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their own kind, and every winged bird according to its own kind. God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them when he said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 There was evening and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their own kind, livestock,[f] creeping things, and wild animals according to their own kind,” and it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their own kind, and the livestock according to their own kind, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its own kind. God saw that it was good.
26 God said, “Let us make man[g] in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that crawls on the earth.”
27 God created the man in his own image.
In the image of God he created him.
Male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 God said, “Look, I have given you every plant that produces seed on the face of the whole earth, and every tree that bears fruit that produces seed. It will be your food. 30 To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning—the sixth day.
2 The heavens and the earth were finished, along with everything in them.[h] 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had been doing. 3 God blessed the seventh day and set it apart as holy, because on it he rested from all his work of creation that he had done.
The Creation of Man and Woman
4 This is the account about the development[i] of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens:
5 No bushes that grow in the field were yet on the earth,[j] and no plants of the field had yet sprung up, since the Lord God had not yet caused it to rain on the earth. There was not yet a man to till the soil, 6 but water[k] came up from the earth and watered the entire surface of the ground.
7 The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground[l] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 The Lord God planted a garden[m] in Eden in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God made every kind of tree grow—trees that are pleasant to look at and good for food, including the Tree of Life in the middle of the garden and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
10 A river went out from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided and became the headwaters of four rivers. 11 The name of the first river is Pishon. It flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold, 12 and the gold of that land is good. Incense[n] and onyx stone are also found there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that winds through the whole land of Cush.[o] 14 The name of the third river is Tigris. This is the one which flows along the east side of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God took the man and settled him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to take care of it. 16 The Lord God gave a command to the man. He said, “You may freely eat from every tree in the garden, 17 but you shall not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for on the day that you eat from it, you will certainly die.”
18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is a suitable partner for him.” 19 Out of the soil the Lord God had formed every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that became its name. 20 The man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal, but for Adam[p] no helper was found who was a suitable partner for him. 21 The Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, the Lord God took a rib[q] and closed up the flesh where it had been. 22 The Lord God built a woman from the rib that he had taken from the man and brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
Now this one is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh.
She will be called “woman,”
because she was taken out of man.[r]
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother
and will remain united with his wife,
and they will become one flesh.[s]
25 They were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.
The Fall Into Sin
3 Now the serpent was more clever than any wild animal which the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, 3 but not from the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it. You shall not touch it, or else you will die.’”
4 The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die. 5 In fact, God knows that the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was appealing to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate. She gave some also to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 The eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for their waists.[t] 8 They heard the voice of the Lord God, who was walking around in the garden during the cooler part[u] of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 The Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.”
11 God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”
12 The man said, “The woman you gave to be with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 The Lord God said to the woman, “What have you done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 The Lord God said to the serpent:
Because you have done this,
you are cursed more than all the livestock,
and more than every wild animal.
You shall crawl on your belly,
and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.
15 I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed.[v]
He will crush your head,
and you will crush his heel.
16 To the woman he said:
I will greatly increase your pain in childbearing.
With painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
but[w] he will rule over you.
17 To Adam he said:
Because you listened to your wife’s voice
and ate from the tree about which I commanded you,
“You shall not eat from it,”
the soil is cursed on account of you.
You will eat from it with painful labor all the days of your life.
18 Thorns and thistles will spring up from the ground for you,
but you will eat the crops of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face you will eat bread
until you return to the soil,
for out of it you were taken.
For you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.
20 The man named his wife Eve[x] because she would be the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made clothing of animal skins for Adam and for his wife and clothed them.
22 The Lord God said, “Look, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, so that he does not reach out his hand and also take from the Tree of Life and eat and live forever—” 23 the Lord God sent him out from the Garden of Eden to work the soil from which he had been taken. 24 So he drove the man out, and in front of[y] the Garden of Eden he stationed cherubim[z] and a flaming sword, which turned in every direction to guard the way to the Tree of Life.
The First Children: Cain and Abel
4 The man was intimate with Eve, his wife. She conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have gotten a man with the Lord.”[aa] 2 She also gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel.
Abel tended sheep, but Cain worked the ground. 3 As time passed, one day Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the soil. 4 Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord looked favorably on Abel and his offering, 5 but he did not look favorably on Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and his face showed it.
6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why do you have that angry look on your face?[ab] 7 If you do good, will you not be lifted up? If you do not do good, sin is crouching at the door. It has a strong desire for you, but you must rule over it.”
8 Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field.”[ac] When they were in the field, Cain attacked Abel, his brother, and killed him.
9 The Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?”
He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 The Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the soil. 11 Now you are cursed and sent away from the soil[ad] which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the soil, it will no longer give its strength to you. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great for me to bear. 14 Look, today you have driven me away from the soil. I will be hidden from your face, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. And whoever finds me will kill me.”
15 The Lord said to him, “No![ae] If anyone kills Cain, he will face sevenfold revenge.” And the Lord appointed a sign for[af] Cain, so that anyone who found him would not strike him down.
The Descendants of Cain
16 Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod,[ag] east of Eden.
17 Cain was intimate with his wife. She conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Cain built a city and named the city after his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch, Irad was born. Irad became the father of Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech.
19 Lamech took two wives. The name of one was Adah, and the name of the other was Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the predecessor[ah] of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal, who was the predecessor of all who play the lyre and flute. 22 Zillah also gave birth to Tubal Cain, who made all kinds of tools and weapons from bronze and iron. Tubal Cain’s sister was Na’amah.
23 Lamech said to his wives:
Adah and Zillah, hear my voice.
You wives of Lamech, listen to my speech.
Look, I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for bruising me.
24 If Cain will be avenged seven times,
then Lamech will be avenged seventy-seven times.
The Family Line of Seth
25 Adam was intimate with his wife again. She gave birth to a son and named him Seth,[ai] because she said, “God has set another child in place of Abel for me, since Cain killed him.” 26 Later a son was born to Seth, and he named him Enosh. This is when people began to proclaim[aj] the name of the Lord.
5 This is the account about the development of Adam’s family:
In the day that God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female and blessed them, and on the day they were created, he named them “mankind.”[ak]
3 Adam lived 130 years, and he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his own image, and he named him Seth. 4 The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were 800 years, and he became the father of sons and daughters. 5 All the days that Adam lived were 930 years. Then he died.
6 Seth lived 105 years, and he became the father of Enosh. 7 Seth lived 807 years after he became the father of Enosh, and he became the father of sons and daughters. 8 All the days of Seth were 912 years. Then he died.
9 Enosh lived 90 years, and he became the father of Kenan. 10 Enosh lived 815 years after he became the father of Kenan, and he became the father of sons and daughters. 11 All the days of Enosh were 905 years. Then he died.
12 Kenan lived 70 years, and he became the father of Mahalalel. 13 Kenan lived 840 years after he became the father of Mahalalel, and he became the father of sons and daughters. 14 All the days of Kenan were 910 years. Then he died.
15 Mahalalel lived 65 years, and he became the father of Jared. 16 Mahalalel lived 830 years after he became the father of Jared, and he became the father of sons and daughters. 17 All the days of Mahalalel were 895 years. Then he died.
18 Jared lived 162 years, and he became the father of Enoch. 19 Jared lived 800 years after he became the father of Enoch, and he became the father of sons and daughters. 20 All the days of Jared were 962 years. Then he died.
21 Enoch lived 65 years, and he became the father of Methuselah. 22 After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years, and he became the father of sons and daughters. 23 All the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God. Then, he was not there, for God took him.
25 Methuselah lived 187 years, and he became the father of Lamech. 26 After he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years, and he became the father of sons and daughters. 27 All the days of Methuselah were 969 years. Then he died.
28 Lamech lived 182 years and became the father of a son. 29 He named him Noah[al] and said, “This one will bring us comfort during our work and the hard labor that we must perform with our hands because the Lord has cursed the soil.” 30 Lamech lived 595 years after he became father of Noah, and he became the father of sons and daughters. 31 All the days of Lamech were 777 years. Then he died.
32 Noah was 500 years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.[am]
Footnotes
- Genesis 1:2 Or without form
- Genesis 1:6 Traditionally a firmament
- Genesis 1:8 Or the heavens
- Genesis 1:9 The Greek Old Testament includes the sentence in half-brackets. It is not in the Hebrew text.
- Genesis 1:20 The Hebrew word oph usually refers to birds, but it means “flyers” and can include other flying creatures such as insects and bats.
- Genesis 1:24 Or domestic animals
- Genesis 1:26 The rendering of the Hebrew word adam is a key issue in this section. Adam may refer to man, mankind, or Adam. This translation retains the article where it occurs with adam (the man) and retains singular or plural forms of verbs and pronouns according to the Hebrew text.
- Genesis 2:1 Literally all their armies
- Genesis 2:4 The Hebrew word toledoth, which is used in the headings of the ten sections of Genesis, is related to the Hebrew root for give birth, but as used in the section headings of Genesis (such as 2:4; 5:1; 6:9, etc.), toledoth seems to refer to the development more than to the origin of the group being discussed. For this reason, in the section headings of Genesis, toledoth is regularly translated account about the development.
- Genesis 2:5 Literally every bush of the field was not yet on the earth. This wording seems to refer to the time before the creation of plants on day 3, but the context of chapter 2 seems to be the preparation of the Garden of Eden as a special home for man and woman. Some commentators suggest that this verse refers only to the area of the Garden of Eden, which had been left unfinished, but the wide term on the earth does not seem to be a natural way to say this, so this may be a reference back to day 3.
- Genesis 2:6 A rare word (ed) is used. It may refer to springs or, less likely, to mist. Genesis 2:10 refers to the presence of rivers.
- Genesis 2:7 Literally as dust from the ground. This means man is still dust and will return to dust.
- Genesis 2:8 In Hebrew, the term garden includes groves of trees.
- Genesis 2:12 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain. It probably refers to a fragrant resin or a precious stone.
- Genesis 2:13 In the Old Testament, Cush often refers to the land south of Egypt. Here the names of the third and fourth rivers suggest an area in Mesopotamia, today’s Iraq.
- Genesis 2:20 Here the Hebrew word adam without the article becomes a personal name.
- Genesis 2:21 Part of his side is a more literal translation than the traditional translation rib.
- Genesis 2:23 Here the Hebrew word for man is ish not adam. Like the English word pair man/woman, the Hebrew words ish/ishah correspond to one another.
- Genesis 2:24 Verse 24 may be a continuation of the words of Adam or a comment of the inspired writer. In either case, Jesus recognizes them as part of the divine institution of marriage (Matthew 19:4-5).
- Genesis 3:7 The Hebrew word often means belt, but here it apparently is an apron or a loincloth.
- Genesis 3:8 Literally the wind or breeze of the day, that is, late afternoon or evening
- Genesis 3:15 In the promises of Genesis and their fulfillment, the translation retains the literal expression seed rather than offspring or descendants to keep the imagery of the Messiah as the Seed of the Woman.
- Genesis 3:16 Or and
- Genesis 3:20 Eve means life.
- Genesis 3:24 Or east of
- Genesis 3:24 Cherubim are angels who are part of God’s honor guard. The translation retains the Hebrew form of the plural because cherubs has a different connotation in English.
- Genesis 4:1 Or, following Luther’s translation, I have gotten a man, the Lord. The Jerusalem Targum reads I have acquired a man, the Angel of the Lord. Cain means get or acquire.
- Genesis 4:6 Literally why has your face fallen
- Genesis 4:8 The words let’s go into the field, which are missing from the Hebrew text, are supplied from the ancient versions.
- Genesis 4:11 Here and in verse 14 the Hebrew word adamah, which can be translated ground or land, refers to the soil that Cain worked.
- Genesis 4:15 The translation no is supported by the ancient versions. The Hebrew reads very well then.
- Genesis 4:15 Or placed a mark on
- Genesis 4:16 Nod means wandering.
- Genesis 4:20 Literally father, that is, the founder of this way of life
- Genesis 4:25 Seth sounds like the Hebrew word for set or place.
- Genesis 4:26 Or call on
- Genesis 5:2 Hebrew adam
- Genesis 5:29 The name Noah sounds similar to the Hebrew words for rest and comfort.
- Genesis 5:32 It does not seem that all of Noah’s sons were born in the same year. Translations disagree whether the sons were born by the time Noah was 500 years old or after he was 500 years old.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.