The Creation

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

² Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

⁴ And God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.

⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning - the first day.

⁶ And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, to separate the waters from the waters.”

⁷ So God made the expanse and separated the waters beneath it from the waters above. And it was so.

⁸ God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning - the second day.

⁹ And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear.” And it was so.

¹⁰ God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of waters He called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each bearing fruit with seed according to its kind.” And it was so.

¹² The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

¹³ And there was evening, and there was morning - the third day.

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years.

¹⁵ And let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth.” And it was so.

¹⁶ God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. And He made the stars as well.

¹⁷ God set these lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth,

¹⁸ to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

¹⁹ And there was evening, and there was morning - the fourth day.

²⁰ And God said, “Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.”

²¹ So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every winged bird after its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²² Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

²³ And there was evening, and there was morning - the fifth day.

²⁴ And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, land crawlers, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.

²⁵ God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.”

²⁷ So God created 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 and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”

²⁹ Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food.

³⁰ And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth - everything that has the breath of life in it - I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

³¹ And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day.

¹ Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

² And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.

³ Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.

⁴ This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them.

⁵ Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted, for the LORD God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

⁶ But springs welled up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.

⁷ Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.

⁸ And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.

⁹ Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰ Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it branched into four headwaters:

¹¹ The name of the first river is the Pishon; it winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.

¹² And the gold of that land is pure, and bdellium and onyx are found there.

¹³ The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush.

¹⁴ The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵ Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.

¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden,

¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

¹⁸ The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”

¹⁹ And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and He brought them to the man to see what he would name each one. And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

²⁰ The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.

²¹ So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh.

²² And from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him.

²³ And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.”

²⁴ For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

²⁵ And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.