The Story of Creation

1 ¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was barren, with no form of life; it was under a roaring ocean covered with darkness. But the Spirit of God was moving over the water. The First Day ³ God said, "I command light to shine!" And light started shining. ⁴ God looked at the light and saw that it was good. He separated light from darkness ⁵ and named the light "Day" and the darkness "Night." Evening came and then morning—that was the first day. The Second Day ⁶ God said, "I command a dome to separate the water above it from the water below it." ⁷ And that’s what happened. God made the dome ⁸ and named it "Sky." Evening came and then morning—that was the second day. The Third Day ⁹ God said, "I command the water under the sky to come together in one place, so there will be dry ground." And that’s what happened. ¹⁰ God named the dry ground "Land," and he named the water "Ocean." God looked at what he had done and saw that it was good. ¹¹ God said, "I command the earth to produce all kinds of plants, including fruit trees and grain." And that’s what happened. ¹² The earth produced all kinds of vegetation. God looked at what he had done, and it was good. ¹³ Evening came and then morning—that was the third day. The Fourth Day ¹⁴ God said, "I command lights to appear in the sky and to separate day from night and to show the time for seasons, special days, and years. ¹⁵ I command them to shine on the earth." And that’s what happened. ¹⁶ God made two powerful lights, the brighter one to rule the day and the other to rule the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ Then God put these lights in the sky to shine on the earth, ¹⁸ to rule day and night, and to separate light from darkness. God looked at what he had done, and it was good. ¹⁹ Evening came and then morning—that was the fourth day. The Fifth Day ²⁰ God said, "I command the ocean to be full of living creatures, and I command birds to fly above the earth." ²¹ So God made the giant sea monsters and all the living creatures that swim in the ocean. He also made every kind of bird. God looked at what he had done, and it was good. ²² Then he gave the living creatures his blessing—he told the ocean creatures to live everywhere in the ocean and the birds to live everywhere on earth. ²³ Evening came and then morning—that was the fifth day. The Sixth Day ²⁴ God said, "I command the earth to give life to all kinds of tame animals, wild animals, and reptiles." And that’s what happened. ²⁵ God made every one of them. Then he looked at what he had done, and it was good. ²⁶ God said, "Now we will make humans, and they will be like us. We will let them rule the fish, the birds, and all other living creatures." ²⁷ So God created humans to be like himself; he made men and women. ²⁸ God gave them his blessing and said:  Have a lot of children! Fill the earth with people and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, and every animal on the earth. ²⁹ I have provided all kinds of fruit and grain for you to eat. ³⁰ And I have given the green plants as food for everything else that breathes. These will be food for animals, both wild and tame, and for birds. ³¹ God looked at what he had done. All of it was very good! Evening came and then morning—that was the sixth day. 2 ¹ So the heavens and the earth and everything else were created. The Seventh Day ² By the seventh day God had finished his work, and so he rested. ³ God blessed the seventh day and made it special because on that day he rested from his work. ⁴ That’s how God created the heavens and the earth. The Garden of Eden When the Lord God made the heaven   and the earth, ⁵ no grass or plants were growing anywhere. God had not yet sent any rain, and there was no one to work the land. ⁶ But streams came up from the ground and watered the earth. ⁷ The Lord God took a handful of soil and made a man. God breathed life into the man, and the man started breathing. ⁸ The Lord made a garden in a place called Eden, which was in the east, and he put the man there. ⁹ The Lord God placed all kinds of beautiful trees and fruit trees in the garden. Two other trees were in the middle of the garden. One of the trees gave life—the other gave the power to know the difference between right and wrong. ¹⁰ From Eden a river flowed out to water the garden, then it divided into four rivers. ¹¹ The first one is the Pishon River that flows through the land of Havilah, ¹² where pure gold, rare perfumes, and precious stones are found. ¹³ The second is the Gihon River that winds through Ethiopia. ¹⁴ The Tigris River that flows east of Assyria is the third, and the fourth is the Euphrates River. ¹⁵ The Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and to look after it. ¹⁶ But the Lord told him, "You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden, ¹⁷ except the one that has the power to let you know the difference between right and wrong. If you eat any fruit from that tree, you will die before the day is over!" ¹⁸ The Lord God said, "It isn’t good for the man to live alone. I need to make a suitable partner for him." ^19-20 So the Lord took some soil and made animals and birds. He brought them to the man to see what names he would give each of them. Then the man named the tame animals and the birds and the wild animals. That’s how they got their names. None of these was th  right kind of partner for the man. ²¹ So the Lord God made him fall into a deep sleep, and he took out one of the man’s ribs. Then after closing the man’s side, ²² the Lord made a woman out of the rib. The Lord God brought her to the man, ²³ and the man exclaimed, "Here is someone like me! She is part of my body, my own flesh and bones. She came from me, a man. So I will name her Woman!" ²⁴ That’s why a man will leave his own father and mother. He marries a woman, and the two of them become like one person.²⁵ Although the man and his wife were both naked, they were not ashamed. The First Sin 3 ¹ The snake was sneakier than any of the other wild animals that the Lord God had made. One day it came to the woman and asked, "Did God tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?" ² The woman answered, "God said we could eat fruit from any tree in the garden, ³ except the one in the middle. He told us not to eat fruit from that tree or even to touch it. If we do, we will die." ⁴ "No, you won’t!" the snake replied. ⁵ "God understands what will happen on the day you eat fruit from that tree. You will see what you have done, and you will know the difference between right and wrong, just as God does." ⁶ The woman stared at the fruit. It looked beautiful and tasty. She wanted the wisdom that it would give her, and she ate some of the fruit. Her husband was there with her, so she gave some to him, and he ate it too. ⁷ Right away they saw what they had done, and they realized they were naked. Then they sewed fig leaves together to make something to cover themselves. ⁸ Late in the afternoon a breeze began to blow, and the man and woman heard the Lord God walking in the garden. They were frightened and hid behind some trees. The Trouble with Sin ⁹ The Lord called out to the man and asked, "Where are you?" ¹⁰ The man answered, "I was naked, and when I heard you walking through the garden, I was frightened and hid!" ¹¹ "How did you know you were naked?" God asked. "Did you eat any fruit from that tree in the middle of the garden?" ¹² "It was the woman you put here with me," the man said. "She gave me some of the fruit, and I ate it." ¹³ The Lord God then asked the woman, "What have you done?" "The snake tricked me," she answered. "And I ate some of that fruit." ¹⁴ So the Lord God said to the snake: "Because of what you have done, you will be the only animal to suffer this curse— For as long as you live, you will crawl on your stomach and eat dirt. ¹⁵ You and this woman will hate each other; your descendants and hers will always be enemies. One of hers will strike you on the head, and you will strike him on the heel." ¹⁶ Then the Lord said to the woman, "You will suffer terribly when you give birth. But you will still desire your husband, and he will rule over you." ¹⁷ The Lord said to the man, "You listened to your wife and ate fruit from that tree. And so, the ground will be under a curse because of what you did. As long as you live, you will have to struggle to grow enough food. ¹⁸ Your food will be plants, but the ground will produce thorns and thistles. ¹⁹ You will have to sweat to earn a living; you were made out of soil, and you will once again turn into soil." ²⁰ The man Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all who live. ²¹ Then the Lord God made clothes out of animal skins for the man and his wife. ²² The Lord said, "These people now know the difference between right and wrong, just as we do. But they must not be allowed to eat fruit from the tree that lets them live forever." ²³ So the Lord God sent them out of the Garden of Eden, where they would have to work the ground from which the man had been made. ²⁴ Then God put winged creatures at the entrance to the garden and a flaming, flashing sword to guard the way to the life-giving tree. Cain Murders Abel 4 ¹ Adam and Eve had a son. Then Eve said, "I’ll name him Cain because I got him with the help of the Lord." ² Later she had another son and named him Abel. Abel became a sheep farmer, but Cain farmed the land. ³ One day, Cain gave part of his harvest to the Lord, ⁴ and Abel also gave an offering to the Lord. He killed the first-born lamb from one of his sheep and gave the Lord the best parts of it. The Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering, ⁵ but not with Cain and his offering. This made Cain so angry that he could not hide his feelings. ⁶ The Lord said to Cain:  What’s wrong with you? Why do you have such a  angry look on your face? ⁷ If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling. But you did the wrong thing, and now sin is waiting to attack you like a lion. Sin wants to destroy you, but don’t let it! ⁸ Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let’s go for a walk." And when they were out in a field, Cain killed him. ⁹ Afterwards the Lord asked Cain, "Where is Abel?" "How should I know?" he answered. "Am I supposed to look after my brother?"  ¹⁰ Then the Lord said:  Why have you done this terrible thing? You killed your own brother, an  his blood flowed onto the ground. Now his blood is calling out for me to punish you. ¹¹ And so, I’ll put you under a curse. Because you killed Abel and made his blood run out on the ground, you will never be able to farm the land again. ¹² If you try to farm the land, it won’t produce anything for you. From now on, you’ll be without a home, and you’ll spend the rest of your life wandering from place to place. ¹³ "This punishment is too hard!" Cain said. ¹⁴ "You’re making me leave my home and live far from you. I will have to wander about without a home, and just anyone could kill me." ¹⁵ "No!" the Lord answered. "Anyone who kills you will be punished seven times worse than I am punishing you." So the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn everyone not to kill him. ¹⁶ But Cain had to go far from the Lord and live in the Land of Wandering, which is east of Eden. More and More People ¹⁷ Later, Cain and his wife had a son named Enoch. At the time Cain was building a town, and so he named it Enoch after his son. ¹⁸ Then Enoch had a son named Irad, who had a son named Mehujael, who had a son named Methushael, who had a son named Lamech. ¹⁹ Lamech married Adah, then Zillah. ^20-21 Lamech and Adah had two sons, Jabal and Jubal. Their son Jabal was the first to live in tents and raise sheep and goats. Jubal was the first to play harps and flutes. ²² Lamech and Zillah had a son named Tubal Cain who made tools out of bronze and iron. They also had a daughter, whose name was Naamah. ²³ One day, Lamech said to his two wives, "A young man wounded me, and I killed him. ²⁴ Anyone who tries to get even with me will be punished ten times more than anyone who tries to get even with Cain." ²⁵ Adam and his wife had another son. They named him Seth, because they said, "God has given us a son to take the place of Abel, who was killed by his brother Cain." ²⁶ Later, Seth had a son and named him Enosh. About this time people started worshiping the Lord. Descendants of Adam 5 ^1-2 God created men and women to be like himself. He gave them his blessing and called them human beings. This is a list of the descendants of Adam, the first man: ^3-4 When Adam was one hundred thirty, he had a son who was just like him, and he named him Seth. Adam had more children ⁵ and died at the age of nine hundred thirty. ⁶ When Seth was one hundred five, he had a son named Enosh. ⁷ Seth had more children ⁸ and died at the age of nine hundred twelve. ⁹ When Enosh was ninety, he had a son named Kenan. ¹⁰ Enosh had more children ¹¹ and died at the age of nine hundred five. ¹² When Kenan was seventy, he had a son named Mahalalel. ¹³ Kenan had more children ¹⁴ and died at the age of nine hundred ten. ¹⁵ When Mahalalel was sixty-five, he had a son named Jared. ¹⁶ Mahalalel had more children ¹⁷ and died at the age of eight hundred ninety-five. ¹⁸ When Jared was one hundred sixty-two, he had a son named Enoch. ¹⁹ Jared had more children ²⁰ and died at the age of nine hundred sixty-two. ²¹ When Enoch was sixty-five, he had a son named Methuselah, ²² and during the next three hundred years he had more children. Enoch truly loved God, ^23-24 and God took him away at the age of three hundred sixty-five. ²⁵ When Methuselah was one hundred eighty-seven, he had a son named Lamech. ²⁶ Methuselah had more children ²⁷ and died at the age of nine hundred sixty-nine. ²⁸ When Lamech was one hundred eighty-two, he had a son. ²⁹ Lamech said, "I’ll name him Noah because he will give us comfort, as we struggle hard to make a living on this land that the Lord has put under a curse." ³⁰ Lamech had more children ³¹ and died at the age of seven hundred seventy-seven. ³² After Noah was five hundred years old, he had three sons and named them Shem, Ham, and Japheth.