In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

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

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

God called the light “day,” and He called the darkness “night.” Evening came and then morning: the first day.

Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.”

So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so.

God called the expanse “sky.” Evening came and then morning: the second day.

Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.

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

Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” And it was so.

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

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for festivals and for days and years.

God made the two great lights—the greater light to have dominion over the day and the lesser light to have dominion over the night—as well as the stars.

God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth,

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

Then God said, “Let the water swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.”

So God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

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

Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.

So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”

So God created man in His own image;
He created him in the image of God;
He created them male and female.

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”

God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you,

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.

By the seventh day God completed His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done.

God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation.

These are the records of the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation at the time that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

No shrub of the field had yet grown on the land, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground.

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

The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He placed the man He had formed.

The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.

And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden,

but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement.”

So the Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place.

Then the Lord God made the rib He had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man.

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”

“In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

So the Lord God asked the woman, “What is this you have done?”

And the woman said, “It was the serpent. He deceived me, and I ate.”

Then the Lord God said to the serpent:

Because you have done this,
you are cursed more than any livestock
and more than any wild animal.
You will move on your belly
and eat dust all the days of your life.

The Lord God made clothing out of skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.

The Lord God said, “Since man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.”

So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has given me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”

These are the family records of the descendants of Adam. On the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God;

And after the birth of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

Enoch walked with God; then he was not there because God took him.

the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives for themselves.

The Nephilim were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men.

These are the family records of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God.

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness.

God saw how corrupt the earth was, for every creature had corrupted its way on the earth.

Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth.

And Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded him.

two of each, male and female, entered the ark with Noah, just as God had commanded him.

Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered just as God had commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.

God remembered Noah, as well as all the wildlife and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water began to subside.

Then God spoke to Noah,

God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

Whoever sheds man’s blood,
his blood will be shed by man,
for God made man in His image.

Then God said to Noah and his sons with him,

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations:

The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all the living creatures on earth.”

God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have confirmed between Me and every creature on earth.”

He also said:

Praise the Lord, the God of Shem;
Canaan will be his slave.

God will extend Japheth;
he will dwell in the tents of Shem;
Canaan will be his slave.

Lot looked out and saw that the entire Jordan Valley as far as Zoar was well watered everywhere like the Lord’s garden and the land of Egypt. This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

Get up and walk around the land, through its length and width, for I will give it to you.”

Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High.

He blessed him and said:

Abram is blessed by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth,

and I give praise to God Most High
who has handed over your enemies to you.

And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand in an oath to Yahweh, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

But Abram said, “Lord God, what can You give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

But he said, “Lord God, how can I know that I will possess it?”

He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

So he brought all these to Him, split them down the middle, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut up the birds.

So she called the Lord who spoke to her: The God Who Sees, for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen the One who sees me?”

When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live in My presence and be blameless.

Then Abram fell facedown and God spoke with him:

I will keep My covenant between Me and you, and your future offspring throughout their generations, as an everlasting covenant to be your God and the God of your offspring after you.

And to you and your future offspring I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession, and I will be their God.”

God also said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations are to keep My covenant.

If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai, for Sarah will be her name.

So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable to You!”

But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his future offspring.

When He finished talking with him, God withdrew from Abraham.

Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all the slaves born in his house or purchased with his money—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that very day, just as God had said to him.

Meanwhile, Abraham ran to the herd and got a tender, choice calf. He gave it to a young man, who hurried to prepare it.

The men got up from there and looked out over Sodom, and Abraham was walking with them to see them off.

The two angels entered Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting at Sodom’s gate. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them. He bowed with his face to the ground

and said, “My lords, turn aside to your servant’s house, wash your feet, and spend the night. Then you can get up early and go on your way.”

“No,” they said. “We would rather spend the night in the square.”