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

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.

They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth.” And it was so.

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

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.

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.

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.”

for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it. I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

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

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.

But water would come out of the ground and water the entire surface of the land.

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 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.

A river went out from Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became the source of four rivers.

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.

And the man said:

This one, at last, is bone of my bone
and flesh of my flesh;
this one will be called “woman,”
for she was taken from man.

Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.

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’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees 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?”

Then He asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

Then the man replied, “The woman You gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”

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.

He said to the woman:

I will intensify your labor pains;
you will bear children in anguish.
Your desire will be for your husband,
yet he will rule over you.

And He said to Adam, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’:

The ground is cursed because of you.
You will eat from it by means of painful labor
all the days of your life.

It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.

You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow
until you return to the ground,
since you were taken from it.
For you are dust,
and you will return to dust.”

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.”

He drove man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.

If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Then He said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground!

If you work the ground, it will never again give you its yield. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

Then Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah.

Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of the nomadic herdsmen.

Lamech said to his wives:

Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
wives of Lamech, pay attention to my words.
For I killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for striking me.

If Cain is to be avenged seven times over,
then for Lamech it will be seventy-seven times!

A son was born to Seth also, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of Yahweh.

“Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and outside.

This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.

You are to make a roof, finishing the sides of the ark to within 18 inches of the roof. You are to put a door in the side of the ark. Make it with lower, middle, and upper decks.

“Understand that I am bringing a flood—floodwaters on the earth to destroy every creature under heaven with the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will die.

Take with you every kind of food that is eaten; gather it as food for you and for them.”

Seven days from now I will make it rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights, and I will wipe off from the face of the earth every living thing I have made.”

They entered it with all the wildlife according to their kinds, all livestock according to their kinds, the creatures that crawl on the earth according to their kinds, all birds, every fowl, and everything with wings according to their kinds.

Two of all flesh that has the breath of life in it entered the ark with Noah.

The flood continued for 40 days on the earth; the waters increased and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth.

He wiped out every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, from mankind to livestock, to creatures that crawl, to the birds of the sky, and they were wiped off the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark.

and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth until the waters had dried up from the earth.

Then he sent out a dove to see whether the water on the earth’s surface had gone down,

but the dove found no resting place for her foot. She returned to him in the ark because water covered the surface of the whole earth. He reached out and brought her into the ark to himself.

So Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove from the ark again.

When the dove came to him at evening, there was a plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the water on the earth’s surface had gone down.

After he had waited another seven days, he sent out the dove, but she did not return to him again.

“Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you.

Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, those that crawl on the ground—and they will spread over the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

So Noah, along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, came out.

All wildlife, all livestock, every bird, and every creature that crawls on the earth came out of the ark by their groups.

However, you must not eat meat with its lifeblood in it.

But you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out over the earth and multiply on it.”

and with every living creature that is with you—birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you—all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark.

I confirm My covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by the waters of a flood; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”

I have placed My bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.

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.”

Noah’s sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.

Then Shem and Japheth took a cloak and placed it over both their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father naked.

When Noah awoke from his drinking and learned what his youngest son had done to him,

The coastland peoples spread out into their lands. These are Japheth’s sons by their clans, in their nations. Each group had its own language.

He was a powerful hunter in the sight of the Lord. That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a powerful hunter in the sight of the Lord.”

These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their family records, in their nations. The nations on earth spread out from these after the flood.

At one time the whole earth had the same language and vocabulary.

Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.

The Lord said to Abram:

Go out from your land,
your relatives,
and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.

He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people he had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,

Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem, at the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.

When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are.

Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.”

So Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?

and there was quarreling between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land.

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.”

So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the Lord.