When the earth was as yet unformed and desolate, with the surface of the ocean depths shrouded in darkness, and while the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters,

So God made a canopy that separated the water beneath the canopy from the water above it. And that is what happened:

Then God said, "Let the water beneath the sky come together into one area, and let dry ground appear!" And that is what happened:

God called the dry ground "land," and he called the water that had come together "oceans." And God saw how good it was.

Then God said, "Let vegetation sprout all over the earth, including seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each kind containing its own seed!" And that is what happened:

Vegetation sprouted all over the earth, including seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each kind containing its own seed. And God saw that it was good.

to serve as lights in the sky, and to shine on the earth!" And that is what happened:

to differentiate between day and night, and to distinguish light from darkness. And God saw how good it was.

So God created every kind of magnificent marine creature, every kind of living marine crawler with which the waters swarmed, and every kind of flying creature. And God saw how good it was.

Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth each kind of living creature, each kind of livestock and crawling thing, and each kind of earth's animals!" And that is what happened:

God made each kind of the earth's animals, along with every kind of livestock and crawling thing. And God saw how good it was.

God blessed the humans by saying to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it! Be masters over the fish in the ocean, the birds that fly, and every living thing that crawls on the earth!"

I have given all green plants as food for every wild animal of the earth, every bird that flies, and to every living thing that crawls on the earth." And that is what happened.

Now God saw all that he had made, and indeed, it was very good! The twilight and the dawn were the sixth day.

Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God stopped working on everything that he had been creating.

These are the records of the universe at its creation. Onthe day that the LORD God made the earth and skies,

no shrubs had yet grown in the meadows of the earth and no vegetation had sprouted, because the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there were no human beings to work the ground.

Instead, an underground stream would arise out of the earth and water the surface of the ground.

The LORD God caused every tree that is both beautiful and suitable for food to spring up out of the ground. The tree of life was also in the middle of the garden, along with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A river flows from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides, becoming four branches.

The name of the first one is Pishon it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.

The name of the second river is Gihon it winds through the entire land of Cush.

The third river is named the Tigris it flows to the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

The LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden in order to have him work it and guard it.

The LORD God commanded the man: "You may freely eat from every tree of the garden,

but you are not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because you will certainly die during the day that you eat from it."

Later, the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make the woman to be an authority corresponding to him."

After the LORD God formed from the ground every wild animal and every bird that flies, he brought each of them to the man to see what he would call it. Whatever the man called each living creature became its name.

When the man was asleep, he removed one of the man's ribs and closed up the flesh where it had been. Then the LORD God formed the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man.

So the man exclaimed, "At last! This is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh. This one will be called "Woman,' because she was taken from Man."

Even though both the man and his wife were naked, they were not ashamed about it.

Now the Shining One was more clever than any animal of the field that the LORD God had made. He asked the woman, "Did God actually say, "You are not to eat from any tree of the garden'?"

"We may eat from the trees of the garden," the woman answered the Shining One,

"but as for the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, God has said, "You are not to eat from it, nor are you to touch it, or you will die.'"

"Even God knows that on the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you'll become like God, knowing good and evil."

When the woman saw that the tree produced good food, was attractive in appearance, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. Then she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate some, too.

As a result, they both understood what they had done, and they became aware that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

So the LORD God called out to the man, asking him, "Where are you?"

"Who told you that you are naked?" Godasked. "Did you eat fruit from the tree that I commanded you not to eat?"

The man answered, "The woman whom you provided for me gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate some of it."

Then the LORD God asked the woman, "What did you do?" "The Shining One misled me," the woman answered, "so I ate."

The LORD God told the Shining One, "Because you have done this, you are more cursed than all the livestock, and more than all the earth's animals, You'll crawl on your belly and eat dust as long as you live.

He told the woman, "I'll greatly increase the pain of your labor during childbirth. It will be painful for you to bear children, "since your trust is turning toward your husband, and he will dominate you."

He told the man, "Because you have listened to what your wife said, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, "You must not eat from it,' cursed is the ground because of you. You'll eat from it through pain-filled labor for the rest of your life.

It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you'll eat the plants from the meadows.

You will eat food by the sweat of your brow until you're buried in the ground, because you were taken from it. You're made from dust and you'll return to dust."

Later, the LORD God said, "Look! The man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, so he won't reach out, also take from the tree of life, eat, and then live forever "

After he had expelled the man, the LORD God placed winged angels at the eastern end of the garden of Eden, along with a fiery, turning sword, to prevent access to the tree of life.

And she did it again, giving birth to his brother Abel. Abel shepherded flocks and Cain became a farmer.

If you do what is appropriate, you'll be accepted, won't you? But if you don't do what is appropriate, sin is crouching near your doorway, turning toward you. Now as for you, will you take dominion over it?"

Instead, Cain told his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the wilderness." When they were outside in the fields, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

"What did you do?" God asked. "Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.

Whenever you work the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you, and you'll wander throughout the earth as a fugitive."

Later, Cain had sexual relations with his wife. She became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain founded a city and named it after his son Enoch.

Later, Lamech married two wives. One was named Adah and the other was named Zillah.

Adah gave birth to Jabal, who became the ancestor of those who live in tents and herd livestock.

Lamech told his wives, "Adah and Zillah, listen to what I have to say: You wives of Lamech, hear what I'm announcing! I've killed a man for wounding me, a young man for bruising me.

Seth also fathered a son, whom he named Enosh. At that time, profaning the name of the LORD began.

The Nephilim were on the earth at that time (and also immediately afterward), when those divine beings were having sexual relations with those human women, who gave birth to children for them. These children became the heroes and legendary figures of ancient times.

God looked at the earth, observing how corrupt its population had become, because the entire human race had corrupted itself.

So God announced to Noah, "I've decided to destroy every living thing on earth, because it has become filled with violence due to them. Look! I'm about to annihilate them, along with the earth.

So make yourself an ark out of cedar, constructing compartments in it, and cover it inside and out with tar.

Make the ark like this: 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.

For your part, take some of the edible food and store it away these stores will be food for you and the animals."

and it rained throughout the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.

The flood continued throughout the earth for 40 days, while the flood waters increased, lifting the ark so that it rose above the surface of the earth.

and sent out a raven. It went back and forth as the flood water continued to evaporate throughout the earth.

Later, he sent a dove out from the ark to see whether the water that covered the land's surface had completely receded,

but the dove could not yet find a place to rest, so it returned to Noah on the ark, since water still covered the land. Noah reached out his hand and took the dove back into the ark with him.

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

The dove returned to him in the evening, but in its beak there was an olive leaf that it had plucked! So Noah knew that the flood waters had decreased on the land.

He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but it did not return to him anymore.

"It's time for you, your wife, your sons, and your sons' wives who are with you to leave the ark.

Bring out with you every living creature including the flying creatures, animals, and everything that crawls on the ground so they may disperse throughout the land, be fruitful, and multiply throughout the earth."

Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings on it from every clean animal and every clean bird.

However, you are not to eat meat with its life that is, its blood in it!

Now as for you, be productive and multiply; spread out over the land and multiply throughout it."

and with every living creature that is with you the flying creatures, the livestock, and all the wildlife of the earth that are with you all the earth's animals that came out of the ark.

When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will observe it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living beings on the earth."

Noah's sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham later fathered Canaan.)

Then Shem and Japheth took their father's cloak, laid it across both their shoulders, and walking backwards, they both covered their father's genitals. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's genitals.

When Noah sobered up and learned what his youngest son had done to him,

He became a fearless hunter in defiance of the LORD. That is why it is said, "Like Nimrod, a fearless hunter in defiance of the LORD."

These are the families of Noah's sons, according to their records, by their nations. From these people, the nations on the earth spread out after the flood.

The LORD said, "Look! They are one people with the same language for all of them, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. Nothing that they have a mind to do will be impossible for them!

Therefore it was called Babylon, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth, and from there the LORD scattered them over the surface of the entire earth.

where Terah died at the age of 205 years.

Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the servants he had acquired while living in Haran. Then they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they arrived in the land of Canaan,

Abram traveled through the land to the place called Shechem, as far as the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.

Pharaoh summoned Abram and asked, "What have you done to me! Why didn't you tell me that she was your wife?

Why did you say, "She is my sister,' so that I took her as a wife for myself? Now, here is your wife! Take her and get out!"

So Pharaoh assigned men to Abram, and they escorted him, his wife, and all that he had out of the country.

There was strife between the herdsmen in charge of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen in charge of Lot's livestock. Also, at that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land.

Get up! Walk throughout the length and breadth of the land, because I'm going to give it to you."

At the time when Amraphel was king of Shinar, Arioch was king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer was king of Elam, and Tidal was king of the Goiim,

Someone escaped, arrived, and reported what had happened to Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks belonging to Mamre the Amorite, whose brothers Eshcol and Aner were allied with Abram.

When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken prisoner, he gathered together 318 of his trained men, who had been born in his household, and they went out in pursuit as far as Dan.

After Abram's return from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with them, the king of Sodom went out to meet with him in the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King's Valley).

King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine, since he was serving as the priest of God Most High.

I will take nothing except what my warriors have eaten. But as for what belongs to the men who were allied with me, including Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, let them take their share."