In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water.

God said, "Let there be light." And there was light!

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

God called the light "day" and the darkness "night." There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day.

God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate water from water.

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

God called the expanse "sky." There was evening, and there was morning, a second day.

God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry ground appear." It was so.

God called the dry ground "land" and the gathered waters he called "seas." God saw that it was good.

God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds." It was so.

The land produced vegetation -- plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. God saw that it was good.

God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years,

God made two great lights -- the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night. He made the stars also.

God placed the lights in the expanse of the sky to shine on the earth,

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

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

God created the great sea creatures and every living and moving thing with which the water swarmed, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. God saw that it was good.

God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth."

God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals, each according to its kind." It was so.

God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the cattle according to their kinds, and all the creatures that creep along the ground according to their kinds. God saw that it was good.

Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth."

God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground."

Then God said, "I now give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.

God saw all that he had made -- and it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.

By the seventh day God finished the work that he had been doing, and he ceased on the seventh day all the work that he had been doing.

God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he ceased all the work that he had been doing in creation.

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created -- when the Lord God made the earth and heavens.

Now no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

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

The Lord God planted an orchard in the east, in Eden; and there he placed the man he had formed.

The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, every tree that was pleasing to look at and good for food. (Now the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were in the middle of the orchard.)

The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it.

Then the Lord God commanded the man, "You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard,

but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die."

The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him."

The Lord God formed out of the ground every living animal of the field and every bird of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was asleep, he took part of the man's side and closed up the place with flesh.

Then the Lord God made a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

Now the serpent was more shrewd than any of the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Is it really true that God said, 'You must not eat from any tree of the orchard'?"

but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, 'You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.'"

for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil."

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

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard.

But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"

And the Lord God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

So the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman replied, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate."

The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the wild beasts and all the living creatures of the field! On your belly you will crawl and dust you will eat all the days of your life.

The Lord God made garments from skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

And the Lord God said, "Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."

So the Lord God expelled him from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken.

And Adam had marital relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, "God has given me another child in place of Abel because Cain killed him."

This is the record of the family line of Adam. When God created humankind, he made them in the likeness of God.

After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God for 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters.

Enoch walked with God, and then he disappeared because God took him away.

the sons of God saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose.

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days (and also after this) when the sons of God were having sexual relations with the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. They were the mighty heroes of old, the famous men.

This is the account of Noah. Noah was a godly man; he was blameless among his contemporaries. He walked with God.

The earth was ruined in the sight of God; the earth was filled with violence.

God saw the earth, and indeed it was ruined, for all living creatures on the earth were sinful.

So God said to Noah, "I have decided that all living creatures must die, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I am about to destroy them and the earth.

And Noah did all that God commanded him -- he did indeed.

male and female, came into the ark to Noah, just as God had commanded him.

Those that entered were male and female, just as God commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.

But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over the earth and the waters receded.

Then God spoke to Noah and said,

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

"Whoever sheds human blood, by other humans must his blood be shed; for in God's image God has made humankind."

God said to Noah and his sons,

And God said, "This is the guarantee of the covenant I am making with you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all subsequent generations:

When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth."

So God said to Noah, "This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am confirming between me and all living things that are on the earth."

When he drank some of the wine, he got drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent.

He also said, "Worthy of praise is the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem!

May God enlarge Japheth's territory and numbers! May he live in the tents of Shem and may Canaan be his slave!"

Get up and walk throughout the land, for I will give it to you."

Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (Now he was the priest of the Most High God.)

He blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth.

Worthy of praise is the Most High God, who delivered your enemies into your hand." Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.

But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, "I raise my hand to the Lord, the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth, and vow

The Lord said to him, "Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."

So Abram took all these for him and then cut them in two and placed each half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds in half.

But as for you, you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.

So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "Here I have seen one who sees me!"

When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am the sovereign God. Walk before me and be blameless.

Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, and God said to him,

I will confirm my covenant as a perpetual covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

I will give the whole land of Canaan -- the land where you are now residing -- to you and your descendants after you as a permanent possession. I will be their God."

Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep the covenantal requirement I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off from his people -- he has failed to carry out my requirement."

Then God said to Abraham, "As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; Sarah will be her name.

Abraham said to God, "O that Ishmael might live before you!"

God said, "No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual covenant for his descendants after him.

When he finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) and circumcised them on that very same day, just as God had told him to do.

And let me get a bit of food so that you may refresh yourselves since you have passed by your servant's home. After that you may be on your way." "All right," they replied, "you may do as you say."

When the men got up to leave, they looked out over Sodom. (Now Abraham was walking with them to see them on their way.)

The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while Lot was sitting in the city's gateway. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.

Then the two visitors said to Lot, "Who else do you have here? Do you have any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or other relatives in the city? Get them out of this place