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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found as his complement.

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.

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’?”

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.

And he said, “I heard You in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”

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.”

Adam named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living.

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

but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.

Irad was born to Enoch, Irad fathered Mehujael, Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech.

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

His brother was named Jubal; he was the father of all who play the lyre and the flute.

Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools. Tubal-cain’s sister was Naamah.

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

Adam was 130 years old when he fathered a son in his likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.

Seth was 105 years old when he fathered Enosh.

Enosh was 90 years old when he fathered Kenan.

Kenan was 70 years old when he fathered Mahalalel.

Mahalalel was 65 years old when he fathered Jared.

Jared was 162 years old when he fathered Enoch.

Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methuselah.

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

Methuselah was 187 years old when he fathered Lamech.

Lamech was 182 years old when he fathered a son.

Noah was 500 years old, and he fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

When the Lord saw that man’s wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time,

the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

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.

Noah was 600 years old when the flood came and water covered 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.

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.

In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water that had covered the earth was dried up. Then Noah removed the ark’s cover and saw that the surface of the ground was drying.

By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was dry.

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

These three were Noah’s sons, and from them the whole earth was populated.

Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard.

Cush fathered Nimrod, who was the first powerful man on earth.

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.”

And Shem, Japheth’s older brother, also had sons. Shem was the father of all the sons of Eber.

Eber had two sons. One was named Peleg, for during his days the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.

Abram and Nahor took wives: Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah.

Sarai was unable to conceive; she did not have a child.

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.

There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine in the land was severe.

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

When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.

Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s household.

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

Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold.

Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents.

But the land was unable to support them as long as they stayed together, for they had so many possessions that they could not stay together,

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.

They also took Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, for he was living in Sodom, and they went on.

One of the survivors came and told Abram the Hebrew, who lived near the oaks belonging to Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and the brother of Aner. They were bound by a treaty with Abram.

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

As the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.

When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals.

He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she realized that she was pregnant, she treated her mistress with contempt.

Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering! I put my slave in your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the Lord judge between me and you.”

Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

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

Abraham was 99 years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised,

and his son Ishmael was 13 years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised.

Then the Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting in the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day.

Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree.

The Lord said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.

Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid.

But He replied, “No, you did laugh.”

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.”

So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were going to marry his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw that smoke was going up from the land like the smoke of a furnace.

So it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham and brought Lot out of the middle of the upheaval when He demolished the cities where Lot had lived.

Lot departed from Zoar and lived in the mountains along with his two daughters, because he was afraid to live in Zoar. Instead, he and his two daughters lived in a cave.

Abraham named his son who was born to him—the one Sarah bore to him—Isaac.

When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.

Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned.

Now this was a very difficult thing for Abraham because of his son.

When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes.