Please Return to
Site indexing by using the BACK feature of your browser.
____________________________
THE CREATION STORY
Genesis 1-3
"Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version.
(c) Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers."
The Bible Library Version 3.1 Special Edition
©1998 Ellis Enterprises,Inc
1. In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2.
Now the earth was formless and
empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was
hovering over the waters.
3.
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
4.
God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the
darkness.
5.
God called the light "day," and the darkness he called
"night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day.
6.
And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to
separate water from water."
7. So
God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water
above it. And it was so.
8.
God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there
was morning--the second day.
9.
And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one
place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so.
10.
God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he
called "seas." And God saw that it was good.
11.
Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing
plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to
their various kinds." And it was so.
12. The
land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and
trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that
it was good.
13.
And there was evening, and there was morning--the third day.
14.
And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to
separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons
and days and years,
15.
and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the
earth." And it was so.
16.
God made two great lights--the greater light to govern the day and the
lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.
17.
God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth,
18.
to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.
And God saw that it was good.
19.
And there was evening, and there was morning--the fourth day.
20.
And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let
birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."
21.
So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and
moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every
winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22.
God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and
fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."
23.
And there was evening, and there was morning--the fifth day.
24.
And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to
their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals,
each according to its kind." And it was so.
25.
God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock
according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground
according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26.
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and
let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the
livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the
ground."
27.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28.
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in
number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the
birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
29.
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of
the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be
yours for food.
30.
And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all
the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of life
in it--I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
31.
31.
31. God saw all that he had
made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the
sixth day.
Genesis
2
1.
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
2. By
the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh
day he rested from all his work.
3.
And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he
rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
4.
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were
created. When the LORD God made the
earth and the heavens--
5.
and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of
the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground,
6.
but streams came up from the
earth and watered the whole surface of the ground--
7.
the LORD God formed the man from
the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and
the man became a living being.
8.
Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he
put the man he had formed.
9.
And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees
that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden
were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10. A
river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into
four headwaters.
11.
The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of
Havilah, where there is gold.
12.
(The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.)
13.
The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire
land of Cush.
14.
The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side
of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15.
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it
and take care of it.
16.
And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any
tree in the garden;
17.
but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
for when you eat of it you will surely die."
18.
The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will
make a helper suitable for him."
19.
Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the
field and all the birds 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.
20.
So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all
the beasts of the field. But for
Adam no suitable helper was found.
21.
So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he
was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh.
22.
Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man,
and he brought her to the man.
23.
The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called `woman, ' for she was taken out of man."
24.
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to
his wife, and they will become one flesh.
25.
25.
25. The man and his wife were
both naked, and they felt no shame.
Genesis 3
1. Now the serpent was more crafty than any of
the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God
really say, `You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2. The woman said to the serpent, "We may
eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3. but God did say, `You must not eat fruit
from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it,
or you will die.'"
4. "You will not surely die," the
serpent said to the woman.
5. "For God knows that when you eat of it
your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and
evil."
6. When the woman saw that the fruit of the
tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining
wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was
with her, and he ate it.
7. Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made
coverings for themselves.
8. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of
the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they
hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
9. But the LORD God called to the man,
"Where are you?"
10. He answered, "I heard you in the garden,
and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
11. And he said, "Who told you that you
were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat
from?"
12. The man said, "The woman you put here
with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
13. Then the LORD God said to the woman,
"What is this you have done?"
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
14. So the LORD God said to the serpent,
"Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15. And I will put enmity between you and the
woman, and between your offspring and
hers; he will crush your head, and you
will strike his heel."
16. To the woman he said, "I will greatly
increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
17. To Adam he said, "Because you listened
to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, `You must not
eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you
will eat of it all the days of your life.
18. It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your
food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you
are and to dust you will return."
20. Adam
named his wife Eve, because she
would become the mother of all the living.
21. The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam
and his wife and clothed them.
22. And the LORD God said, "The man has now
become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach
out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live
forever."
23. So the LORD God banished him from the Garden
of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
24.
24.
24. After he drove the man out,
he placed on the east side of the
Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard
the way to the tree of life.
~~~
View a modern inspirational rendition of Genesis
Please return to site indexing by using the BACK
feature of your browser.