Genesis 1-8
New International Reader's Version
The Beginning
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth didn’t have any shape. And it was empty. There was darkness over the surface of the waves. At that time, the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good. He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day.” He called the darkness “night.” There was evening, and there was morning. It was day one.
6 God said, “Let there be a huge space between the waters. Let it separate water from water.” 7 And that’s exactly what happened. God made the huge space between the waters. He separated the water under the space from the water above it. 8 God called the huge space “sky.” There was evening, and there was morning. It was day two.
9 God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place. Let dry ground appear.” And that’s exactly what happened. 10 God called the dry ground “land.” He called all the water that was gathered together “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce plants. Let them produce their own seeds. And let there be trees on the land that grow fruit with seeds in it. Let each kind of plant or tree have its own kind of seeds.” And that’s exactly what happened. 12 So the land produced plants. Each kind of plant had its own kind of seeds. And the land produced trees that grew fruit with seeds in it. Each kind of tree had its own kind of seeds. God saw that it was good. 13 There was evening, and there was morning. It was day three.
14 God said, “Let there be lights in the huge space of the sky. Let them separate the day from the night. Let the lights set the times for the holy celebrations and the days and the years. 15 Let them be lights in the huge space of the sky to give light on the earth.” And that’s exactly what happened. 16 God made two great lights. He made the larger light to rule over the day and the smaller light to rule over the night. He also made the stars. 17 God put the lights in the huge space of the sky to give light on the earth. 18 He put them there to rule over the day and the night. He put them there to separate light from darkness. God saw that it was good. 19 There was evening, and there was morning. It was day four.
20 God said, “Let the seas be filled with living things. Let birds fly above the earth across the huge space of the sky.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures. He created every kind of living thing that fills the seas and moves about in them. He created every kind of bird that flies. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them. He said, “Have little ones so that there will be many of you. Fill the water in the seas. Let there be more and more birds on the earth.” 23 There was evening, and there was morning. It was day five.
24 God said, “Let the land produce every kind of living creature. Let there be livestock, and creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals.” And that’s exactly what happened. 25 God made every kind of wild animal. He made every kind of livestock. He made every kind of creature that moves along the ground. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings so that they are like us. Let them rule over the fish in the seas and the birds in the sky. Let them rule over the livestock and all the wild animals. And let them rule over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created human beings in his own likeness.
He created them to be like himself.
He created them as male and female.
28 God blessed them. He said to them, “Have children so that there will be many of you. Fill the earth and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the seas and the birds in the sky. Rule over every living creature that moves along the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I am giving you every plant on the face of the whole earth that produces its own seeds. I am giving you every tree that has fruit with seeds in it. All of them will be given to you for food. 30 I am giving every green plant as food for all the land animals and for all the birds in the sky. I am also giving the plants to all the creatures that move along the ground. I am giving them to every living thing that breathes.” And that’s exactly what happened.
31 God saw everything he had made. And it was very good. There was evening, and there was morning. It was day six.
2 So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed.
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing. So on that day he rested from all his work. 3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. He blessed it because on that day he rested from all the work he had done.
Adam and Eve
4 Here is the story of the heavens and the earth when they were created. The Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
5 At that time, bushes had not yet appeared on the earth. Plants had not started to grow. The Lord God had not sent rain on the earth. And there was no one to farm the land. 6 But streams came from the earth. They watered the entire surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man. He made him out of the dust of the ground. God breathed the breath of life into him. And the man became a living person.
8 The Lord God had planted a garden in the east in Eden. He put in the garden the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made every kind of tree grow out of the ground. The trees were pleasing to look at. Their fruit was good to eat. There were two trees in the middle of the garden. One of them had fruit that let people live forever. The other had fruit that let people tell the difference between good and evil.
10 A river watered the garden. It flowed out of Eden. From there the river separated into four other rivers. 11 The name of the first river is the Pishon. It winds through the whole land of Havilah. Gold is found there. 12 The gold of that land is good. Onyx and sweet-smelling resin are also found there. 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It winds through the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris. It runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is called the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden. He put him there to farm its land and take care of it. 16 The Lord God gave the man a command. He said, “You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden. 17 But you must not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you do, you will certainly die.”
18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”
19 The Lord God had formed all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He had made all of them out of the ground. He brought them to the man to see what names he would give them. And the name the man gave each living creature became its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, all the birds in the sky, and all the wild animals.
But Adam didn’t find a helper that was just right for him. 21 So the Lord God caused him to fall into a deep sleep. While the man was sleeping, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs. Then the Lord God closed the opening in the man’s side. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman. He made her from the rib he had taken out of the man. And the Lord God brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
“Her bones have come from my bones.
Her body has come from my body.
She will be named ‘woman,’
because she was taken out of a man.”
24 That’s why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife. The two of them become one.
25 Adam and his wife were both naked. They didn’t feel any shame.
Adam and Eve Fall Into Sin
3 The serpent was more clever than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. The serpent said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat fruit 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 the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden. Do not even touch it. If you do, you will die.’ ”
4 “You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “God knows that when you eat fruit from that tree, you will know things you have never known before. Like God, you will be able to tell the difference between good and evil.”
6 The woman saw that the tree’s fruit was good to eat and pleasing to look at. She also saw that it would make a person wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. And he ate it. 7 Then both of them knew things they had never known before. They realized they were naked. So they sewed together fig leaves and made clothes for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking in the garden. It was during the coolest time of the day. They hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called out to the man. “Where are you?” he asked.
10 “I heard you in the garden,” the man answered. “I was afraid, because I was naked. So I hid.”
11 The Lord God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten fruit from the tree I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “It’s the fault of 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 have you done?”
The woman said, “The serpent tricked me. That’s why I ate the fruit.”
14 So the Lord God spoke to the serpent. He said, “Because you have done this,
“You are set apart from all livestock
and all wild animals.
I am putting a curse on you.
You will crawl on your belly.
You will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 I will make you and the woman hate each other.
Your children and her children will be enemies.
Her son will crush your head.
And you will bite his heel.”
16 The Lord God said to the woman,
“I will increase your pain when you give birth.
You will be in great pain when you have children.
You will long for your husband.
And he will rule over you.”
17 The Lord God said to Adam, “You listened to your wife’s suggestion. You ate fruit from the tree I warned you about. I said, ‘You must not eat its fruit.’
“So I am putting a curse on the ground because of what you did.
All the days of your life you will have to work hard.
It will be painful for you to get food from the ground. 18 You will eat plants from the field,
even though the ground produces thorns and prickly weeds.
19 You will have to work hard and sweat a lot
to produce the food you eat.
You were made out of the ground.
You will return to it when you die.
You are dust,
and you will return to dust.”
20 Adam named his wife Eve. She would become the mother of every living person.
21 The Lord God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife to wear. 22 The Lord God said, “Just like one of us, the man can now tell the difference between good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out and pick fruit from the tree of life and eat it. If he does, he will live forever.” 23 So the Lord God drove the man out of the Garden of Eden. He sent the man to farm the ground he had been made from. 24 The Lord God drove him out and then placed angels on the east side of the garden. He also placed there a flaming sword that flashed back and forth. The angels and the sword guarded the way to the tree of life.
Cain and Abel
4 Adam loved his wife Eve and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the Lord’s help I have had a baby boy.” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.
Abel took care of sheep. Cain farmed the land. 3 After some time, Cain gathered some things he had grown. He brought them as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering. He brought the fattest parts of some animals from his flock. They were the first animals born to their mothers. The Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering. 5 But he wasn’t pleased with Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his face was sad.
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why are you looking so sad? 7 Do what is right and then you will be accepted. If you don’t do what is right, sin is waiting at your door to grab you. It desires to control you. But you must rule over it.”
8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” So they went out. There Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
“I don’t know,” Cain replied. “Am I supposed to take care of my brother?”
10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground. 11 So I am putting a curse on you. I am driving you away from this ground. It has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you farm the land, it will not produce its crops for you anymore. You will be a restless person who wanders around on the earth.”
13 Cain said to the Lord, “You are punishing me more than I can take. 14 Today you are driving me away from the land. I will be hidden from you. I’ll be a restless person who wanders around on the earth. Anyone who finds me will kill me.”
15 But the Lord said to him, “No. Anyone who kills you will be paid back seven times.” The Lord put a mark on Cain. Then anyone who found him wouldn’t kill him. 16 So Cain went away from the Lord. He lived in the land of Nod. It was east of Eden.
17 Cain loved his wife and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. At that time Cain was building a city. He named it after his son Enoch. 18 Enoch had a son named Irad. Irad was the father of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael. And Methushael was the father of Lamech.
19 Lamech married two women. One was named Adah, and the other was named Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal. He was the father of people who live in tents and raise livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of everyone who plays stringed instruments and wind instruments. 22 Zillah also had a son. His name was Tubal-Cain. He made all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.
23 Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah, listen to me!
You wives of Lamech, hear my words!
I have killed a man because he wounded me.
I have killed a young man because he hurt me.
24 Anyone who would have killed Cain would have been paid back seven times.
But anyone who hurts me will be paid back 77 times.”
25 Adam slept with his wife again. She gave birth to a son and named him Seth. She said, “God has given me another child. He will take the place of Abel, because Cain killed him.” 26 Seth also had a son and named him Enosh.
Then people began to call on the name of the Lord.
The Family Line of Adam
5 Here is the written story of Adam’s family line.
When God created human beings, he made them to be like him. 2 He created them as male and female, and he blessed them. He called them “human beings” when they were created.
3 When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son who was like him. He named him Seth. 4 Adam lived 800 years after Seth was born. He also had other sons and daughters. 5 Adam lived a total of 930 years. And then he died.
6 Seth lived 105 years. Then he became the father of Enosh. 7 Seth lived 807 years after Enosh was born. He also had other sons and daughters. 8 Seth lived a total of 912 years. And then he died.
9 Enosh lived 90 years. Then he became the father of Kenan. 10 Enosh lived 815 years after Kenan was born. He also had other sons and daughters. 11 Enosh lived a total of 905 years. And then he died.
12 Kenan lived 70 years. Then he became the father of Mahalalel. 13 Kenan lived 840 years after Mahalalel was born. He also had other sons and daughters. 14 Kenan lived a total of 910 years. And then he died.
15 Mahalalel lived 65 years. Then he became the father of Jared. 16 Mahalalel lived 830 years after Jared was born. He also had other sons and daughters. 17 Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years. And then he died.
18 Jared lived 162 years. Then he became the father of Enoch. 19 Jared lived 800 years after Enoch was born. He also had other sons and daughters. 20 Jared lived a total of 962 years. And then he died.
21 Enoch lived 65 years. Then he became the father of Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years after Methuselah was born. He also had other sons and daughters. 23 Enoch lived a total of 365 years. 24 Enoch walked faithfully with God. And then he couldn’t be found, because God took him from this life.
25 Methuselah lived 187 years. Then he became the father of Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived 782 years after Lamech was born. He also had other sons and daughters. 27 Methuselah lived a total of 969 years. And then he died.
28 Lamech lived 182 years. Then he had a son 29 and named him Noah. Lamech said, “He will comfort us when we are working. He’ll comfort us when our hands work so hard they hurt. We have to work hard because the Lord put a curse on the ground.” 30 Lamech lived 595 years after Noah was born. He also had other sons and daughters. 31 Lamech lived a total of 777 years. And then he died.
32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.
The Sins of Everyone on Earth
6 There began to be many human beings on the earth. And daughters were born to them. 2 The sons of God saw that the daughters of human beings were beautiful. So they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not struggle with human beings forever. They will have only 120 years to live.”
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days. That was when the sons of God went to the daughters of human beings. Children were born to them. The Nephilim were famous heroes who lived long ago. Nephilim were also on the earth later on.
5 The Lord saw how bad the sins of everyone on earth had become. They only thought about evil things. 6 The Lord was very sad that he had made human beings on the earth. His heart was filled with pain. 7 So the Lord said, “I created human beings, but I will wipe them out. I will also destroy the animals, the birds in the sky, and the creatures that move along the ground. I am very sad that I have made human beings.” 8 But the Lord was very pleased with Noah.
Noah and the Flood
9 Here is the story of Noah’s family line.
Noah was a godly man. He was without blame among the people of his time. He walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons. Their names were Shem, Ham and Japheth.
11 The earth was very sinful in God’s eyes. It was full of people who did mean and harmful things. 12 God saw how sinful the earth had become. All its people were living very sinful lives. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to everyone. They have filled the earth with their harmful acts. I am certainly going to destroy them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark out of cypress wood. Make rooms in it. Cover it with tar inside and out. 15 Here is how I want you to build it. The ark has to be 450 feet long. It has to be 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. 16 Make a roof for it. Leave below the roof an opening all the way around that is a foot and a half high. Put a door in one side of the ark. Make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring a flood on the earth. It will destroy all life under the sky. It will destroy every living creature that breathes. Everything on earth will die. 18 But I will make my covenant with you. You will go into the ark. Your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives will enter it with you. 19 Bring a male and a female of every living thing into the ark. They will be kept alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird will come to you. Two of every kind of animal will also come to you. And so will two of every kind of creature that moves along the ground. All of them will be kept alive with you. 21 Take every kind of food that you will need. Store it away as food for you and them.”
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark with your whole family. I know that you are a godly man among the people of today. 2 Take seven pairs of every kind of ‘clean’ animal with you. Take a male and a female of each kind. Take one pair of every kind of animal that is not ‘clean.’ Take a male and a female of each kind. 3 Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird. Take a male and a female of each kind. Then every kind will be kept alive. They can spread out again over the whole earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth. It will rain for 40 days and 40 nights. I will destroy from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”
5 Noah did everything the Lord commanded him to do.
6 Noah was 600 years old when the flood came on the earth. 7 He and his sons entered the ark. His wife and his sons’ wives went with them. They entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Male and female pairs of “clean” animals and pairs of animals that were not “clean” came to Noah. So did male and female pairs of birds and of all the creatures that move along the ground. 9 All of them came to Noah and entered the ark. Everything happened just as God had commanded Noah. 10 After seven days the flood came on the earth.
11 Noah was 600 years old. It was the 17th day of the second month of the year. On that day all of the springs at the bottom of the oceans burst open. God opened the windows of the sky. 12 Rain fell on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.
13 On that same day Noah entered the ark together with his sons Shem, Ham and Japheth. Noah’s wife and the wives of his three sons also entered it. 14 They had every kind of wild animal with them. They had every kind of livestock, creature that moves along the ground, and bird that flies. 15 Pairs of all living creatures that breathe came to Noah and entered the ark. 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing. Everything happened just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.
17 For 40 days the flood kept coming on the earth. As the waters rose higher, they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose higher and higher on the earth. And the ark floated on the water. 19 The waters rose on the earth until all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered. 20 The waters continued to rise until they covered the mountains by more than 20 feet. 21 Every living thing that moved on land died. The birds, the livestock and the wild animals died. All of the creatures that fill the earth also died. And so did every human being. 22 Every breathing thing on dry land died. 23 Every living thing on earth was wiped out. People and animals were destroyed. The creatures that move along the ground and the birds in the sky were wiped out. Everything on earth was destroyed. Only Noah and those with him in the ark were left.
24 The waters flooded the earth for 150 days.
8 But God showed concern for Noah. He also showed concern for all the wild animals and livestock that were with Noah in the ark. So God sent a wind to sweep over the earth. And the waters began to go down. 2 The springs at the bottom of the oceans had been closed. The windows of the sky had also been closed. And the rain had stopped falling from the sky. 3 The water on the earth continued to go down. At the end of the 150 days the water had gone down. 4 On the 17th day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters continued to go down until the tenth month. On the first day of that month, the tops of the mountains could be seen.
6 After 40 days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark. 7 He sent out a raven. It kept flying back and forth until the water on the earth had dried up. 8 Then Noah sent out a dove. He wanted to see if the water on the surface of the ground had gone down. 9 But the dove couldn’t find any place to rest. Water still covered the whole surface of the earth. So the dove returned to Noah in the ark. Noah reached out his hand and took the dove in. He brought it back to himself in the ark. 10 He waited seven more days. Then he sent out the dove again from the ark. 11 In the evening the dove returned to him. There in its beak was a freshly picked olive leaf! So Noah knew that the water on the earth had gone down. 12 He waited seven more days. Then he sent out the dove again. But this time it didn’t return to him.
13 It was the first day of the first month of Noah’s 601st year. The water on the earth had dried up. Then Noah removed the covering from the ark. He saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14 By the 27th day of the second month the earth was completely dry.
15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Come out of the ark. Bring your wife and your sons and their wives with you. 17 Bring out every kind of living thing that is with you. Bring the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground. Then they can multiply on the earth. They can have little ones and the number of them can increase.”
18 So Noah came out of the ark. His sons and his wife and his sons’ wives were with him. 19 All the animals came out of the ark. The creatures that move along the ground also came out. So did all the birds. Everything that moves on land came out of the ark, one kind after another.
20 Then Noah built an altar to honor the Lord. He took some of the “clean” animals and birds. He sacrificed them on the altar as burnt offerings. 21 The smell of the offerings pleased the Lord. He said to himself, “I will never put a curse on the ground again because of human beings. I will not do it even though their hearts are always directed toward evil. Their thoughts are evil from the time they are young. I will never destroy all living things again, as I have just done.
22 “As long as the earth lasts,
there will always be a time to plant
and a time to gather the crops.
As long as the earth lasts,
there will always be cold and heat.
There will always be summer and winter,
day and night.”
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