Genesis 1-8

Modern English Version

The Creation

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was formless and void,^[a] darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving^[b] over the surface of the water.

³ God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

⁶ Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷ So God made the expanse and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse. And it was so. ⁸ God called the expanse Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

⁹ Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. Then God saw that it was good.

¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation:^[c] plants yielding seed and fruit trees on the earth yielding fruit after their kind with seed in them.” And it was so. ¹² The earth produced vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind and trees yielding fruit with seed in them after their kind. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ So the evening and the morning were the third day.

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons, and days, and years. ¹⁵ Let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. ¹⁷ Then God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. Then God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

²⁰ Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures and let the birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” ²¹ So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

²⁴ Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. ²⁵ So God made the beasts of the earth according to their kind, and the livestock according to their kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

²⁹ Then God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is on the face of all the earth and every tree which has fruit yielding seed. It shall be food for you. ³⁰ To every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the earth which has the breath of life in it, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

³¹ God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

2 So the heavens and the earth, and all their hosts, were finished.

² On the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He had rested from all His work which He had created and made.

Adam and Eve

⁴ This is the account^[d] of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, ⁵ no shrub of the field was yet 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. ⁶ But a mist^[e] arose from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. ⁷ Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.

⁸ The Lord God planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and there He placed the man whom He had formed. ⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, along with the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰ A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four rivers. ¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon; it encompasses the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² The gold of that land is good; bdellium and the onyx stone are there. ¹³ The name of the second river is Gihon; it encompasses the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is Tigris; it goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and to keep it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

¹⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam^[f] there was not found a helper suitable for him.

²¹ So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept. Then He took one of his ribs and closed up the place with flesh. ²² Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

²³ Then Adam said,

²⁴ Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

²⁵ They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

The Fall

3 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?”

² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the garden; ³ but from the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You will not eat of it, nor will you touch it, or else you will die.’ ”

⁴ Then the serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! ⁵ For God knows that on the day 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 tree was good for food, that it was pleasing to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

⁸ Then they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ The Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ He said, “I heard Your voice in the garden and was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.”

¹¹ And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

¹² The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What have you done?”

And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ The Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this,

¹⁶ To the woman He said,

¹⁷ And to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’

²⁰ The man called his wife’s name Eve because she was the mother of all the living.

²¹ The Lord God made garments of skins for both Adam and his wife and clothed them. ²² The Lord God said, “The man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. And now, he might reach out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— ²³ therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ He drove the man out, and at the east of the garden of Eden He placed the cherubim and a flaming sword which turned in every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Cain and Abel

4 Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived, gave birth to Cain and said, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” ² Then she gave birth again to his brother Abel.

And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ³ In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. ⁴ Abel also brought the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had respect for Abel and for his offering, ⁵ but for Cain and for his offering, He did not have respect. And Cain was very angry and his countenance fell.

⁶ The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your countenance fallen? ⁷ If you do well, shall you not be accepted?^[g] But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must rule over it.”

⁸ Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

⁹ The Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”

He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰ And then He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground. ¹¹ Now you are cursed from the ground which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹² From now on when you till the ground, it will not yield for you its best. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

¹³ Then Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. ¹⁴ You have driven me out this day from the face of the earth, and from your face will I be hidden; and I will be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵ So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” Then the Lord put a mark upon Cain, so that no one finding him would kill him. ¹⁶ Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

¹⁷ Cain had relations with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. He built a city and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. ¹⁸ To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.

¹⁹ Lamech took two wives. The name of one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. ²⁰ Adah gave birth to Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. ²¹ His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute. ²² Zillah gave birth to Tubal-Cain, a forger of every tool of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

²³ Lamech said to his wives:

²⁵ Adam had relations with his wife again, and she had another son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has granted me another offspring instead of Abel because Cain killed him.” ²⁶ To Seth also was born a son, and he called his name Enosh.

At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord.

Adam’s Descendants

5 This is the book of the generations of Adam.

In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. ² He created them male and female. He blessed them and called them Mankind in the day when they were created.

³ Adam lived a hundred and thirty years and became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his own image, and called his name Seth. ⁴ The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters. ⁵ So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.

⁶ Seth lived one hundred and five years and became the father of Enosh. ⁷ Seth lived after the birth of Enosh eight hundred and seven years and had other sons and daughters. ⁸ So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.

⁹ Enosh lived ninety years and became the father of Kenan. ¹⁰ Enosh lived after the birth of Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years and had other sons and daughters. ¹¹ So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, and he died.

¹² Kenan lived seventy years and became the father of Mahalalel. ¹³ Kenan lived after the birth of Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁴ So all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.

¹⁵ Mahalalel lived sixty-five years and became the father of Jared. ¹⁶ Mahalalel lived after the birth of Jared eight hundred and thirty years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁷ So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.

¹⁸ Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years and became the father of Enoch. ¹⁹ Jared lived after the birth of Enoch eight hundred years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁰ So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died.

²¹ Enoch lived sixty-five years and became the father of Methuselah. ²² Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah for three hundred years and had other sons and daughters. ²³ So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God, and then he was no more because God took him.

²⁵ Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years and became the father of Lamech. ²⁶ Methuselah lived after the birth of Lamech seven hundred and eighty-two years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁷ So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died.

²⁸ Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years and had a son. ²⁹ He named his son Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.” ³⁰ Lamech lived after the birth of Noah five hundred and ninety-five years and had other sons and daughters. ³¹ So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died.

³² Noah was five hundred years old and became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Man’s Wickedness

6 When men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair and took as wives any they chose. ³ The Lord said, “My Spirit will not always strive with man, for he is flesh; yet his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

⁵ The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was continually only evil. ⁶ The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him in His heart. ⁷ So the Lord said, “I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—both man and beast, and the creeping things, and the birds of the sky, for I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸ But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah and the Flood

⁹ These are the generations of Noah.

Noah was a just man and blameless among his contemporaries. Noah walked with God. ¹⁰ Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹ The earth was corrupt before God and filled with violence. ¹² God looked on the earth and saw it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. ¹³ So God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh is come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I will destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴ Make an ark of cypress wood for yourself. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. ¹⁵ And this is how you must make it: The length of the ark will be three hundred cubits, the width of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.^{[h] 16} Make an opening^[i] one cubit^[j] below the top of the ark all around; and you must set the door of the ark on the side. Make it with a lower, a second, and a third story. ¹⁷ I will bring a flood of waters on the earth to destroy all flesh, wherever there is the breath of life under heaven, and everything that is on the earth will die. ¹⁸ But I will establish My covenant with you; you must go into the ark—you, and your sons, and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹ Bring every living thing of all flesh, two of every kind, into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. ²⁰ Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal, and of every kind of creeping thing of the earth will come to you to be kept alive. ²¹ Also, take with you of every kind of food that is eaten and gather it to yourself, and it will be for food for you and for them.”

²² Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

7 The Lord said to Noah, “You and your entire household go into the ark, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me among this generation. ² Take with you seven each of every clean animal, the male and its female, and two each of every unclean animal, the male and its female, ³ and seven each of birds of the air, the male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴ In seven days I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will destroy from the face of the earth.”

⁵ And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him.

⁶ Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came upon the earth. ⁷ And Noah went with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives into the ark because of the floodwaters. ⁸ Everything that creeps on the land from clean and unclean animals and birds ⁹ came in two by two, male and female, to Noah into the ark, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰ After seven days, the waters of the flood were on the earth.

¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the same day, all the fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. ¹² The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.

¹³ On the very same day Noah and the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark. ¹⁴ They and every wild animal according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, every bird of every sort, ¹⁵ went with Noah into the ark, two by two of all flesh in which was the breath of life. ¹⁶ So they went in, male and female of all flesh, just as God had commanded him; then the Lord shut him in.

¹⁷ The flood was on the earth forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose up above the earth. ¹⁸ The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. ¹⁹ The water prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered. ²⁰ The waters prevailed upward and the mountains were covered fifteen cubits deep.^{[k] 21} All flesh that moved on the earth died: birds and livestock and beasts, and every creeping thing that crept on the earth, and every man. ²² All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, all that was on the dry land, died. ²³ So He blotted out every living thing which was on the face of the ground, both man and animals and the creeping things and the birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth, and only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.

²⁴ The waters prevailed on the earth for one hundred and fifty days.

The Flood Recedes

8 God remembered Noah and every living thing and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. So God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the water receded. ² Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed, and the rain from the heavens was restrained. ³ The water receded steadily from the earth, and after the end of one hundred and fifty days the waters decreased. ⁴ The ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. ⁵ The water continually decreased until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

⁶ Then at the end of forty days, Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made, ⁷ and he sent forth a raven, which went to and fro until the waters were dried up on the earth. ⁸ Then he sent out a dove to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. ⁹ But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the waters were on the surface of all the earth. Then he put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself. ¹⁰ He waited yet another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark. ¹¹ The dove came to him in the evening, and in her mouth there was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. ¹² He waited another seven days and sent out the dove again, but it did not return to him again.

¹³ So in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and saw the surface of the ground was dry. ¹⁴ In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

¹⁵ Then God spoke to Noah, saying, ¹⁶ “Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁷ Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may breed abundantly on the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

¹⁸ So Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives went out. ¹⁹ Every beast, every creeping thing, every bird, and everything that moves on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark.

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹ The Lord smelled a soothing aroma; and the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth, nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.