l- ro

Tn. N.-

Frrt ltrh

B;bln

GE N E S IS

I,2

The creation of the world

GEN ESIS
The creation of the world
T HE B E GIN N IN G OF C R EA T ION, w hen God made I TN I heavenand earth,d the earth was without form and void, with darkness 2 I over the face of the abyss, and a mighty wind that sweptb over the surface of the waters. God said,'Let there be light', and thele was light; J and God saw that the light was good, and he sepaiatedlight from darkness. 4 He called the light day, and the darkness night. So e-veningcame, and 5 morning came, the first day. God said, 'Let there be a vault between the waters, to separatewarer 6 from water.' so God made the vault, and separatedthe water under the 7 vault from the water above it, and so it wai; and God called the vault 8 heaven. F,veningcame, and morning came, a secondday. God said, 'Let the waters under heaven be gathered into one place, so 9 that dry land may appear'; and so it was. God called the dry land earth, IO and the gathering of the waters he called seas; and God saw that it wai good. Then God said, 'Let the earth produce fresh growth, let there be II on the.earth plants bearing seed, fruit-trees bearing iruit each with seed according to its kind.'So it was; the earth yielded fresh growth, plants I2 bearing seedaccording ro their kind and trees bearing fruitiach *iti s"ea according to its kind; and God saw that it was good. Evening came, and r 3 morning came, a third day. God said, 'Let there be lights in the vault of heavento separare day from r 4 night, and let them serve as signs both for festivals and ior seasons and years. Let them also shine in the vault of heavento give light on earrh.' So r 5 it was; God made the two great lights, the greaterio govlrn the day and r 6 the lesserto govem the night; and with them he made"thestars. God put r 7 these lights in the vault ofheaven to give light on earrh, to govern day and r 8 night, and to separatelight from darkness;1nd God saw th-*at it was good. Evening came, and morning came) a fourth day. r9 God said, 'Let the waters teem with countliss living creatures,and let 20 birds fly abovethe earth across the vault ofheaven.'Goa tnen createdthe 2l great sea-monstersand all living creatures that move and swarm in the waters)according to their kind, and every kind of bird; and God saw that it was good. So he blessedthem and said, 'Be fruitful and increase.fill the 22 watersof the seas;and let the birds increase on land.'Evening came,and z5 morning came, a fifth day. God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures)according to their 24 kind: cattle, reptiles, and wild animals, all iccording to their t<iid.'So it was; God made wild animals, cattle, and all reptiles,each according to its 25
b Or and the spi ri t

z6 kind; and he saw that it was good. Then God said,'Let us make man in our image and likenessto rule the fish in the sea,the birds of heaven,the cattle, all wild animals on earth, and all reptiles that crawl upon the earth.' 27 So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created zs him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase,fill the earth and subdue it, rule over the fish in the sea,the birds of heaven,and every living thing that moves upon z9 the earth.' God also said, 'I give you all plants that bear seedeverywhere on earth, and every tree bearing fruit which yields seed: they shall be yours 3o for food. All greenplants I give for food to the wild animals,to all the birds of heaven, and to all reptiles on earth, every living creature.'So it was; 3r and God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Evening carne, and morning came, a sixth day. 2 Thus heaven and earth were completed with all their mighty throng. z On the sixth day God completed all the work he had been doing, and on 3 the seventh day he ceasedfrom all his work. God blessedthe seventh day and made it holy, becauseon that day he ceasedfrom all the work he had set himself to do. This is the story of the making of heaven and earth when they were a created.

The beginningsof history

e neit her 5 \ A /H E N TH E LOR DcO D M ADEEARTHAND HEAVEN, t her was V V shrub nor plant growing wild upon the earth, becausethe Lono God had sent no rain on the earthl nor was there any man to till the ground. 6 A flooda used to rise out of the earth and water all the surfaceof the ground. z Thcn the LoRD God formed a manD from rhe dust of the groundc and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Thus the man becamea living 8 creature. Then the Lono God planted a garden in Eden away to the east, g and there he put the man whom he had formed. The Lono God made treesspring from the ground, all treespleasantto look at and good for food; and in the middle of the garden he set rhe tree of life and the tree of the knowiedge of good and evil. ro There was a river flowing from Eden to water the garden, and when it r r left the garden it branched into four streams. The name of the first is Pishon; that is the river which encirclesall the land of Havilah, where the rz golddis. The golddof that land is good; bdelliume and cornelians are also 13 to be found there. The name of the second river is Gihon; this is the one 14 which encirclesall the land of Cush. The name of the third is Tigris; this is the river which runs east of Asshur. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 The Lono God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till 16 it and care for it. He told the man, 'You may eat from every tree in the r7 garden, but not from the tree of the knowledge ofgood and evil; for on the r8 day that you eat from it, you will certainly die.' Then the Lonn God said,
a Or mist. e Or gum resin. b Heb. ad,am
c Heb. adamah.

a ar ln the beginning God created heaven and earth. of God hovering.

d Or frankincense.

The beginnings of history

GE N E S IS

2, 3

GE N E S IS

3. 4

The beginnings of history

'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will provide a parrner for him., So God formed out of the ground all the wild animals and alr the birds of r 9 heaven.He brought them to the man to seevihat he would call them, and whatever the man called each living creature, thar was its name. Thus the man gave names to all cattle, to the birds of heaven, and to every wild animal; but for the man himself no partner had yet been found. And so 2I t!9 Loln God put the man inro a trance, and while he slept, he took one of his ribs and closed the flesh over rhe place. The Lonn God then built 22 up the rib, which he had taken out of the man, into a woman. He brought her to the man, and the man said: 23 'Now this, at lastbone from my bones, flesh from my flesh !this shall be called wornan.a for from man Dwas this taken.' That is why a man leaveshis father and mother and is united to his wife, and the two becomeone flesh. Now they were,both naked, the man and his wife, but they had no feeling of shame towards one another.

15

On your belly you shall crawl, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your brood and hers. They shall strike at your head, and you shall strike at their heel.' 'I will increaseyour labour and your groaning, and in labour you shall bear children. . You shall be eagerdfor your husband, and he shall be your master.'

16 To the woman he said:

rz And to the man he said: 'Becauseyou have listened to your wife and have eaten from the tree which I forbade vou. accursedshall be the ground on your account. \7ith labour you shall win your food from it all the days of your life. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, none but wild plants for you to eat. You shall gain your bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground; for from it you were taken. Dust you are, to dust you shall return.' The man called his wife Eve b because she was the mother of all who live. The Lono God made tunics of skins for Adam and his wife and clothed them. He said, 'The man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; what if he now reachesout his hand and takes fruit from the tree of life also, eatsit and lives for ever?' So the Lono God drove him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he had been taken. He cast him out, and to the east of the garden of Eden he stationed the cherubim and a sword whirling and flashing to guard the way to the tree of life.

z4

r8 THr s s npr NT wA S Mo R E c R A F rv th a n a n y w i l d creature that the Lonn 3 God had made. He said to the woman, 'Is it true that God has forbidden I9l to eat from any treein the garden?' The woman answeredthe serpenr, z '{e may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, except for the tree in the 3 middle of the garden; God has forbidden us either to .at o. to rouch the fruit of that; if we do, we shall die.' The serpenr said, 'of course you will 4 not die. God knows that as soon as you eat it, your eyeswill be opened and 5 you will be like godsc knowing both good and evil.' when the woman saw 6 that the fruit of the tree was good to ear, and that it was pleasing to the eye and.tempting to contemplate, she took some and ate it. she alio gave her husband some and he ate ir. Then the eyes of both of them were"opened 7 and they discovered that they were nakedl so they stitched fig-ieaves together and made themselvesloincloths. The man and his wife heard the sound of the Lonn God walking in the g garden at the rime of the evening breeze and hid from the Lon'n coa among the trees of the garden. But the Lono God called to the man and 9 said to himr'where are you?'He repliedr'I heard the sound as you were ro wgl\i1e in the garden, and I was afraid becauseI was naked, and i hid myself.' God answered,'IJ7hotold you that you were naked? Have you eaten r l from the tree which I forbade you?'The man said, 'The woman you gave 12 1nelor a companion, she gave me fruit from the tree and I ate ii.' T.hen r3 the Lonl God said to the woman, 'vhar is this that you have done?'The woman said,'The serpenttricked me, and I ate.' Then the Lono God said 14 to the serpent: 'Becauseyou have done this you are accursed more rhan all cattle and all wild creatures.
a f1eb. ishshah. b Heb. ish c Or God-

rg

20 zr zz z3 z4