Genesis 1-5

New American Standard Bible

The Creation

1 ^(A)In the beginning ^(B)God ^(C)created the heavens and the earth. ² And the earth was a ^(D)[a]formless and desolate emptiness, and ^(E)darkness was over the ^[b]surface of the deep, and ^(F)the Spirit of God ^(G)was hovering over the ^[c]surface of the waters. ³ Then ^(H)God said, “^[d]Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was ^(I)good; and God ^(J)separated the light from the darkness. ^5 (K)God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And ^(L)there was evening and there was morning, one day.

⁶ Then God said, “Let there be ^[e]an ^(M)expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷ God made the ^[f]expanse, and separated ^(N)the waters that were below the ^[g]expanse from the waters ^(O)that were above the ^[h]expanse; and it was so. ⁸ God called the ^[i]expanse “heaven.” And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

⁹ Then God said, “^(P)Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let ^(Q)the dry land appear”; and it was so. ¹⁰ And God called the dry land “earth,” and the ^(R)gathering of the waters He called “seas”; and God saw that it was good. ¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth sprout ^[j](S)vegetation, ^[k]plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit according to ^[l]their kind ^[m]with seed in them”; and it was so. ¹² The earth produced ^[n]vegetation, ^[o]plants yielding seed according to ^[p]their kind, and trees bearing fruit ^[q]with seed in them, according to ^[r]their kind; and God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

¹⁴ Then God said, “Let there be ^[s](T)lights in the ^[t](U)expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and they shall ^[u]serve as ^(V)signs and for ^(W)seasons, and for days and years; ¹⁵ and they ^[v]shall serve as lights in the ^[w]expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. ¹⁶ God made the two great lights, the ^(X)greater light ^[x]to govern the day, and the lesser light ^[y]to govern the night; He made ^(Y)the stars also. ^17 (Z)God placed them in the ^[z]expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ and ^[aa]to ^(AA)govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

²⁰ Then God said, “Let the waters ^[ab]teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth ^[ac]in the open ^[ad]expanse of the heavens.” ²¹ And God created ^(AB)the great sea creatures and every living creature 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 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

^24 (AC)Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to ^[ae]their kind: livestock and crawling things and animals of the earth according to ^[af]their kind”; and it was so. ²⁵ God made the ^(AD)animals of the earth according to ^[ag]their kind, and the livestock according to ^[ah]their kind, and everything that crawls on the ground according to its kind; and God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, “^[ai]Let ^(AE)Us make ^(AF)mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and ^[aj]let them ^(AG)rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man ^(AH)in His own image, in the image of God He created him; ^(AI)male and female He created them. ²⁸ God blessed them; and God said to them, “^(AJ)Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that ^[ak]moves on the earth.” ²⁹ Then God said, “Behold, ^(AK)I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the ^[al]surface of all the earth, and every tree ^[am]which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; ³⁰ and ^(AL)to every animal of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that ^[an]moves on the earth ^[ao]which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. ³¹ And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very ^(AM)good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

2 And so the heavens and the earth were completed, and all ^(AN)their heavenly ^[ap]lights. ² By ^(AO)the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and ^(AP)He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created ^[aq]and made.

The Creation of Man and Woman

^4 [ar](AQ)This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in ^(AR)the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven. ^5 (AS)Now no shrub of the field was yet on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, ^(AT)for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to ^[as]cultivate the ground. ⁶ But a ^[at]mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole ^[au]surface of the ground. ⁷ Then the Lord God formed the man of ^(AU)dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the ^(AV)man became a living ^[av]person. ⁸ The Lord God planted a ^(AW)garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. ⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God caused ^(AX)every tree to grow that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; ^(AY)the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰ Now a ^(AZ)river ^[aw]flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four ^[ax]rivers. ¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon; it ^[ay]flows around the whole land of ^(BA)Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there as well. ¹³ The name of the second river is Gihon; it ^[az]flows around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is ^[ba](BB)Tigris; it ^[bb]flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the ^[bc](BC)Euphrates.

¹⁵ Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and tend it. ¹⁶ The Lord God ^(BD)commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not ^[bd]eat, for on the day that you eat from it ^(BE)you will certainly die.”

¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; ^(BF)I will make him a helper ^[be]suitable for him.” ^19 (BG)And out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the sky, and ^(BH)brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ The man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field, but for ^[bf]Adam there was not found ^(BI)a helper ^[bg]suitable for him. ²¹ So the Lord God caused a ^(BJ)deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. ²² And the Lord God ^[bh]fashioned into a woman ^(BK)the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. ²³ Then the man said,

^24 (BM)For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. ^25 (BN)And the man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed.

The Fall of Mankind

3 Now ^(BO)the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” ² The woman said to the serpent, “^(BP)From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; ³ but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” ^4 (BQ)The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! ⁵ For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and ^(BR)you will ^[bm]become like God, knowing good and evil.” ^6 (BS)When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they ^(BT)knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings.

⁸ Now they heard the sound of ^(BU)the Lord God walking in the garden in the ^[bn]cool of the day, ^(BV)and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “^(BW)Where are you?” ¹⁰ He said, “^(BX)I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I 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 from which I commanded you not to eat?” ^12 (BY)The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me some of the fruit of the tree, and I ate.” ¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” And the woman said, “^(BZ)The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” ¹⁴ Then the Lord God said to the serpent,

¹⁶ To the woman He said,

¹⁷ Then 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 from it’;

²⁰ Now the man named his wife ^[bv](CK)Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. ²¹ And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

²² Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of ^(CL)Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out with his hand, and take fruit also from ^(CM)the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— ²³ therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ So ^(CN)He drove the man out; and at the ^(CO)east of the Garden of Eden He stationed the ^(CP)cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to ^(CQ)the tree of life.

Cain and Abel

4 Now the man ^[bw]had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have obtained a male child with the help of the Lord.” ² And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now ^(CR)Abel was ^(CS)a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a cultivator of the ground. ³ So it came about ^[bx]in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the ground. ^4 (CT)Abel, on his part also brought an offering, from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat portions. And ^(CU)the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering; ⁵ but ^(CV)for Cain and his offering He had no regard. So ^(CW)Cain became very angry and his face ^[by]was gloomy. ⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “^(CX)Why are you angry? And why is your face ^[bz]gloomy? ^7 (CY)If you do well, ^[ca]will your face not be ^[cb]cheerful? ^(CZ)And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; and its desire is for you, ^(DA)but you must master it.” ⁸ Cain ^[cc]talked to his brother Abel; and it happened that when they were in the field Cain rose up against his brother Abel and ^(DB)killed him.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “^(DC)Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰ Then He said, “What have you done? ^(DD)The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground. ¹¹ Now ^(DE)you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ^12 (DF)When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; ^(DG)you will be a wanderer and a drifter on the earth.” ¹³ Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to endure! ¹⁴ Behold, You have ^(DH)driven me this day from the face of the ground; and I will be hidden from Your face, and ^(DI)I will be a wanderer and a drifter on the earth, and ^(DJ)whoever finds me will kill me.” ¹⁵ So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him ^(DK)seven times as much.” And the Lord ^[cd](DL)placed a mark on Cain, so that no one finding him would kill him.

¹⁶ Then Cain left the presence ^(DM)of the Lord, and ^[ce]settled in the land of ^[cf]Nod, east of Eden.

¹⁷ Cain ^[cg]had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and Cain built a city, and named the city Enoch, after the name of his son. ¹⁸ Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. ¹⁹ Lamech took ^(DN)two wives for himself: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. ²⁰ Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and have livestock. ²¹ His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and flute. ²² As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

²³ Lamech said to his wives,

^25 (DQ)Adam ^[ch]had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him ^[ci]Seth, for, she said, “God ^[cj]has appointed me another ^[ck]child in place of Abel, ^(DR)because Cain killed him.” ²⁶ To Seth also ^(DS)a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then people began ^(DT)to call ^[cl]upon the name of the Lord.

Descendants of Adam

5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. On the day when God created man, He made him ^(DU)in the likeness of God. ² He created them ^(DV)male and female, and He ^(DW)blessed them and named them “mankind” on the day when they were created.

³ When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. ⁴ Then the days of Adam after he fathered Seth were eight hundred years, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ⁵ So all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.

⁶ Now Seth lived 105 years, and fathered Enosh. ⁷ Then Seth lived 807 years after he fathered Enosh, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ⁸ So all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.

⁹ Now Enosh lived ninety years, and fathered Kenan. ¹⁰ Then Enosh lived 815 years after he fathered Kenan, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹¹ So all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died.

¹² Now Kenan lived seventy years, and fathered Mahalalel. ¹³ Then Kenan lived 840 years after he fathered Mahalalel, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁴ So all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died.

¹⁵ Now Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and fathered Jared. ¹⁶ Then Mahalalel lived 830 years after he fathered Jared, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁷ So all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died.

¹⁸ Now Jared lived 162 years, and fathered Enoch. ¹⁹ Then Jared lived eight hundred years after he fathered Enoch, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁰ So all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died.

²¹ Now Enoch lived sixty-five years, and fathered Methuselah. ²² Then Enoch ^(DX)walked with God three hundred years after he fathered Methuselah, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²³ So all the days of Enoch were 365 years. ^24 (DY)Enoch walked with God; and he was ^[cm]not, for God ^(DZ)took him.

²⁵ Now Methuselah lived 187 years, and fathered Lamech. ²⁶ Then Methuselah lived 782 years after he fathered Lamech, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁷ So all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.

²⁸ Now Lamech lived 182 years, and fathered a son. ²⁹ And he named him Noah, saying, “This one will give us comfort from our work and from the hard labor of our hands caused by ^(EA)the ground which the Lord has cursed.” ³⁰ Then Lamech lived 595 years after he fathered Noah, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ³¹ So all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died.

³² Now after Noah was ^(EB)five hundred years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.