Genesis 1-7

New King James Version

The History of Creation^(A)

1 In the ^(B)beginning ^(C)God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was ^(D)without form, and void; and darkness ^[a]was on the face of the deep. ^(E)And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

^3 (F)Then God said, ^(G)“Let there be ^(H)light”; and there was light. ⁴ And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light Day, and the ^(I)darkness He called Night. ^[b]So the evening and the morning were the first day.

⁶ Then God said, ^(J)“Let there be a ^[c]firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” ⁷ Thus God made the firmament, ^(K)and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were ^(L)above the firmament; and it was so. ⁸ And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

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

¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth ^(O)bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the ^(P)fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. ¹² And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ So the evening and the morning were the third day.

¹⁴ Then God said, “Let there be ^(Q)lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and ^(R)seasons, and for days and years; ¹⁵ and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. ¹⁶ Then God made two great ^[d]lights: the ^(S)greater light to rule the day, and the ^(T)lesser light to rule the night. He made ^(U)the stars also. ¹⁷ God set them in the firmament of the ^(V)heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ and to ^(W)rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

²⁰ Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living ^[e]creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the ^[f]firmament of the heavens.” ²¹ So ^(X)God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² And God blessed them, saying, ^(Y)“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let 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 the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. ²⁵ And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, ^(Z)“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; ^(AA)let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over ^[g]all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man ^(AB)in His own image; in the image of God He created him; ^(AC)male and female He created them. ²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ^(AD)“Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and ^(AE)subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that ^[h]moves on the earth.”

²⁹ And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; ^(AF)to you it shall be for food. ³⁰ Also, to ^(AG)every beast of the earth, to every ^(AH)bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is ^[i]life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. ³¹ Then ^(AI)God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

The Garden of Eden

2 Thus the heavens and the earth, and ^(AJ)all the host of them, were finished. ^2 (AK)And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. ³ Then God ^(AL)blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

^4 (AM)This is the ^[j]history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, ⁵ before any ^(AN)plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not ^(AO)caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man ^(AP)to till the ground; ⁶ but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.

⁷ And the Lord God formed man of the ^(AQ)dust of the ground, and ^(AR)breathed into his ^(AS)nostrils the breath of life; and ^(AT)man became a living being.

Life in God’s Garden

⁸ The Lord God planted ^(AU)a garden ^(AV)eastward in ^(AW)Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. ⁹ And out of the ground the Lord God made ^(AX)every tree grow that is pleasant 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 ^(AZ)evil.

¹⁰ Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. ¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts ^(BA)the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² And the gold of that land is good. ^(BB)Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. ¹³ The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is ^(BC)Hiddekel;^[k] it is the one which goes toward the east of ^[l]Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵ Then the Lord God took ^[m]the man and put him in the garden of Eden to ^[n]tend and 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 ^(BD)you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it ^(BE)you^[o] shall surely ^(BF)die.”

¹⁸ And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; ^(BG)I will make him a helper comparable to him.” ^19 (BH)Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and ^(BI)brought them to ^[p]Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.

²¹ And the Lord God caused a ^(BJ)deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. ²² Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He ^[q]made into a woman, ^(BK)and He ^(BL)brought her to the man.

²³ And Adam said:

^24 (BO)Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and ^(BP)be^[t] joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

^25 (BQ)And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ^(BR)ashamed.

The Temptation and Fall of Man^(BS)

3 Now ^(BT)the serpent was ^(BU)more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the ^(BV)fruit of the trees of the garden; ³ but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you ^(BW)touch it, lest you die.’ ”

^4 (BX)Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ So when the woman ^(BY)saw that the tree was good for food, that it was ^[u]pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit ^(BZ)and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, ^(CA)and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves ^[v]coverings.

⁸ And they heard ^(CB)the ^[w]sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the ^[x]cool of the day, and Adam and his wife ^(CC)hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

⁹ Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, ^(CD)and I was afraid because I was naked; and 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 that you should not eat?”

¹² Then the man said, ^(CE)“The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

¹³ And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, ^(CF)“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ So the Lord God said to the serpent:

¹⁶ To the woman He said:

¹⁷ Then to Adam He said, ^(CN)“Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree ^(CO)of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:

²⁰ And Adam called his wife’s name ^(CV)Eve,^[aa] because she was the mother of all living.

²¹ Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.

²² Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— ²³ therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden ^(CW)to till the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ So ^(CX)He drove out the man; and He placed ^(CY)cherubim ^(CZ)at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of ^(DA)life.

Cain Murders Abel^(DB)

4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore ^[ab]Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” ² Then she bore again, this time his brother ^[ac]Abel. Now ^(DC)Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ³ And ^[ad]in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit ^(DD)of the ground to the Lord. ⁴ Abel also brought of ^(DE)the firstborn of his flock and of ^(DF)their fat. And the Lord ^(DG)respected Abel and his offering, ⁵ but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

⁶ So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷ If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is ^[ae]for you, but you should rule over it.”

⁸ Now Cain ^[af]talked with Abel his ^[ag]brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and ^(DH)killed him.

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

He said, ^(DI)“I do not know. Am I ^(DJ)my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰ And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood ^(DK)cries out to Me from the ground. ¹¹ So now ^(DL)you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹² When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”

¹³ And Cain said to the Lord, “My ^[ah]punishment is greater than I can bear! ¹⁴ Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; ^(DM)I shall be ^(DN)hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that ^(DO)anyone who finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵ And the Lord said to him, ^[ai]“Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him ^(DP)sevenfold.” And the Lord set a ^(DQ)mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.

The Family of Cain

¹⁶ Then Cain ^(DR)went out from the ^(DS)presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of ^[aj]Nod on the east of Eden. ¹⁷ And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, ^(DT)and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch. ¹⁸ To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.

¹⁹ Then Lamech took for himself ^(DU)two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. ²⁰ And Adah bore 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 ^[ak]flute. ²² And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

²³ Then Lamech said to his wives:

A New Son

²⁵ And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and ^(DW)named him ^[an]Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” ²⁶ And as for Seth, ^(DX)to him also a son was born; and he named him ^[ao]Enosh. Then men began ^(DY)to call on the name of the Lord.

The Family of Adam^(DZ)

5 This is the book of the ^(EA)genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in ^(EB)the likeness of God. ² He created them ^(EC)male and female, and ^(ED)blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. ³ And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son ^(EE)in his own likeness, after his image, and ^(EF)named him Seth. ⁴ After he begot Seth, ^(EG)the days of Adam were eight hundred years; ^(EH)and he had sons and daughters. ⁵ So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; ^(EI)and he died.

⁶ Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot ^(EJ)Enosh. ⁷ After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had 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 begot ^[ap]Cainan. ¹⁰ After he begot Cainan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters. ¹¹ So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died.

¹² Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel. ¹³ After he begot Mahalalel, Cainan lived eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters. ¹⁴ So all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.

¹⁵ Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared. ¹⁶ After he begot Jared, Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years, and had 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 begot ^(EK)Enoch. ¹⁹ After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had 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 begot Methuselah. ²² After he begot Methuselah, Enoch ^(EL)walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. ²³ So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. ²⁴ And ^(EM)Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God ^(EN)took him.

²⁵ Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech. ²⁶ After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had 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 And he called his name ^(EO)Noah,^[aq] saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground ^(EP)which the Lord has cursed.” ³⁰ After he begot Noah, Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters. ³¹ So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died.

³² And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot ^(EQ)Shem, Ham, ^(ER)and Japheth.

The Wickedness and Judgment of Man

6 Now it came to pass, ^(ES)when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, ² that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they ^(ET)took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.

³ And the Lord said, ^(EU)“My Spirit shall not ^(EV)strive^[ar] with man forever, ^(EW)for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” ⁴ There were ^[as]giants on the earth in those ^(EX)days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

⁵ Then ^[at]the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every ^(EY)intent^[au] of the thoughts of his heart was only evil ^[av]continually. ⁶ And ^(EZ)the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and ^(FA)He was grieved in His ^(FB)heart. ⁷ So the Lord said, “I will ^(FC)destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸ But Noah ^(FD)found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah Pleases God

⁹ This is the genealogy of Noah. ^(FE)Noah was a just man, ^[aw]perfect in his generations. Noah ^(FF)walked with God. ¹⁰ And Noah begot three sons: ^(FG)Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹ The earth also was corrupt ^(FH)before God, and the earth was ^(FI)filled with violence. ¹² So God ^(FJ)looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for ^(FK)all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

The Ark Prepared^(FL)

¹³ And God said to Noah, ^(FM)“The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; ^(FN)and behold, ^(FO)I will destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴ Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make ^[ax]rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. ¹⁵ And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred ^[ay]cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. ¹⁶ You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. ^17 (FP)And behold, I Myself am bringing ^(FQ)floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall ^(FR)die. ¹⁸ But I will establish My ^(FS)covenant with you; and ^(FT)you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹ And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring ^(FU)two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. ²⁰ Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind ^(FV)will come to you to keep them alive. ²¹ And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.”

^22 (FW)Thus Noah did; ^(FX)according to all that ^(FY)God commanded him, so he did.

The Great Flood^(FZ)

7 Then the ^(GA)Lord said to Noah, ^(GB)“Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that ^(GC)you are righteous before Me in this generation. ² You shall take with you seven each of every ^(GD)clean animal, a male and his female; ^(GE)two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; ³ also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep ^[az]the species alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴ For after ^(GF)seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth ^(GG)forty days and forty nights, and I will ^[ba]destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.” ^5 (GH)And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. ⁶ Noah was ^(GI)six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth.

^7 (GJ)So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. ⁸ Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, ⁹ two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰ And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth. ¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on ^(GK)that day all ^(GL)the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the ^(GM)windows of heaven were opened. ^12 (GN)And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.

¹³ On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark— ^14 (GO)they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every ^(GP)sort. ¹⁵ And they ^(GQ)went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. ¹⁶ So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in ^(GR)as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.

^17 (GS)Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. ¹⁸ The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, ^(GT)and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. ¹⁹ And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. ²⁰ The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. ^21 (GU)And all flesh died that moved on ^[bb]the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. ²² All in ^(GV)whose nostrils was the breath ^[bc]of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. ²³ So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only ^(GW)Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. ^24 (GX)And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.