Genesis 1

New International Version

The Beginning

1 In the beginning^(A) God created^(B) the heavens^(C) and the earth.^(D) ²Now the earth was formless^(E) and empty,^(F) darkness was over the surface of the deep,^(G) and the Spirit of God^(H) was hovering^(I) over the waters.

³And God said,^(J) “Let there be light,” and there was light.^(K) ⁴God saw that the light was good,^(L) and he separated the light from the darkness.^(M) ⁵God called^(N) the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”^(O) And there was evening, and there was morning^(P)—the first day.

⁶And God said,^(Q) “Let there be a vault^(R) between the waters^(S) to separate water from water.” ⁷So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it.^(T) And it was so.^(U) ⁸God called^(V) the vault “sky.”^(W) And there was evening, and there was morning^(X)—the second day.

⁹And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place,^(Y) and let dry ground^(Z) appear.” And it was so.^(AA) ¹⁰God called^(AB) the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters^(AC) he called “seas.”^(AD) And God saw that it was good.^(AE)

¹¹Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation:^(AF) seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.^(AG)” And it was so.^(AH) ¹²The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds^(AI) and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.^(AJ) ¹³And there was evening, and there was morning^(AK)—the third day.

¹⁴And God said, “Let there be lights^(AL) in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night,^(AM) and let them serve as signs^(AN) to mark sacred times,^(AO) and days and years,^(AP) ¹⁵and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.^(AQ) ¹⁶God made two great lights—the greater light^(AR) to govern^(AS) the day and the lesser light to govern^(AT) the night.^(AU) He also made the stars.^(AV) ¹⁷God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸to govern the day and the night,^(AW) and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.^(AX) ¹⁹And there was evening, and there was morning^(AY)—the fourth day.

²⁰And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures,^(AZ) and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”^(BA) ²¹So God created^(BB) the great creatures of the sea^(BC) and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it,^(BD) according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.^(BE) And God saw that it was good.^(BF) ²²God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.”^(BG) ²³And there was evening, and there was morning^(BH)—the fifth day.

²⁴And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures^(BI) according to their kinds:^(BJ) the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.^(BK) ²⁵God made the wild animals^(BL) according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds.^(BM) And God saw that it was good.^(BN)

²⁶Then God said, “Let us^(BO) make mankind^(BP) in our image,^(BQ) in our likeness,^(BR) so that they may rule^(BS) over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky,^(BT) over the livestock and all the wild animals,^[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

²⁷So God created^(BU) mankind^(BV) in his own image,^(BW)
in the image of God^(BX) he created them;
male and female^(BY) he created them.^(BZ)

²⁸God blessed them and said to them,^(CA) “Be fruitful and increase in number;^(CB) fill the earth^(CC) and subdue it. Rule over^(CD) the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.^(CE)”

²⁹Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.^(CF) ³⁰And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life^(CG) in it—I give every green plant for food.^(CH)” And it was so.

³¹God saw all that he had made,^(CI) and it was very good.^(CJ) And there was evening, and there was morning^(CK)—the sixth day.

Footnotes

Genesis 1:26 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text (see Syriac); Masoretic Text the earth

Genesis 11

New International Version

The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole world had one language^(A) and a common speech. ²As people moved eastward,^[a] they found a plain in Shinar^[b]^(B) and settled there.

³They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks^(C) and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone,^(D) and tar^(E) for mortar. ⁴Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens,^(F) so that we may make a name^(G) for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered^(H) over the face of the whole earth.”^(I)

⁵But the Lord came down^(J) to see the city and the tower the people were building. ⁶The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language^(K) they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. ⁷Come, let us^(L) go down^(M) and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”^(N)

⁸So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth,^(O) and they stopped building the city. ⁹That is why it was called Babel^[c]^(P)—because there the Lord confused the language^(Q) of the whole world.^(R) From there the Lord scattered^(S) them over the face of the whole earth.

From Shem to Abram^(T)

¹⁰This is the account^(U) of Shem’s family line.

Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father^[d] of Arphaxad.^(V) ¹¹And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹²When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah.^(W) ¹³And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.^[e]

¹⁴When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber.^(X) ¹⁵And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁶When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg.^(Y) ¹⁷And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁸When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu.^(Z) ¹⁹And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁰When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug.^(AA) ²¹And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

²²When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor.^(AB) ²³And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁴When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah.^(AC) ²⁵And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁶After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram,^(AD) Nahor^(AE) and Haran.^(AF)

Abram’s Family

²⁷This is the account^(AG) of Terah’s family line.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor^(AH) and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.^(AI) ²⁸While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans,^(AJ) in the land of his birth. ²⁹Abram and Nahor^(AK) both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai,^(AL) and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah;^(AM) she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milkah and Iskah. ³⁰Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive.^(AN)

³¹Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot^(AO) son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law^(AP) Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans^(AQ) to go to Canaan.^(AR) But when they came to Harran,^(AS) they settled there.

³²Terah^(AT) lived 205 years, and he died in Harran.

Footnotes

Genesis 11:2 Or from the east; or in the east
Genesis 11:2 That is, Babylonia
Genesis 11:9 That is, Babylon; Babel sounds like the Hebrew for confused.
Genesis 11:10 Father may mean ancestor; also in verses 11-25.
Genesis 11:13 Hebrew; Septuagint (see also Luke 3:35, 36 and note at Gen. 10:24) 35 years, he became the father of Cainan. ¹³And after he became the father of Cainan, Arphaxad lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters, and then he died. When Cainan had lived 130 years, he became the father of Shelah. And after he became the father of Shelah, Cainan lived 330 years and had other sons and daughters