Study Desk

In the beginning^(a) God created the heavens and the earth.^[a](b)

Now the earth was^[b] formless and empty,^(c) darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.^(d)

Then God said, "Let there be light,"^(e) and there was light.

God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.

God called the light "day," and He called the darkness "night." Evening came and then morning: the first day.

Then God said, "Let there be an expanse^[c] between the waters, separating water from water."^(f)

So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse.^(g) And it was so.

God called the expanse "sky."^[d] Evening came and then morning: the second day.

Then God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place,^(h) and let the dry land appear." And it was so.

God called the dry land "earth," and He called the gathering of the water "seas." And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, "Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds."⁽ⁱ⁾ And it was so.

The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Evening came and then morning: the third day.

Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs^(j) for festivals^[e] and for days and years.^(k)

They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth." And it was so.

God made the two great lights—the greater light to have dominion over the day and the lesser light to have dominion over the night—as well as the stars.^(l)

God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth,

to dominate the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.^(m) And God saw that it was good.

Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.

Then God said, "Let the water swarm with^[f] living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."

So God created the large sea-creatures^[g] and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water,⁽ⁿ⁾ according to their kinds. He also created every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

So God blessed them, "Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth."^(o)

Evening came and then morning: the fifth day.

Then God said, "Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so.

So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, "Let Us^(p) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.^(q) They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth,^[h] and the creatures that crawl^[i] on the earth."^(r)

So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.^(s)

God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth,^(t) and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls^[j] on the earth."

God also said, "Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you,^(u)

for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it. I have given every green plant for food."^(v) And it was so.

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.^(w) Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.

So the heavens and the earth and everything in them^[a] were completed.^(a)

By the seventh^[b] day God completed His work that He had done, and He rested^[c] on the seventh day from all His work that He had done.^(b)

God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested^(c) from His work of creation.^[d](d)

These are the records^(e) of the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation at the time^[e] that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

No shrub of the field^(f) had yet grown on the land,^[f] and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground.

But water would come out of the ground and water the entire surface of the land.

Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground^(g) and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils,^(h) and the man became a living being.⁽ⁱ⁾

The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,^(j) and there He placed the man He had formed.

The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden,^(k) as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.^(l)

A river went^[g] out from Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became the source of four rivers.^[h]

The name of the first is Pishon, which flows through the entire land of Havilah,^[i](m) where there is gold.

Gold from that land is pure;^[j] bdellium^[k] and onyx^[l] are also there.

The name of the second river is Gihon, which flows through the entire land of Cush.

The name of the third river is the Tigris,⁽ⁿ⁾ which runs east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.^(o)

The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.

And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree of the garden,^(p)

but you must not eat^[m] from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die."^(q)

Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement."^(r)

So the Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it.^(s) And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man^[n] no helper was found as his complement.

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man,^(t) and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place.

Then the Lord God made the rib He had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man.^(u)

And the man said: This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called "woman," for she was taken from man.^(v)

This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.^(w)

Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, ‘You can't eat from any tree in the garden'?"^(a)

The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden.

But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.'"^(b)

"No! You will not die," the serpent said to the woman.^(c)

"In fact, God knows that when^[a] you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God,^[b] knowing good and evil."

Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.^(d)

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze,^[c] and they hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.^(e)

So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"

And he said, "I heard You^[d] in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid."

Then He asked, "Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

Then the man replied,^(f) "The woman You gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate."

So the Lord God asked the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "It was the serpent. He deceived me, and I ate."^(g)

Then the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any livestock and more than any wild animal. You will move on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life.^(h)

I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.⁽ⁱ⁾

He said to the woman: I will intensify your labor pains; you will bear children in anguish.^(j) Your desire^(k) will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you.

And He said to Adam, "Because you listened to your wife's voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it': The ground is cursed because of you.^(l) You will eat from it by means of painful labor^[e] all the days of your life.

It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.^(m)

You will eat bread^[f] by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground,⁽ⁿ⁾ since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust."

Adam named his wife Eve^[g] because she was the mother of all the living.

The Lord God made clothing out of skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.

The Lord God said, "Since man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever."^(o)

So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

He drove man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.^(p)