Genesis 1 - 2

The Creation of the World

1 In the a beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was b without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

3 And God said, c "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

6 And God said, d "Let there be an expanse 1 in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." 7 And God made 2 the expanse and e separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were f above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. 3 And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

9 And God said, g "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, 4 and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, h "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants 5 yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth." And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for i signs and for j seasons, 6 and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so. 16 And God k made the two great lights - the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night - and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to l rule over the day and over 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, the fourth day.

20 And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds 7 fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens." 21 So m God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, n "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, the fifth day.

24 And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds - livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, o "Let us make man 8 in our image, p after our likeness. And q let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
r male and female he created them.

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, s "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." 29 And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. t You shall have them for food. 30 And u to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. 31 v And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 2

The Seventh Day, God Rests

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and w all the host of them. 2 And x on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

The Creation of Man and Woman

4 y These are the generations
of the heavens and the earth when they were created,
in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

5 When no z bush of the field 9 was yet in the land 10 and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up - for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man a to work the ground, 6 and a mist 11 was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground - 7 then the Lord God formed the man of b dust from the ground and c breathed into his d nostrils the breath of life, and e the man became a living creature. 8 And the Lord God planted a f garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. g The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, h and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of i Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is the j Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The Lord God took the man k and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil l you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat 12 of it you m shall surely die."

18 Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; n I will make him a helper fit for 13 him." 19 o Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed 14 every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and p brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam 15 there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a q deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made 16 into a woman and brought her to the man.

23 Then the man said,
"This at last is r bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was s taken out of Man." 17

24 t Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

  1. Cross References
    Job 38:4 - 7
    Where were you when I laid the foundation of th...
    Psalms 33:6
    By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, ...
    Psalms 136:5
    To him who by understanding made the heavens, f...
    Isaiah 42:5
    Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heaven...
    Isaiah 45:18
    For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens...
    John 1:1 - 3
    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was...
    Acts 14:15
    Men, why are you doing these things? We also ar...
    Acts 17:24
    The God who made the world and everything in it...
    Colossians 1:16 - 17
    For by him all things were created, in heaven a...
    Hebrews 1:10
    And, "You, Lord, laid the foundation of the ear...
    Hebrews 11:3
    By faith we understand that the universe was cr...
    Revelation 4:11
    "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive g...
  2. Cross References
    Jeremiah 4:23
    I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light.
  3. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 4:6
    For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
  4. Cross References
    Job 37:18
    Can you, like him, spread out the skies, hard as a cast metal mirror?
    Psalms 136:5
    To him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever.
    Jeremiah 10:12
    It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
    Jeremiah 51:15
    It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
  5. Cross References
    Proverbs 8:27 - 29
    When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep.
  6. Cross References
    Psalms 148:4
    Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!
  7. Cross References
    Job 38:8 - 11
    Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb.
    Psalms 33:7
    He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses.
    Psalms 136:6
    To him who spread out the earth above the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever.
    Jeremiah 5:22
    Do you not fear me? declares the Lord. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.
    2 Peter 3:5
    For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God.
  8. Cross References
    Psalms 104:14
    You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth
  9. Cross References
    Jeremiah 10:2
    Thus says the Lord : "Learn not the way of the ...
    Ezekiel 32:7 - 8
    When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens a...
    Joel 2:30 - 31
    And I will show wonders in the heavens and on t...
    Joel 3:15
    The sun and the moon are darkened, and the star...
    Matthew 24:29
    Immediately after the tribulation of those days...
    Luke 21:25
    And there will be signs in sun and moon and sta...
  10. Cross References
    Psalms 104:19
    He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.
  11. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:19
    And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
    Psalms 136:7 - 9
    To him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever.
  12. Cross References
    Jeremiah 31:35
    Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar - the Lord of hosts is his name:
  13. Cross References
    Psalms 104:25 - 26
    Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great.
  14. Cross References
    Genesis 8:17
    Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh - birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth - that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.
    Genesis 9:1
    And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
  15. Cross References
    Genesis 3:22
    Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever -
    Genesis 11:7
    Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.
    Isaiah 6:8
    And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me.
  16. Cross References
    Genesis 5:1
    This is the book of the generations of Adam. Wh...
    Genesis 9:6
    Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall hi...
    1 Corinthians 11:7
    For a man ought not to cover his head, since he...
    Ephesians 4:24
    And to put on the new self, created after the l...
    Colossians 3:10
    And have put on the new self, which is being re...
    James 3:9
    With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with ...
  17. Cross References
    Genesis 9:2
    The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered.
    Psalms 8:6 - 8
    You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet.
    James 3:7
    For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind.
  18. Cross References
    Genesis 2:18
    Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that th...
    Genesis 2:21 - 23
    So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upo...
    Genesis 5:2
    Male and female he created them, and he blessed...
    Malachi 2:15
    Did he not make them one, with a portion of the...
    Matthew 19:4
    He answered, "Have you not read that he who cre...
    Mark 10:6
    But from the beginning of creation, 'God made t...
  19. Cross References
    Genesis 9:1
    And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
    Genesis 9:7
    And you, be fruitful and multiply, teem on the earth and multiply in it.
  20. Cross References
    Genesis 9:3
    Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.
    Psalms 104:14 - 15
    You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth
    Psalms 145:15 - 16
    The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.
  21. Cross References
    Psalms 147:9
    He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry.
  22. Cross References
    Ecclesiastes 7:29
    See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
    1 Timothy 4:4
    For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.
  23. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:19
    And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
    Psalms 33:6
    By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
  24. Cross References
    Exodus 20:8 - 11
    Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
    Exodus 31:17
    It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.'
    Deuteronomy 5:12 - 14
    'Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.
    Hebrews 4:4
    For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.
  25. Cross References
    Genesis 1:1
    In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
  26. Cross References
    Genesis 1:11 - 12
    And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth." And it was so.
  27. Cross References
    Genesis 3:23
    Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
  28. Cross References
    Genesis 3:19
    By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, ...
    Genesis 3:23
    Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the ga...
    Genesis 18:27
    Abraham answered and said, "Behold, I have unde...
    Psalms 103:14
    For he knows our frame; he remembers that we ar...
    Ecclesiastes 12:7
    And the dust returns to the earth as it was, an...
    1 Corinthians 15:47
    The first man was from the earth, a man of dust...
  29. Cross References
    Genesis 7:22
    Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.
    Job 33:4
    The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
    Isaiah 2:22
    Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?
  30. Cross References
    Job 27:3
    As long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils.
  31. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 15:45
    Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
  32. Cross References
    Genesis 2:15
    The Lord God took the man and put him in the ga...
    Genesis 13:10
    And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jor...
    Isaiah 51:3
    For the Lord comforts Zion; he comforts all her...
    Ezekiel 28:13
    You were in Eden, the garden of God; every prec...
    Ezekiel 31:8
    The cedars in the garden of God could not rival...
    Joel 2:3
    Fire devours before them, and behind them a fla...
  33. Cross References
    Genesis 3:22
    Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever -
    Revelation 2:7
    He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
    Revelation 22:2
    Through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
    Revelation 22:14
    Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.
  34. Cross References
    Genesis 2:17
    But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
  35. Cross References
    Genesis 10:7
    The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
    Genesis 10:29
    Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan.
    Genesis 25:18
    They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled over against all his kinsmen.
    1 Samuel 15:7
    And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt.
  36. Cross References
    Daniel 10:4
    On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river ( that is, the Tigris)
  37. Cross References
    Genesis 2:8
    And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
  38. Cross References
    Genesis 3:1 - 3
    Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?
    Genesis 3:11
    He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?
    Genesis 3:17
    And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.
  39. Cross References
    Romans 6:23
    For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
    James 1:15
    Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
  40. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 11:9
    Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.
    1 Timothy 2:13
    For Adam was formed first, then Eve.
  41. Cross References
    Genesis 1:20
    And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.
    Genesis 1:24
    And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds - livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so.
  42. Cross References
    Psalms 8:6
    You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet.
  43. Cross References
    Genesis 15:12
    As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.
    1 Samuel 26:12
    So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head, and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them.
  44. Cross References
    Genesis 29:14
    And Laban said to him, "Surely you are my bone and my flesh!" And he stayed with him a month.
    Judges 9:2
    "Say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, 'Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal rule over you, or that one rule over you?' Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh."
    2 Samuel 5:1
    Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, "Behold, we are your bone and flesh.
    2 Samuel 19:13
    And say to Amasa, 'Are you not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me and more also, if you are not commander of my army from now on in place of Joab.'
    Ephesians 5:28 - 30
    In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
  45. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 11:8
    For man was not made from woman, but woman from man.
  46. Cross References
    Matthew 19:5
    And said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his fath...
    Mark 10:7
    Therefore a man shall leave his father and moth...
    1 Corinthians 6:16
    Or do you not know that he who is joined to a p...
    Ephesians 5:31
    "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mot...
    Psalms 45:10
    Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline you...
    1 Corinthians 7:10 - 11
    To the married I give this charge (not I, but t...
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.