2:1 The heavens and the earth 1 were completed with everything that was in them. 2 2:2 By 3 the seventh day God finished the work that he had been doing, 4 and he ceased 5 on the seventh day all the work that he had been doing. 2:3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy 6 because on it he ceased all the work that he 7 had been doing in creation. 8
2:4 This is the account 9 of the heavens and
the earth 10 when they were created – when the Lord God 11 made the earth and heavens. 12
2:5 Now 13 no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the field 14 had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. 15 2:6 Springs 16 would well up 17 from the earth and water 18 the whole surface of the ground. 19 2:7 The Lord God formed 20 the man from the soil of the ground 21 and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, 22 and the man became a living being. 23
2:8 The Lord God planted an orchard 24 in the east, 25 in Eden; 26 and there he placed the man he had formed. 27 2:9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, 28 every tree that was pleasing to look at 29 and good for food. (Now 30 the tree of life 31 and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil 32 were in the middle of the orchard.)
2:10 Now 33 a river flows 34 from Eden 35 to
water the orchard, and from there it divides 36 into four headstreams. 37 2:11 The name of the first is Pishon; it runs through 38 the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 2:12 (The gold of that land is pure; 39 pearls 40 and lapis lazuli 41 are also there). 2:13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it runs through 42 the entire land of Cush. 43 2:14 The name of the third river is Tigris; it runs along the east side of Assyria. 44 The fourth river is the Euphrates.
2:15 The Lord God took the man and placed 45 him in the orchard in 46 Eden to care for it and to maintain it. 47 2:16 Then the Lord God commanded 48 the man, “You may freely eat 49 fruit 50 from every tree of the orchard, 2:17 but 51 you must not eat 52 from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when 53 you eat from it you will surely die.” 54
2:18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. 55 I will make a companion 56 for him who corresponds to him.” 57 2:19 The Lord God formed 58 out of the ground every living animal of the field and every bird of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would 59 name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 2:20 So the man named all the animals, the birds of the air, and the living creatures of the field, but for Adam 60 no companion who corresponded to him was found. 61 2:21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, 62 and while he was asleep, 63 he took part of the man’s side 64 and closed up the place with flesh. 65 2:22 Then the Lord God made 66 a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 2:23 Then the man said,
“This one at last 67 is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one will be called 68 ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of 69 man.” 70
2:24 That is why 71 a man leaves 72 his father and mother and unites with 73 his wife, and they become a new family. 74 2:25 The man and his wife were both naked, 75 but they were not ashamed. 76
3:1 Now 77 the serpent 78 was more shrewd 79
than any of the wild animals 80 that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that 81 God 82 said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” 83 3:2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat 84 of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; 3:3 but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, 85 or else you will die.’” 86 3:4 The serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die, 87 3:5 for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open 88 and you will be like divine beings who know 89 good and evil.” 90
3:6 When 91 the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, 92 was attractive 93 to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, 94 she took some of its fruit and ate it. 95 She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. 96 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about 97 in the orchard at the breezy time 98 of the day, and they hid 99 from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard. 3:9 But the Lord God called to 100 the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 101 3:10 The man replied, 102 “I heard you moving about 103 in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” 3:11 And the Lord God 104 said, “Who told you that you were naked? 105 Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 106 3:12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave me, she gave 107 me some fruit 108 from the tree and I ate it.” 3:13 So the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this 109 you have done?” And the woman replied, “The serpent 110 tricked 111 me, and I ate.”
3:14 The Lord God said to the serpent, 112
“Because you have done this,
cursed 113 are you above all the wild beasts
and all the living creatures of the field!
On your belly you will crawl 114
and dust you will eat 115 all the days of your life.
3:15 And I will put hostility 116 between you and the woman
and between your offspring and her offspring; 117
her offspring will attack 118 your head,
and 119 you 120 will attack her offspring’s heel.” 121
3:16 To the woman he said,
“I will greatly increase 122 your labor pains; 123
with pain you will give birth to children.
You will want to control your husband, 124
but he will dominate 125 you.”
3:17 But to Adam 126 he said,
“Because you obeyed 127 your wife
and ate from the tree about which I commanded you,
‘You must not eat from it,’
cursed is the ground 128 thanks to you; 129
in painful toil you will eat 130 of it all the days of your life.
3:18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
but you will eat the grain 131 of the field.
3:19 By the sweat of your brow 132 you will eat food
until you return to the ground, 133
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust, and to dust you will return.” 134
3:20 The man 135 named his wife Eve, 136 because 137 she was the mother of all the living. 138 3:21 The Lord God made garments from skin 139 for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. 3:22 And the Lord God said, “Now 140 that the man has become like one of us, 141 knowing 142 good and evil, he must not be allowed 143 to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 3:23 So the Lord God expelled him 144 from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. 3:24 When he drove 145 the man out, he placed on the eastern side 146 of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries 147 who used the flame of a whirling sword 148 to guard the way to the tree of life.
4:1 Now 149 the man had marital relations with 150 his wife Eve, and she became pregnant 151 and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created 152 a man just as the Lord did!” 153 4:2 Then she gave birth 154 to his brother Abel. 155 Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground. 156
4:3 At the designated time 157 Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground for an offering 158 to the Lord. 4:4 But Abel brought 159 some of the firstborn of his flock – even the fattest 160 of them. And the Lord was pleased with 161 Abel and his offering, 4:5 but with Cain and his offering he was not pleased. 162 So Cain became very angry, 163 and his expression was downcast. 164
4:6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast? 4:7 Is it not true 165 that if you do what is right, you will be fine? 166 But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching 167 at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.” 168
4:8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” 169 While they were in the field, Cain attacked 170 his brother 171 Abel and killed him.
4:9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” 172 And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?” 173 4:10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? 174 The voice 175 of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! 4:11 So now, you are banished 176 from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 4:12 When you try to cultivate 177 the
ground it will no longer yield 178 its best 179 for you. You will be a homeless wanderer 180 on the earth.” 4:13 Then Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment 181 is too great to endure! 182 4:14 Look! You are driving me off the land 183 today, and I must hide from your presence. 184 I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me.” 4:15 But the Lord said to him, “All right then, 185 if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.” 186 Then the Lord put a special mark 187 on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down. 188 4:16 So Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and lived in the land of Nod, 189 east of Eden.
4:17 Cain had marital relations 190 with his wife, and she became pregnant 191 and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after 192 his son Enoch. 4:18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father 193 of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.
4:19 Lamech took two wives for himself; the name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. 4:20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the first 194 of those who live in tents and keep 195 livestock. 4:21 The name of his brother was Jubal; he was the first of all who play the harp and the flute. 4:22 Now Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain, who heated metal and shaped 196 all kinds of tools made of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
4:23 Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah! Listen to me!
You wives of Lamech, hear my words!
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man 197 for hurting me.
4:24 If Cain is to be avenged seven times as much,
then Lamech seventy-seven times!” 198
4:25 And Adam had marital relations 199 with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, “God has given 200 me another child 201 in place of Abel because Cain killed him.” 4:26 And a son was also born to Seth, whom he named Enosh. At that time people 202 began to worship 203 the Lord.
5:1 Now the Philistines had captured the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 5:2 The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the temple of Dagon, where they positioned it beside Dagon. 5:3 When the residents of Ashdod got up early the next day, 204 Dagon was lying on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set him back in his place. 5:4 But when they got up early the following day, Dagon was again lying on the ground before the ark of the Lord. The head of Dagon and his two hands were sheared off and were lying at the threshold. Only Dagon’s body was left intact. 205 5:5 (For this reason, to this very day, neither Dagon’s priests nor anyone else who enters Dagon’s temple step on Dagon’s threshold in Ashdod.)
5:6 The Lord attacked 206 the residents of Ashdod severely, bringing devastation on them. He struck the people of 207 both Ashdod and the surrounding area with sores. 208 5:7 When the people 209 of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, for he has attacked 210 both us and our god Dagon!”
5:8 So they assembled 211 all the leaders of the Philistines and asked, “What should we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They replied, “The ark of the God of Israel should be moved to Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.
5:9 But after it had been moved the Lord attacked 212 that city as well, causing a great deal of panic. He struck all the people of that city 213 with sores. 214