Genesis is the foundational narrative of creation, humanity's origins, and God's covenant with the patriarchs. It begins with the creation of the world and humanity, introduces sin through Adam and Eve, and recounts the stories of Noah's ark, the Tower of Babel, and the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Themes of faith, obedience, and God's promise are woven throughout, illustrating the beginnings of God's plan for redemption and the importance of trust and perseverance in divine promises.
1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters.3. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
1. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.2. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.3. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. ¶
1. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Yes, has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?2. And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:3. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.
1. And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bore Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.2. And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.3. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the LORD.
1. This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;2. Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. ¶3. And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth:
1. And it came to pass, 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 fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.3. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
1. And the LORD said to Noah, Come you and all your house into the ark; for you have I seen righteous before me in this generation.2. Of every clean beast you shall take to you by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.3. Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive on the face of all the earth.
1. And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;2. The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;3. And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
1. And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.2. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, and on every fowl of the air, on all that moves on the earth, and on all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.3. Every moving thing that lives shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
1. Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and to them were sons born after the flood.2. The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.3. And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
1. And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.2. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelled there.3. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.
1. Now the LORD had said to Abram, Get you out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you:2. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing:3. And I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curses you: and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.
1. And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.2. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.3. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;
1. And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;2. That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.3. All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.
1. After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am your shield, and your exceeding great reward.2. And Abram said, LORD God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?3. And Abram said, Behold, to me you have given no seed: and, see, one born in my house is my heir.
1. Now Sarai Abram’s wife bore him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.2. And Sarai said to Abram, Behold now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing: I pray you, go in to my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.3. And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelled ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. ¶
1. And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be you perfect.2. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.3. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
1. And the LORD appeared to him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;2. And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, see, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,3. And said, My LORD, if now I have found favor in your sight, pass not away, I pray you, from your servant:
1. And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;2. And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and you shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, No; but we will abide in the street all night.3. And he pressed on them greatly; and they turned in to him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. ¶
1. And Abraham journeyed from there toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.2. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.3. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, you are but a dead man, for the woman which you have taken; for she is a man’s wife.
1. And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had spoken.2. For Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.3. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.
1. And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said to him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.2. And he said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and get you into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of. ¶3. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which God had told him.
1. And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.2. And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. ¶3. And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,
1. And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.2. And Abraham said to his oldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray you, your hand under my thigh:3. And I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that you shall not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
1. Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah.2. And she bore him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.3. And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.
1. And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines to Gerar.2. And the LORD appeared to him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell you of:3. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you, and to your seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father;
1. And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his oldest son, and said to him, My son: and he said to him, Behold, here am I.2. And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:3. Now therefore take, I pray you, your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;
1. And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him, You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.2. Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take you a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.3. And God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a multitude of people;
1. Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east.2. And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, see, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was on the well’s mouth.3. And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again on the well’s mouth in his place.
1. And when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said to Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.2. And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?3. And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in to her; and she shall bear on my knees, that I may also have children by her.
1. And he heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s; and of that which was our father’s has he gotten all this glory.2. And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.3. And the LORD said to Jacob, Return to the land of your fathers, and to your kindred; and I will be with you.
1. And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.2. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.3. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother to the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
1. And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children to Leah, and to Rachel, and to the two handmaids.2. And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph last.3. And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
1. And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.2. And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.3. And his soul joined to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spoke kindly to the damsel.
1. And God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar to God, that appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.2. Then Jacob said to his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:3. And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.
1. Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.2. Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan; Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;3. And Bashemath Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebajoth.
1. And Jacob dwelled in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.2. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought to his father their evil report.3. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors.
1. And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brothers, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.2. And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in to her.3. And she conceived, and bore a son; and he called his name Er.
1. And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.2. And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.3. And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
1. And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt.2. And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers.3. And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.
1. And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.2. And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favored cows and fat; and they fed in a meadow.3. And, behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ill favored and skinney; and stood by the other cows on the brink of the river.
1. Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, Why do you look one on another?2. And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from there; that we may live, and not die. ¶3. And Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy corn in Egypt.
1. And the famine was sore in the land.2. And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, Go again, buy us a little food.3. And Judah spoke to him, saying, The man did solemnly protest to us, saying, You shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.
1. And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth.2. And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.3. As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.
1. Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.2. And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.3. And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph; does my father yet live? And his brothers could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.
1. And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.2. And God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.3. And he said, I am God, the God of your father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation:
1. Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brothers, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.2. And he took some of his brothers, even five men, and presented them to Pharaoh.3. And Pharaoh said to his brothers, What is your occupation? And they said to Pharaoh, Your servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.
1. And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, your father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.2. And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, your son Joseph comes to you: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat on the bed.3. And Jacob said to Joseph, God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
1. And Jacob called to his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.2. Gather yourselves together, and hear, you sons of Jacob; and listen to Israel your father. ¶3. Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
1. And Joseph fell on his father’s face, and wept on him, and kissed him.2. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.3. And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him three score and ten days.
