In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.

God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day.

Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.”

‭So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird, each producing offspring according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.

Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created mankind in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female, he created them.

Then God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.

The Lord took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden.

But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

God said to the woman, “I will make your childbearing very painful; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice, and you ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you not to eat, the fertile land is cursed because of you. All the days of your life, you will struggle to grow plants for your food.

By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food until you return to the ground, from which you were made. For you were made from dust, so you will return to dust.

The Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife, and he clothed them.

The Lord God said, “The man has become like us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, and take from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”

‭So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was made.