Gen 2:4-4:26 | ESV | STEP | 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 .

Genesis 2:4-25

The Creation of Man and Woman

4 ^aThese 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 ^bbush of the field ^{▼▼Or open country} was yet in the land ^{▼▼Or earth; also verse 6} 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 ^eto work the ground, 6 and a mist ^{▼▼Or spring} was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then the Lord God formed the man of ^gdust from the ground and ^hbreathed into his ⁱnostrils the breath of life, and ^jthe man became a living creature. 8 And the Lord God planted a ^kgarden 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. ^lThe tree of life was in the midst of the garden, ^mand 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 ⁿHavilah, 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 ^oTigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The Lord God took the man ^pand 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 ^qyou shall not eat, for in the day that you eat ^{▼▼Or when you eat} of it you ^sshall surely die.”

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; ^tI will make him a helper fit for ^{▼▼Or corresponding to; also verse 20} him.” 19 ^vNow out of the ground the Lord God had formed ^{▼▼Or And out of the ground the Lord God formed} every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and ^xbrought 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 ^{▼▼Or the man} there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a ^zdeep 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 ^{▼▼Hebrew built} into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,

“This at last is ^abbone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was ^actaken out of Man.” ^{▼▼The Hebrew words for woman (ishshah) and man (ish) sound alike}
24 ^aeTherefore 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.

Genesis 3

The Fall

1 Now ^afthe 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 ^{▼▼In Hebrew you is plural in verses 1–5} shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ^ah‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 ^aiBut the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, ^{▼▼Or to give insight} she took of its fruit ^akand ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, ^aland he ate. 7 ^amThen the eyes of both were opened, ^anand they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool ^{▼▼Hebrew wind} of the day, and the man and his wife ^aphid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ^{▼▼In Hebrew you is singular in verses 9 and 11} 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, ^arbecause I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, ^as“The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, ^at“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and ^audust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring ^{▼▼Hebrew seed; so throughout Genesis} and ^awher offspring;
^axhe shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
16 To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
^ayin pain you shall bring forth children.
^azYour desire shall be contrary to ^{▼▼Or shall be toward (see 4:7)} your husband,
but he shall ^bbrule over you.”
17 And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
^bcof which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
^bdcursed is the ground because of you;
^bein pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
^bffor you are dust,
and ^bgto dust you shall return.”
20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. ^{▼▼ Eve sounds like the Hebrew for life-giver and resembles the word for living} 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

22 Then the Lord God said, ^bi“Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand ^bjand take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden ^bkto work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the ^blcherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 4

Cain and Abel

1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten ^{▼▼ Cain sounds like the Hebrew for gotten} a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of ^bnthe fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of ^bothe firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord ^bphad regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but ^bqfor Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 ^brIf you do well, will you not be accepted? ^{▼▼Hebrew will there not be a lifting up [of your face]?} And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. ^btIts desire is contrary to ^{▼▼Or is toward} you, but you must rule over it.”

8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. ^{▼▼Hebrew; Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate add Let us go out to the field} And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and ^bwkilled him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, ^bx“I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood ^byis crying to me from the ground. 11 And now ^bzyou are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My ^capunishment is greater than I can bear. ^{▼▼Or My guilt is too great to bear} 14 Behold, ^ccyou have driven me today away from the ground, and ^cdfrom your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, ^ceand whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him ^cfsevenfold.” And the Lord ^cgput a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, ^{▼▼ Nod means wandering} east of Eden.

17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 19 And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22 Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

23 Lamech said to his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say:
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for striking me.
24 ^ciIf Cain’s revenge is sevenfold,
then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.”
25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed ^{▼▼ Seth sounds like the Hebrew for he appointed} for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 To ^ckSeth also a son was born, and he called his name ^clEnosh. At that time people began ^cmto call upon the name of the Lord.