Genesis 1; Genesis 2; Genesis 15; Exodus 3

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Genesis 1

The Creation of the World

In the abeginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was bwithout 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.

And God said, cLet there be light, and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God 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, the first day.

And God said, dLet there be an expanse1 in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters. And God made2 the expanse and eseparated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were fabove the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven.3 And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

And God said, gLet 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, hLet the earth sprout vegetation, plants5 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 isigns and for jseasons,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 kmade the two great lightsthe greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the nightand the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to lrule 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 birds7 fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens. 21 So mGod 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, nBe 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 kindslivestock 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, oLet us make man8 in our image, pafter our likeness. And qlet 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;

rmale and female he created them.

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, sBe 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. tYou shall have them for food. 30 And uto 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 vAnd 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

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and wall the host of them. And xon 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. 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

yThese 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.

When no zbush of the field1 was yet in the land2 and no small plant of the field had yet sprung upfor the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man ato work the ground, and a mist3 was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground then the Lord God formed the man of bdust from the ground and cbreathed into his dnostrils the breath of life, and ethe man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a fgarden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. gThe tree of life was in the midst of the garden, hand 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 iHavilah, 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 jTigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The Lord God took the man kand 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 lyou shall not eat, for in the day that you eat4 of it you mshall surely die.

18 Then the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; nI will make him a helper fit for5 him. 19 oNow out of the ground the Lord God had formed6 every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and pbrought 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 Adam7 there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a qdeep 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 made8 into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,

This at last is rbone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called Woman,

because she was staken out of Man.9

24 tTherefore 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 15

God’s Covenant with Abram

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: cFear not, Abram, I am dyour shield; your reward shall be very great. But Abram said, O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue1 childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, you have given me no offspring, and ea member of my household will be my heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: This man shall not be your heir; fyour very own son2 shall be your heir. And he brought him outside and said, Look toward heaven, and gnumber the stars, if you are able to number them. Then he said to him, hSo shall your offspring be. And ihe believed the Lord, and jhe counted it to him as righteousness.

And he said to him, I am the Lord who kbrought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans lto give you this land to possess. But he said, O Lord God, mhow am I to know that I shall possess it? He said to him, Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. 10 And he brought him all these, ncut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But ohe did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was going down, a pdeep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, Know for certain qthat your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and rthey will be afflicted for sfour hundred years. 14 But tI will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward uthey shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; vyou shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for wthe iniquity of the Amorites xis not yet complete.

17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, yTo your offspring I give3 this land, from zthe river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.


Exodus 3

The Burning Bush

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the wmountain of God. xAnd ythe angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned. When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, zGod called to him aout of the bush, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here I am. Then he said, Do not come near; btake your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. And he said, cI am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for dhe was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord said, eI have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their ftaskmasters. I know their sufferings, and gI have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and hto bring them up out of that land to a igood and broad land, a land jflowing with milk and honey, to the place of kthe Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, lthe cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the moppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 nCome, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. 11 But Moses said to God, oWho am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? 12 He said, pBut I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, qyou shall serve God on this mountain.

13 Then Moses said to God, If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, What is his name? what shall I say to them? 14 God said to Moses, I am who I am.1 And he said, Say this to the people of Israel: rI am has sent me to you. 15 God also said to Moses, Say this to the people of Israel: The Lord,2 the sGod of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is tmy name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. 16 Go and ugather the elders of Israel together and say to them, The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, vI have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, 17 and I promise that wI will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land wflowing with milk and honey. 18 And xthey will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel yshall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has zmet with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. 19 But I know that the king of Egypt awill not let you go unless compelled bby a mighty hand.3 20 So cI will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with dall the wonders that I will do in it; eafter that he will let you go. 21 And fI will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, 22 but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for gsilver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So hyou shall plunder the Egyptians.