Chapter One
INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS
BACKGROUND
When you tell a story, you usually start at the beginning,
right? The Bible is the story of a relationship between God and
the people he made (including you). The book of Genesis starts
at the beginning of everything, when there was God and
nothing else. God made a universe out of nothing. He made the
earth and the people, plants, and animals that live here. In the
beginning, everything was new and fresh. But then the first sin
happened. Suddenly, everything seemed spoiled and old. A new
beginning was needed. God had a plan that began with the
birth of the nation of Israel. Through this nation a Savior
would someday come to make things right once more.
As you get into reading God's Word, begin by checking out the"Aha! Moments" and "Believer Building" list at the beginning
of each book. They'll give you the lowdown on believers and
key points of the book.
AHA:
MOMENTS
Noah chooses to believe
God and build a boat
(6:1-22).
Abraham trusts God and
moves to a strange land
(12:1-9).
Jacob meets God and
gains a new name-Israel
32:22-32).
Joseph realizes that God
brought good out of his
brothers' evil plan
(50:14-21).
Believer Building
God created me (1:26-27).
Sin separates people from God
(3:1-24).
Our faith can affect other people
(18:16-33).
God keeps his promises (21:1-7).
God works through imperfect
people to carry out his plans
(27; 37; 45).
Genesis
Chapter 1
The Account of Creation
In the beginning God
created the heavens
and the earth. 2 The earth
was empty, a formless mass cloaked in
darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering
over its surface. 3 Then God said,
"Let there be light," and there was light.
4 And God saw that it was good. Then he
separated the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light "day" and the darkness
"night." Together these made up
one day.
6 And God said, "Let there be space
between the waters, to separate water
from water." 7 And so it was. God made
this space to separate the waters above
from the waters below. 8 And God called
the space "sky." This happened on the
second day.
9 And God said, "Let the waters
beneath the sky be gathered into one
place so dry ground may appear." And
so it was. 10 God named the dry ground
"land" and the water "seas." And God
saw that it was good. 11 Then God said,
"Let the land burst forth with every sort
of grass and seed-bearing plant. And let
there be trees that grow seed-bearing
fruit. The seeds will then produce the
kinds of plants and trees from which
they came." And so it was. 12 The land
was filled with seed-bearing plants and
trees, and their seeds produced plants
and trees of like kind. And God saw that
it was good. 13 This all happened on the
third day.
14 And God said, "Let bright lights
appear in the sky to separate the day
from the night. They will be signs to
mark off the seasons, the days, and the
years. 15 Let their light shine down upon
the earth." And so it was. 16 For God
made two great lights, the sun and the
moon, to shine down upon the earth
The greater one, the sun, presides during
the day; the lesser one, the moon, presides
through the night. He also made
the stars. 17 God set these lights in the
heavens to light the earth, 18 to govern
the day and the night, and to separate
the light from the darkness. And God
saw that it was good. 19 This all happened
on the fourth day.
20 And God said, "Let the waters swarm
with fish and other life. Let the skies be
filled with birds of every kind." 21 So God
created great sea creatures and every
sort of fish and every kind of bird. And
God saw that it was good. 22 Then God
blessed them, saying, "Let the fish multiply
and fill the oceans. Let the birds
increase and fill the earth." 23 This all
happened on the fifth day.
24 And God said, "Let the earth bring
forth every kind of animal-livestock,
small animals, and wildlife." And so it
was. 25 God made all sorts of wild animals,
livestock, and small animals, each able
to reproduce more of its own kind. And
God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, "Let us make people in
our image, to be like ourselves. They will
be masters over all life-the fish in the
sea, the birds in the sky, and all the live-stock,
wild animals, and small animals."
27 So God created
people in his own
image;
God patterned them
after himself;
male and female he
created them. 28 God blessed them and told them,
"Multiply and fill the earth and subdue
it. Be masters over the fish and birds and
all the animals." 29 And God said, "Look! I
have given you the seed-bearing plants
throughout the earth and all the fruit
trees for your food. 30 And I have given
all the grasses and other green plants to
the animals and birds for their food."
And so it was. 31 Then God looked over
all he had made, and he saw that it was
excellent in every way. This all happened
on the sixth day.
I believe God created the
world. Gen. 1:1
Heard of the big bang theory? It's
not new. In fact, the Bible begins
with it. Not as a theory about the
universe but as a fact. Bang-God
created! Our world isn't here by
accident. God had a purpose in
making everything, including
each person who would ever be
born. That includes you. Aren't
you glad you have a reason for
living?
2 Chron. 2:11-12, p. 577
I believe God created
people and patterned them
after himself. Gen. 1:26-27
Ever have a day when you said to
yourself, I'm the biggest loser on
Earth? Then think about this: God
made people to reflect who he is
and what he's like. That includes
you. He didn't make rocks or trees
to show his character. He made
you. That makes you pretty
special.
Song of Songs 4:8-11,
p. 877
Chapter 2
So the creation of the heavens and the
earth and everything in them was completed.
2 On the seventh day, having finished
his task, God rested from all his
work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day
and declared it holy, because it was the
day when he rested from his work of
creation.
4 This is the account of the creation of
the heavens and the earth.
The Man and Woman in Eden
When the Lord God made the heavens and
the earth, 5 there were no plants or grain
growing on the earth, for the Lord God
had not sent any rain. And no one was
there to cultivate the soil. 6 But water
came up out of the ground and watered
all the land. 7 And the Lord God formed a
man's body from the dust of the ground
and breathed into it the breath of life.
And the man became a living person.
8 Then the Lord God planted a garden
in Eden, in the east, and there he placed
the man he had created. 9 And the Lord
God planted all sorts of trees in the garden
beautiful trees that produced delicious
fruit. At the center of the garden
he placed the tree of life and the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil.
10 A river flowed from the land of Eden,
watering the garden and then dividing
into four branches. 11 One of these
branches is the Pishon, which flows
around the entire land of Havilah, where
gold is found. 12 The gold of that land is
exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and
onyx stone are also found there. 13 The
second branch is the Gihon, which flows
around the entire land of Cush. 14 The
third branch is the Tigris, which flows to
the east of Asshur. The fourth branch is
the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God placed the man in the
Garden of Eden to tend and care for it.
16 But the Lord God gave him this warning:
"You may freely eat any fruit in the
garden 17 except fruit from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. If you eat of
its fruit, you will surely die."
18 And the Lord God said, "It is not
good for the man to be alone. I will
make a companion who will help him."
19 So the Lord God formed from the soil
every kind of animal and bird. He
brought them to Adam to see what he
would call them, and Adam chose a name
for each one. 20 He gave names to all the
livestock, birds, and wild animals. But
still there was no companion suitable for
him. 21 So the Lord God caused Adam to
fall into a deep sleep. He took one of
Adam's ribs and closed up the place from
which he had taken it. 22 Then the Lord
God made a woman from the rib and
brought her to Adam.
23 "At last!" Adam exclaimed. "She is
part of my own flesh and bone! She will
be called 'woman,' because she was taken
out of a man." 24 This explains why a man
leaves his father and mother and is
joined to his wife, and the two are
united into one. 25 Now, although Adam
and his wife were both naked, neither of
them felt any shame.
Chapter 3
The Man and Woman Sin
Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all
the creatures the Lord God had made.
"Really?" he asked the woman. "Did God
really say you must not eat any of the
fruit in the garden?"
2 "Of course we may eat it," the woman
told him. 3 "It's only the fruit from the tree
at the center of the garden that we are not
allowed to eat. God says we must not eat it
or even touch it, or we will die."
4 "You won't die!" the serpent hissed.
5 "God knows that your eyes will be
opened when you eat it. You will become
just like God, knowing everything, both
good and evil."
6 The woman was convinced. The fruit
looked so fresh and delicious, and it
would make her so wise! So she ate some
of the fruit. She also gave some to her
husband, who was with her. Then he ate
it, too. 7 At that moment, their eyes were
opened, and they suddenly felt shame at
their nakedness. So they strung fig
leaves together around their hips to
cover themselves.
8 Toward evening they heard the Lord
God walking about in the garden, so they
hid themselves among the trees. 9 The
Lord God called to Adam, "Where are
you?"
10 He replied, "I heard you, so I hid. I
was afraid because I was naked."
11 "Who told you that you were
naked?" the Lord God asked. "Have you
eaten the fruit I commanded you not to
eat?"
12 "Yes," Adam admitted, "but it was
the woman you gave me who brought me
the fruit, and I ate it."
13 Then the Lord God asked the woman,
"How could you do such a thing?"
"The serpent tricked me," she replied.
"That's why I ate it."
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent,
"Because you have done this, you will be
punished. You are singled out from all
the domestic and wild animals of the
whole earth to be cursed. You will grovel
in the dust as long as you live, crawling
along on your belly. 15 From now on, you
and the woman will be enemies, and
your offspring and her offspring will be
enemies. He will crush your head, and
you will strike his heel."
16 Then he said to the woman, "You will
bear children with intense pain and suffering.
And though your desire will be for
your husband, he will be your master."
17 And to Adam he said, "Because you
listened to your wife and ate the fruit I
told you not to eat, I have placed a curse
on the ground. All your life you will
struggle to scratch a living from it. 18 It
will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains. 19 All
your life you will sweat to produce food,
until your dying day. Then you will
return to the ground from which you
came. For you were made from dust, and
to the dust you will return."
20 Then Adam named his wife Eve,
because she would be the mother of all
people everywhere. 21 And the Lord God
made clothing from animal skins for
Adam and his wife.
22 Then the Lord God said, "The people
have become as we are, knowing everything,
both good and evil. What if they
eat the fruit of the tree of life? Then
they will live forever!" 23 So the Lord God
banished Adam and his wife from the Garden
of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate
the ground from which he had been
made. 24 After banishing them from the
garden, the Lord God stationed mighty
angelic beings to the east of Eden. And a
flaming sword flashed back and forth,
guarding the way to the tree of life.
Chapter 4
Cain, Abel, and Seth
Now Adam slept with his wife, Eve, and
she became pregnant. When the time
came, she gave birth to Cain, and she
said, "With the Lord's help, I have
brought forth a man!" 2 Later she gave
birth to a second son and named him
Abel.
When they grew up, Abel became a
shepherd, while Cain was a farmer. 3 At
harvesttime Cain brought to the Lord a
gift of his farm produce, 4 while Abel
brought several choice lambs from the
best of his flock. The Lord accepted Abel
and his offering, 5 but he did not accept
Cain and his offering. This made Cain
very angry and dejected.
6 "Why are you so angry?" the Lord
asked him. "Why do you look so
dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you
respond in the right way. But if you
refuse to respond correctly, then watch
out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy
you, and you must subdue it."
8 Later Cain suggested to his brother,
Abel, "Let's go out into the fields." And
while they were there, Cain attacked and
killed his brother.
9 Afterward the Lord asked Cain,
"Where is your brother? Where is Abel?"
"I don't know!" Cain retorted. "Am I
supposed to keep track of him wherever
he goes?"
10 But the Lord said, "What have you
done? Listen-your brother's blood cries
out to me from the ground! 11 You are
hereby banished from the ground you
have defiled with your brother's blood.
12 No longer will it yield abundant crops
for you, no matter how hard you work!
From now on you will be a homeless
fugitive on the earth, constantly wandering
from place to place."
13 Cain replied to the Lord, "My punishment
is too great for me to bear! 14 You
have banished me from my land and
from your presence; you have made me a
wandering fugitive. All who see me will
try to kill me!"
15 The Lord replied, "They will not kill
you, for I will give seven times your
punishment to anyone who does." Then
the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn
anyone who might try to kill him. 16 So
Cain left the Lord's presence and settled
in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
17 Then Cain's wife became pregnant
and gave birth to a son, and they named
him Enoch. When Cain founded a city, he
named it Enoch after his son.
18 Enoch was the father of Irad.
Irad was the father of Mehujael.
Mehujael was the father of
Methushael.
Methushael was the father of Lamech.
19 Lamech married two women-Adah
and Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to a baby
named Jabal. He became the first of
the herdsmen who live in tents. 21 His
brother's name was Jubal, the first musician
-the inventor of the harp and flute.
22 To Lamech's other wife, Zillah, was
born Tubal-cain. He was the first to work
with metal, forging instruments of
bronze and iron. Tubal-cain had a sister
named Naamah.
Continues.
