>
>Genesis 1-3 (The Message)
>
>Genesis 1
>
>Heaven and Earth
> 1-2First this: God created the Heavens and Earth-all you see, all
> you don't see. Earth was a soup
>of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness.
>God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.
>
> 3-5 God spoke: "Light!"
> And light appeared.
> God saw that light was good
> and separated light from dark.
> God named the light Day,
> he named the dark Night.
> It was evening, it was morning-
> Day One.
>
> 6-8 God spoke: "Sky! In the middle of the waters;
> separate water from water!"
> God made sky.
> He separated the water under sky
> from the water above sky.
> And there it was:
> he named sky the Heavens;
> It was evening, it was morning-
> Day Two.
>
> 9-10 God spoke: "Separate!
> Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place;
> Land, appear!"
> And there it was.
> God named the land Earth.
> He named the pooled water Ocean.
> God saw that it was good.
>
> 11-13 God spoke: "Earth, green up! Grow all varieties
> of seed-bearing plants,
> Every sort of fruit-bearing tree."
> And there it was.
> Earth produced green seed-bearing plants,
> all varieties,
> And fruit-bearing trees of all sorts.
> God saw that it was good.
> It was evening, it was morning-
> Day Three.
>
> 14-15 God spoke: "Lights! Come out!
> Shine in Heaven's sky!
> Separate Day from Night.
> Mark seasons and days and years,
> Lights in Heaven's sky to give light to Earth."
> And there it was.
>
> 16-19 God made two big lights, the larger
> to take charge of Day,
> The smaller to be in charge of Night;
> and he made the stars.
> God placed them in the heavenly sky
> to light up Earth
> And oversee Day and Night,
> to separate light and dark.
> God saw that it was good.
> It was evening, it was morning-
> Day Four.
>
> 20-23 God spoke: "Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life!
> Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!"
> God created the huge whales,
> all the swarm of life in the waters,
> And every kind and species of flying birds.
> God saw that it was good.
> God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean!
> Birds, reproduce on Earth!"
> It was evening, it was morning-
> Day Five.
>
> 24-25 God spoke: "Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind:
> cattle and reptiles and wild animals-all kinds."
> And there it was:
> wild animals of every kind,
> Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug.
> God saw that it was good.
>
> 26-28 God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them
> reflecting our nature
> So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
> the birds in the air, the cattle,
> And, yes, Earth itself,
> and every animal that moves on the face of Earth."
> God created human beings;
> he created them godlike,
> Reflecting God's nature.
> He created them male and female.
> God blessed them:
> "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
> Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
> for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth."
>
> 29-30 Then God said, "I've given you
> every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth
> And every kind of fruit-bearing tree,
> given them to you for food.
> To all animals and all birds,
> everything that moves and breathes,
> I give whatever grows out of the ground for food."
> And there it was.
>
> 31 God looked over everything he had made;
> it was so good, so very good!
> It was evening, it was morning-
> Day Six.
>
>Genesis 2
>
> 1 Heaven and Earth were finished, down to the last detail.
>
> 2-4 By the seventh day
> God had finished his work.
> On the seventh day
> he rested from all his work.
> God blessed the seventh day.
> He made it a Holy Day
> Because on that day he rested from his work,
> all the creating God had done.
>
> This is the story of how it all started,
> of Heaven and Earth when they were created.
>
>Adam and Eve
>5-7 At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or
>shrubs had sprouted from the
>ground-God hadn't yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone
>around to work the ground (the whole Earth was watered by
>underground springs)-God formed Man out of
>dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the
>breath of life. The Man came alive-a living soul!
>
> 8-9 Then God planted a garden in Eden, in the east. He put the Man
> he had just made in it. God made
>all kinds of trees grow from the ground, trees beautiful
>to look at and good to eat. The Tree-of-Life was in the middle of
>the garden, also the
>Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.
>
> 10-14 A river flows out of Eden to water the garden and from there
> divides into four rivers. The
>first is named Pishon; it flows through Havilah where
>there is gold. The gold of this land is good. The land is also known
>for a sweet-scented resin and
>the onyx stone. The second river is named Gihon; it
>flows through the land of Cush. The third river is named Hiddekel
>and flows east of Assyria. The
>fourth river is the Euphrates.
>
> 15 God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work
> the ground and keep it in order.
>
> 16-17 God commanded the Man, "You can eat from any tree in the
> garden, except from the
>Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. Don't eat from it. The moment
>you eat from that tree, you're dead."
>
> 18-20 God said, "It's not good for the Man to be alone; I'll make
> him a helper, a companion." So
>God formed from the dirt of the ground all the animals
>of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the
>Man to see what he would name
>them. Whatever the Man called each living creature, that
>was its name. The Man named the cattle, named the birds of the air,
>named the wild animals; but he
>didn't find a suitable companion.
>
> 21-22 God put the Man into a deep sleep. As he slept he removed
> one of his ribs and replaced it
>with flesh. God then used the rib that he had taken from
>the Man to make Woman and presented her to the Man.
>
> 23-25 The Man said,
> "Finally! Bone of my bone,
> flesh of my flesh!
> Name her Woman
> for she was made from Man."
> Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his
> wife. They become one flesh.
> The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they
> felt no shame.
>
>Genesis 3
> 1 The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God had
> made. He spoke to the Woman: "Do
>I understand that God told you not to eat from any
>tree in the garden?"
>
> 2-3 The Woman said to the serpent, "Not at all. We can eat from
> the trees in the garden. It's only
>about the tree in the middle of the garden that God
>said, 'Don't eat from it; don't even touch it or you'll die.'"
>
> 4-5 The serpent told the Woman, "You won't die. God knows that the
> moment you eat from that tree,
>you'll see what's really going on. You'll be just like
>God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil."
>
> 6 When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and
> realized what she would get out of
>it-she'd know everything!-she took and ate the fruit
>and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.
>
> 7 Immediately the two of them did "see what's really going on"-saw
> themselves naked! They sewed fig
>leaves together as makeshift clothes for themselves.
>
> 8 When they heard the sound of God strolling in the garden in the
> evening breeze, the Man and his
>Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from God.
>
> 9 God called to the Man: "Where are you?"
>
> 10 He said, "I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I
> was naked. And I hid."
>
> 11 God said, "Who told you you were naked? Did you eat from that
> tree I told you not to eat from?"
>
> 12 The Man said, "The Woman you gave me as a companion, she gave
> me fruit from the tree, and, yes,
>I ate it."
>
> God said to the Woman, "What is this that you've done?"
>
> 13 "The serpent seduced me," she said, "and I ate."
>
> 14-15 God told the serpent:
> "Because you've done this, you're cursed,
> cursed beyond all cattle and wild animals,
> Cursed to slink on your belly
> and eat dirt all your life.
> I'm declaring war between you and the Woman,
> between your offspring and hers.
> He'll wound your head,
> you'll wound his heel."
>
> 16 He told the Woman:
> "I'll multiply your pains in childbirth;
> you'll give birth to your babies in pain.
> You'll want to please your husband,
> but he'll lord it over you."
>
> 17-19 He told the Man:
> "Because you listened to your wife
> and ate from the tree
> That I commanded you not to eat from,
> 'Don't eat from this tree,'
> The very ground is cursed because of you;
> getting food from the ground
> Will be as painful as having babies is for your wife;
> you'll be working in pain all your life long.
> The ground will sprout thorns and weeds,
> you'll get your food the hard way,
> Planting and tilling and harvesting,
> sweating in the fields from dawn to dusk,
> Until you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried;
> you started out as dirt, you'll end up dirt."
>
> 20 The Man, known as Adam, named his wife Eve because she was the
> mother of all the living.
>
> 21 God made leather clothing for Adam and his wife and dressed them.
>
> 22 God said, "The Man has become like one of us, capable of
> knowing everything, ranging from good
>to evil. What if he now should reach out and take fruit
>from the Tree-of-Life and eat, and live forever? Never-this cannot happen!"
>
> 23-24 So God expelled them from the Garden of Eden and sent them
> to work the ground, the same dirt
>out of which they'd been made. He threw them out of
>the garden and stationed angel-cherubim and a revolving sword of
>fire east of it, guarding the path
>to the Tree-of-Life.
|