Spirit Ways ! The Bible Companion

Genesis 1
New International Version
The Beginning

I read the words and knew what it said. I asked the Spirit what I missed. This is what I know now.
Energy became the spirit. The spirit created with only a word. Creation continued with a command,'Let there be'.The next form of the command was 'Let us make mankind'
Life was first given to a unique being called Man. I have the feeling of wrongness. Man was isolated in a garden. I am not told Man did anything.
More living plants called trees are placed in the garden and Man is told to 'to work it and take care of it.' Appearently Man would need to eat and was told 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 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.'. Appearently Man or God did not feel this situation was "right or good" because next God states 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'.
I feel I need to help Man.
Now I look at the state of Man. Adam, Not Adam and Eve. Man was created alone. Life given to Man expanded to plants. Plants led to male and female. It feels like God, then, changed the plan for Man. Man was not alone. Man did not take eternal Life. Man was given a helper, female. Adam and Eve left the garden and produced Sons. Mankind was created to subdue the earth. But the line from Man would not continue without females from mankind. these desendents were call human. This line ended with the virgin birth of Jesus.

^{Gen 1:1}In the beginning If you want to know what it is like to become God, all you need to do is remember when you were born. of course you can't. by the time you can remember it is all over. You do not remember when you were not aware because you were not aware. We are created in God's image. Only a few realize what that means. We already know all we need to know. It is part of each of us, we just don't remember where to find it. When I was born, I was alone but had everything that existed around me. I had no shape or form. I reached out and touched things but did not know what I touched. I sensed things but did not know what I sensed. I went to sleep but woke up in the same condition as I left. All this chaos all around me. There was no time or place in my world. It was very much an adventure. I needed to find something that was missing so I kept reaching out into the nothingness and chaos. Can you remember that? I can not. I see others come after me and sort of remember, but not really. This is the beginning that God also gave to us as part of his image. This was the first part of becomming God. When I did this I found others. When God did this, he found nothing. Or did he. Wait, he found chaos! There was no plan, no pattern, No organization. He found more energy like himself. God
He found that he could gather this energy and influence it. He looked at what he found and saw what was changing in the energy that formed the chaos. In the chaos that he gathered he found he had control over the changing characteristics. This is what being aware means to God; He called his awareness "God". created
He had something to work with. God found "Good" and "Better" and the idea of choice in his work. When organization and separation were added to the work, choice became essential. God found all the changes in the characteristics of energy in the chaos and experimented with the organization and grouping and arrangements of energy with various characteristics. God found that organization is better than chaos. He spread the organization and found it acceptable and accepted. The chaos deminished and many patterns became evident. These patterns expanded and collected as God worked with all the various characteristics. God varied the organization and grouping and arrangement of energy with various characteristics and evaluated the effects. God found energies with the characteristic of movement. When God found that this movement increased the disorganization, he added control to the movement. The control that worked best was a simple path that was repeated, a circle. The smaller the path, the more effect on the chaos. Interaction of some the organizations and groupings and arrangements of energies with various other organizations and groupings and arrangements of energies became evident. God applied the path where it was needed. An idea needed to be created to help with the organization, location. Part of the interaction caused energies to attract and push other engeries. The location of one energy changed the location of another energy. This could be interesting with so much energy and so many variations. The pushing and pulling was actually moving these other organized energies. The increase in organization caused the rapid, chaotic changing to be replaced by stable, organized changing. God created the idea of location or place or demension to apply to this attracting and repelling. This work was becomming interesting. The organization and order was becomming complex. God called this work "creating". the heavens
God continued to spread and improve the organzation. Then God organized energies that did not attrack and repell other energies and called them heavens. and the earth.
On the other hand God organized energies that did attrack and repell other energies and called them earth. ²Now God found that part of organizing and ordering activity required another idea and God created "time". He called this time "now" and named this now as "the beginning". God recorded this activity using 5 words, "In the beginning God created". the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep,
As God observed the organization to this point he was pleased. He did not favor either plan over the other to use for the entire universe. There was much in favor of earth. The speration made creating things easier. But that plan would require locations so close together that the individual creations would not stand out. There was much in favor of heaven. All the eventual creations in heaven would be close together as nothing would separate one from the other. God saw all the variations and organizations were good. He kept everything and organized everything. God recorded the progress by naming the plans. using the names previously considered. The 5 words and God kept the rest of the energies as the spirit or spirits if you want more than one. Right now God considered himself as God The Creator. God The Spirit is always everywhere watching and helping too. For now, God The Creator remains the central character in the story. As a note to remember, these are the first words. Words are for man to organize and share ideas. The ideas change but the words remain. Consider the word heavens. That word has a history, but not now. Now it means all these different things that aren't taking up a location. And the word earth. Now that words means everything that does take up a location location. And we don't know the word 'day'. That word is going to cause trouble. God finds the earth more interesting as a place to create more things. We need to remember that earth is the only thing with a place. There was no organization in the earth. God knew things as "formless and empty, darkness". and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And He continued to organize. He gathered earth things closer and looked "over the surface of the deep," God was in the zone of creating. The Spirit of God was hovering over the earth, over the deep, over the waters. God had created this from the formless, empty darkness with only a thought behind a word.

³And God said, “Let God was just getting started with this mode of creating, working with the eager energy, when he noticed the work was not as intense for him as it was when the work was started. Some of the reluctant spirit was joining in the activity and the enjoyment as much, almost, as God The Creator. To recognize this envolvment, God modified the creating process. Creating things with a word was working great so far, Much more was to come. God welcomed and acknowledged the envolvment. The next creations would be different. God changed the 'word' in to a 'command' for the spirits and energies wanting to work. there be light,” and there was light. ⁴God saw that the light was good, God The Creator said to the heavens, 'Let there be light'. And it happened! God The Creator was very pleased. God saw that the light was good. God would remember to do this more in the next creation. and he separated the light from the darkness. More and more energies that were gathered in earth required the path to be applied to their movement. Organizations and groupings and arrangements of energies felt movement as a unit and applied the path idea to the movements. Movement within movement within movement followed paths. everything that was 'earth' accept the idea to increase the organization. ⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” Soon all things that moved and needed control was helped by the idea of a path. Light belongs to the heavens and could pass inside earth. Light did not interfer with some energies and did interfer with others. There was still darkness in some locations of earth. God could not resist giving names to 'day' and 'night'. And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
And the problems enter the story. In the telling of the creation story, before words would keep meaning from one point to another, evening and morning became part of the story with no meaning given. To further confuse the story, the word 'day' is repeated used for a purpose unrelated to Gods creation of light. How the words were used determined the meaning. 'Day' with the meaning of light from the 'sun' shining on 'earth' followed by 'Night' is not part of 'God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” '
' And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. ' confuses the meaning and gives order and sequence to creation. God is planing to take 2 days to arrange what he has created in 1 day for the creation of the 'garden' and the arrival of 'man'.
The plan is, ^{Gen 2:7} Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Three days for God to set the scene for man.

  Now is the time for the story to be reconciled in time. There is a second portion of the creation story recorded also in Genesis. It has become separated in time from other creation and lost its place in time. I thought the Adam Creation belonged here. It matches this-
⁴ This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
I see this, not as a second story, but as placing this parallel to the other creation in a special place outside the other creation and surving a special purpose that has also been lost. God envisioned a creation that could enjoy the feeling of creaton that God enjoyed in the creation process up to this time.
But it does not match this-
⁵ Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, ⁶ but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.
Maybe the planning started at this time.

⁶ And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” ⁷ So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. ⁸ God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. On His second day God separated the waters. They would be the first to organize. God took the water he would need for the first plants from the water he sould need for the seas and oceans and divided them with sky. God waited and watched the waters move. He called this the second day.

  I thought the Adam Creation belonged here. It matches this-
⁴ This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. ⁵ Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[a] and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground,
But not this-
⁶ but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.

⁹ And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. On His third day God gathered the waters and called the ground to rise to the surface with the sky. It would be the second to organize. God took the ground he would need for the first plants from the ground he would need for support and the seas and oceans divided from the fresh waters. God waited and watched the waters move amoung the types of ground. It was all in place for God to commence His greatest plan. God planned to create an image of himself. He would pass the feelings He gained while becoming and creating to His creation, man.

  The Adam Creation belonged here. It matches this-
  ⁴ This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. ⁵ Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, ⁶ but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Therefore here is where it belongs.

From Genesis 2 The Creation In God's Image, Adam

^{Gen 2:4} This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. ⁵ Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, ⁶ but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. At this time the ground was set for God started another set events that would impact what the results of the creation process could look like. ⁷ Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. God was going to allow one of his creations to accept a place at his side. The creation would be given the work of guardian and caretaker, caretaker of all creation, if he accepted it. The ultimate creation would be a creation to care for all creation. This duty to other creation had to be accepted by the creation, not forced upon it. God created this and called it Man. God formed Man from the earth. God formed Man from the dust of the ground. God breathed the breath of Life into Man and the man became a living being. The first living being. The only living thing. God had a plan in mind for this new energy, Life. But, Life was not the important creation! Man was the important creation! The plan was for Man to be the only creation with Life. Man just had to accept this place.

  The Adam Creation story is missing details. They should be here. None of that is recorded? What happened? The truth is that nothing happened.
The story was accurately recorded. No one questioned what never happened.

God had always created from the energy around Him. Man was created from the ground which was created from the Spirit. God had just created Life for Man. There seemed to be something missing; What is Man; Why is Man?

Not until much later does God say. '^{Gen 1:26} Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over ... ”'
Instead God did this: '^{Gen 2:15} The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ 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.”'

Did God have this plan along? Why not tell Man?!

This might have been happening:
God was going to allow one of his creations to accept a place at his side. The creation would be given the work of guardian and caretaker, caretaker of all creation, if he accepted it. The ultimate creation would be a creation to care for all creation. This had to be accepted by the creation, not forced upon it. God created this and called it Man. God formed Man from the earth. God formed Man from the dust of the ground. God breathed the breath of Life into Man and the man became a living being. The first living being. The only living thing. God had a plan in mind for this new energy, Life. But, Life was not the important creation! Man was the important creation! The plan was for Man to be the only creation with Life. Man just had to accept this place.

The response from Man never came. But man had life! Man, His body, would continue to grow with that life spirit. But the Spirit to take his place as guardian was not in him. Man was afraid to accept his place in creation! God could not see this as a mistake. Man was in place at the beginning. Man was in place to see it all start. But Man was not seeing all that had been created before him as 'good'. God did not expect hesitation.

Man had not accepted his place. Man had not denied his place. Maybe man was in shock and did not understand. Man needed extra care from God to see the 'good'. God would slow things down and protect man for a while and man would grow into his place. That would happen. God would make adam a garden to give him the time he needed. The garden would also protect the rest of creation from this creation that did not accept his creation and the organization God of all the previous creations and proclaim everything to be GOOD.

  The Adam Creation story explains why God needed a garden. Man was given a second chance to decide, 'accept' or 'deny' - None of that is recorded? God did put this aside in a second account of creation. God would contain this story and hope for a 'good' ending.

  The sub-story of adam in the story of 'The Spirit Ways'. 

⁸ Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The amount of time that passed as God waited and watched before He decided to be cautious was not recorded. Time was recorded to keep events in order.God moved the man into the garden. Man still said nothing. ⁹ The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. God gave Life to another creation, trees. They were a gift to man; something for Man to play with. Man made no comment. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God placed man in the garden. God also planted a preview of all the plants and trees that man should/could/would be allowed to care for. God put special trees in the center of the garden. These 2 added trees would provide all the extra characteristics required by man to perform his role in creation. Eating from these trees would be the sign of acceptance of his role in creaton. Man did nothing. ¹⁰ A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. ¹¹ The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) ¹³ The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. The garden was a controlled area where Life would first prove itself and reveal what was essential for its existance. The water from the garden expanded out from the garden and transformed the surrounding area. Water was first to prove its place in creation. ¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Again God tried to motivate man. This time he is given something to do. Man still said nothing.
¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ 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.” God told the man not to eat the fruit from this tree unless he chose to accept the duty of caretaker. If he ate the fruit he would be more than a living being. He would gain the knowledge to choose the good from the bad for all creation. All man had to do was to eat the fruit that no other creation would be able to eat. When man ate the fruit from this tree and die as a common being. There was another tree, the Tree of Life, that he would need for the duty of caretaker. Eat the fruit from the trees, die as a living being, become the caretaker forever. Your choice. In this garden you will come to know all creation before Gods creates it in the world outside the garden. No other creation will do; this was for Man only.  

Genesis 2
while in the Garden

Man recorded this later in a different way. Man would come to think that God would never offer such an opportunity to one of his creations. God knew that he would never force such an opportunity on one of his creations. Man remembered it as,
“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.”
Man would never pass up such an opportunity, would he? Was it a command, a challenge, a warning, or an opportunity? God waited for man to choose. Man waited.

Genesis 1
Still Day Three

^Gen1:11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. ¹² The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. The plant was second to prove its place in creation. God took each kind of plant and tree from the garden. The land outside the garden was prepared and the plants were placed there. God created what was needed for each kind to prosper and flourish.

Genesis 1
Day Four

^{Gen 1:14} And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.¹⁹ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. God worked relentlessly to get each plant and tree the resources that were required to continue. He put the light in the sky and gave the sky the energies needed for Life. He also took away the light to provide a time for the plants to rest. God set the motions of light and season to provide the signals the plants waited for to follow and change to another part of their plan. And it was good.

Genesis 2
Back in the Garden

^{Gen 2:18} The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” God is getting worried. Why is man taking so long to accept his role? Man had seen the image of God, the creator. Man had existed from the beginning. Man had seen almost all of creation. Had man not seen enough to understand his role. Had man not been included in enough to understand his role. Had man seen too much to understand his role. God used his knowledge of Good and Evil and decided "Man could not be caretaker alone. His Man was lacking something. Man was alone. God would help and provide a helper. Man did not get the assurance he needed from the other living thing, plants and trees. The relationship with the other living creations in the garden was not enough to help man accept his role to care for them. God had accepted the plants as Good and place them outside the garden. They were making the world better. God would updated his plan for man; He would create a living being closer to Man, one that would move with him and talk to him.
God had done this task for Himself and it was good. The clues had been left for all to see; God had been alone and created with only a word, then He continued as talking to the energies, the spirits, the other spirit that was himself, His helper. "Let there be light." He would create the helper as He had created man. And so it was.
 

^{Gen 2:19} Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. God created each living creature as He had done for His man. He brought the creature to man and had him finish the process by issuing its name. God thought this would involve man in the process and provide the incentive to accept his role. Each animal failed to provide a connection. ^{Gen 1:20} And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” ²¹ So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

^{Gen 1:22} God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. As God created each living creature, man's role was losing options. Man would not live in water, not even part of the time. These creatures were placed outside the garden. Man would not live in the sky. These creatures also were placed outside the garden. ^{Gen 2:20} So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. God continued with so many animals that He finally concluded this method would not work.

Genesis 2
Back in the Garden

^{Gen 2:19}

Genesis 1
Day 4

^{Gen 1:24} And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. ²⁵ God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

^{Gen 1:26} Then God said, “Let us make mankind 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.”

^{Gen 1:27} So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

^{Gen 1:28} 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.”

^{Gen 1:29} Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. ³⁰ And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

^{Gen 1:31} God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Genesis 2
It has always seemed odd that Chapter 1 of Genesis would end here
and start Chapter 2 with the last Day of the first account of creation. To me it seems part of the effort to confuse the story. 
New International Version

2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Adam and Eve

4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[a] and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams[b] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man[c] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin[d] and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.[e] 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 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.”

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

19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam[f] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[g] and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib[h] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called ‘woman,’

for she was taken out of man.”

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

New International Version
The Fall

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 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. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock

and all wild animals!

You will crawl on your belly

and you will eat dust

all the days of your life.

15 And I will put enmity

between you and the woman,

and between your offspring[a] and hers;

he will crush[b] your head,

and you will strike his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;

with painful labor you will give birth to children.

Your desire will be for your husband,

and he will rule over you.”

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;

through painful toil you will eat food from it

all the days of your life.

18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,

and you will eat the plants of the field.

19 By the sweat of your brow

you will eat your food

until you return to the ground,

since from it you were taken;

for dust you are

and to dust you will return.”

20 Adam[c] named his wife Eve,[d] because she would become the mother of all the living.

21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side[e] of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 4
New International Version
Cain and Abel

4 Adam[a] made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”[d]While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curseand driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear.14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

15 But the Lord said to him, “Not so[e]; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod,[f] east of Eden.

17 Cain made love to his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.

19 Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes.22 Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of[g] bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.

23 Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah, listen to me;

wives of Lamech, hear my words.

I have killed a man for wounding me,

a young man for injuring me.

24 If Cain is avenged seven times,

then Lamech seventy-seven times.”

25 Adam made love to his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth,[h] saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” 26 Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh.

At that time people began to call on[i] the name of the Lord.

Exodus 33

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ 2 I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 3 Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”

Deuteronomy 1

1 These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan—that is, in the Arabah—opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab. 2 (It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.)

3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them. 4 This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, and at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth.

5 East of the Jordan in the territory of Moab, Moses began to expound this law, saying:

6 The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates. 8 See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”