Bible Reading Plan – Day 1

₁In the beginning, when God created the universe, ₂the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water. ₃Then God commanded, “Let there be light” — and light appeared. ₄God was pleased with what he saw. Then he separated the light from the darkness, ₅and he named the light “Day” and the darkness “Night”. Evening passed and morning came — that was the first day.

_6-7Then God commanded, “Let there be a dome to divide the water and to keep it in two separate places” — and it was done. So God made a dome, and it separated the water under it from the water above it. ₈He named the dome “Sky”. Evening passed and morning came — that was the second day.

₉Then God commanded, “Let the water below the sky come together in one place, so that the land will appear” — and it was done. ₁₀He named the land “Earth”, and the water which had come together he named “Sea”. And God was pleased with what he saw. ₁₁Then he commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of plants, those that bear grain and those that bear fruit” — and it was done. ₁₂So the earth produced all kinds of plants, and God was pleased with what he saw. ₁₃Evening passed and morning came — that was the third day.

₁₄Then God commanded, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate day from night and to show the time when days, years, and religious festivals begin; ₁₅they will shine in the sky to give light to the earth” — and it was done. ₁₆So God made the two larger lights, the sun to rule over the day and the moon to rule over the night; he also made the stars. ₁₇He placed the lights in the sky to shine on the earth, ₁₈to rule over the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God was pleased with what he saw. ₁₉Evening passed and morning came — that was the fourth day.

₂₀Then God commanded, “Let the water be filled with many kinds of living beings, and let the air be filled with birds.” ₂₁So God created the great sea monsters, all kinds of creatures that live in the water, and all kinds of birds. And God was pleased with what he saw. ₂₂He blessed them all and told the creatures that live in the water to reproduce, and to fill the sea, and he told the birds to increase in number. ₂₃Evening passed and morning came — that was the fifth day.

₂₄Then God commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life: domestic and wild, large and small” — and it was done. ₂₅So God made them all, and he was pleased with what he saw.

₂₆Then God said, “And now we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us. They will have power over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild, large and small.” ₂₇So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female, ₂₈blessed them, and said, “Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals. ₂₉I have provided all kinds of grain and all kinds of fruit for you to eat; ₃₀but for all the wild animals and for all the birds I have provided grass and leafy plants for food” — and it was done. ₃₁God looked at everything he had made, and he was very pleased. Evening passed and morning came — that was the sixth day.

₁And so the whole universe was completed. ₂By the seventh day God finished what he had been doing and stopped working. ₃He blessed the seventh day and set it apart as a special day, because by that day he had completed his creation and stopped working. ₄And that is how the universe was created.

When the LORD God made the universe, ₅there were no plants on the earth and no seeds had sprouted, because he had not sent any rain, and there was no one to cultivate the land; ₆but water would come up from beneath the surface and water the ground.

₇Then the LORD God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live.

₈Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the East, and there he put the man he had formed. ₉He made all kinds of beautiful trees grow there and produce good fruit. In the middle of the garden stood the tree that gives life and the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad.

₁₀A stream flowed in Eden and watered the garden; beyond Eden it divided into four rivers. ₁₁The first river is the Pishon; it flows round the country of Havilah. ₁₂(Pure gold is found there and also rare perfume and precious stones.) ₁₃The second river is the Gihon; it flows round the country of Cush. ₁₄The third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria, and the fourth river is the Euphrates.

₁₅Then the LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and guard it. ₁₆He said to him, “You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, ₁₇except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day.”

₁₈Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to live alone. I will make a suitable companion to help him.” ₁₉So he took some soil from the ground and formed all the animals and all the birds. Then he brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and that is how they all got their names. ₂₀So the man named all the birds and all the animals; but not one of them was a suitable companion to help him.

₂₁Then the LORD God made the man fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the flesh. ₂₂He formed a woman out of the rib and brought her to him. ₂₃Then the man said,

₂₅The man and the woman were both naked, but they were not embarrassed.

₁Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the LORD God had made. The snake asked the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”

₂“We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden,” the woman answered, ₃“except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die.”

₄The snake replied, “That's not true; you will not die. ₅God said that, because he knows that when you eat it you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad.”

₆The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it. ₇As soon as they had eaten it, they were given understanding and realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves.

₈That evening they heard the LORD God walking in the garden, and they hid from him among the trees. ₉But the LORD God called out to the man, “Where are you?”

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

₁₁“Who told you that you were naked?” God asked. “Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?”

₁₂The man answered, “The woman you put here with me gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

₁₃The LORD God asked the woman, “Why did you do this?”

She replied, “The snake tricked me into eating it.”

₁₄Then the LORD God said to the snake, “You will be punished for this; you alone of all the animals must bear this curse: from now on you will crawl on your belly, and you will have to eat dust as long as you live. ₁₅I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring's heel.”

₁₆And he said to the woman, “I will increase your trouble in pregnancy and your pain in giving birth. In spite of this, you will still have desire for your husband, yet you will be subject to him.”

₁₇And he said to the man, “You listened to your wife and ate the fruit which I told you not to eat. Because of what you have done, the ground will be under a curse. You will have to work hard all your life to make it produce enough food for you. ₁₈It will produce weeds and thorns, and you will have to eat wild plants. ₁₉You will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything, until you go back to the soil from which you were formed. You were made from soil, and you will become soil again.”

₂₀Adam named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all human beings. ₂₁And the LORD God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife, and he clothed them.

₂₂Then the LORD God said, “Now the man has become like one of us and has knowledge of what is good and what is bad. He must not be allowed to take fruit from the tree that gives life, eat it, and live for ever.” ₂₃So the LORD God sent him out of the Garden of Eden and made him cultivate the soil from which he had been formed. ₂₄Then at the east side of the garden he put living creatures and a flaming sword which turned in all directions. This was to keep anyone from coming near the tree that gives life.

₁Then Adam had intercourse with his wife, and she became pregnant. She bore a son and said, “By the LORD's help I have acquired a son.” So she named him Cain. ₂Later she gave birth to another son, Abel. Abel became a shepherd, but Cain was a farmer. ₃After some time, Cain brought some of his harvest and gave it as an offering to the LORD. ₄Then Abel brought the first lamb born to one of his sheep, killed it, and gave the best parts of it as an offering. The LORD was pleased with Abel and his offering, ₅but he rejected Cain and his offering. Cain became furious, and he scowled in anger. ₆Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why that scowl on your face? ₇If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling; but because you have done evil, sin is crouching at your door. It wants to rule you, but you must overcome it.”

₈Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let's go out in the fields.” When they were out in the fields, Cain turned on his brother and killed him.

₉The LORD asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

He answered, “I don't know. Am I supposed to take care of my brother?”

₁₀Then the LORD said, “Why have you done this terrible thing? Your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground, like a voice calling for revenge. ₁₁You are placed under a curse and can no longer farm the soil. It has soaked up your brother's blood as if it had opened its mouth to receive it when you killed him. ₁₂If you try to grow crops, the soil will not produce anything; you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.”

₁₃And Cain said to the LORD, “This punishment is too hard for me to bear. ₁₄You are driving me off the land and away from your presence. I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth, and anyone who finds me will kill me.”

₁₅But the LORD answered, “No. If anyone kills you, seven lives will be taken in revenge.” So the LORD put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who met him not to kill him. ₁₆And Cain went away from the LORD's presence and lived in a land called “Wandering”, which is east of Eden.