Through the Bible – Day 1

₃God said, “I command light to shine!” And light started shining. ₄God looked at the light and saw that it was good. He separated light from darkness ₅and named the light “Day” and the darkness “Night”. Evening came and then morning—that was the first day.

₆God said, “I command a dome to separate the water above it from the water below it.” ₇And that's what happened. God made the dome ₈and named it “Sky”. Evening came and then morning—that was the second day.

₉God said, “I command the water under the sky to come together in one place, so there will be dry ground.” And that's what happened. ₁₀God named the dry ground “Land”, and he named the water “Sea”. God looked at what he had done and saw that it was good.

₁₁God said, “I command the earth to produce all kinds of plants, including fruit trees and grain.” And that's what happened. ₁₂The earth produced all kinds of vegetation. God looked at what he had done, and it was good. ₁₃Evening came and then morning—that was the third day.

₁₄God said, “I command lights to appear in the sky and to separate day from night and to show the time for seasons, special days, and years. ₁₅I command them to shine on the earth.” And that's what happened. ₁₆God made two powerful lights, the brighter one to rule the day and the other to rule the night. He also made the stars. ₁₇Then God put these lights in the sky to shine on the earth, ₁₈to rule day and night, and to separate light from darkness. God looked at what he had done, and it was good. ₁₉Evening came and then morning—that was the fourth day.

₂₀God said, “I command the sea to be full of living creatures, and I command birds to fly above the earth.” ₂₁So God made the giant sea monsters and all the living creatures that swim in the sea. He also made every kind of bird. God looked at what he had done, and it was good. ₂₂Then he gave the living creatures his blessing—he told the sea creatures to live everywhere in the sea and the birds to live everywhere on earth. ₂₃Evening came and then morning—that was the fifth day.

₂₄God said, “I command the earth to give life to all kinds of tame animals, wild animals, and reptiles.” And that's what happened. ₂₅God made every one of them. Then he looked at what he had done, and it was good.

₂₆God said, “Now we will make humans, and they will be like us. We will let them rule the fish, the birds, and all other living creatures.”

₂₇So God created humans to be like himself; he made men and women. ₂₈God gave them his blessing and said:

₃₁God looked at what he had done. All of it was very good! Evening came and then morning—that was the sixth day.

₁So the heavens and the earth and everything else were created.

₂By the seventh day God had finished his work, and so he rested. ₃God blessed the seventh day and made it special because on that day he rested from his work.

₄That's how God created the heavens and the earth.

When the LORD God made the heavens and the earth, ₅no grass or plants were growing anywhere. God had not yet sent any rain, and there was no one to work the land. ₆But streams came up from the ground and watered the earth.

₇The LORD God took a handful of soil and made a man. God breathed life into the man, and the man started breathing. ₈The LORD made a garden in a place called Eden, which was in the east, and he put the man there.

₉The LORD God placed all kinds of beautiful trees and fruit trees in the garden. Two other trees were in the middle of the garden. One of the trees gave life—the other gave the power to know the difference between right and wrong.

₁₀From Eden a river flowed out to water the garden, then it divided into four rivers. ₁₁The first one is the River Pishon that flows through the land of Havilah, ₁₂where pure gold, rare perfumes, and precious stones are found. ₁₃The second is the River Gihon that winds through Ethiopia. ₁₄The River Tigris that flows east of Assyria is the third, and the fourth is the River Euphrates.

₁₅The LORD God put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and to look after it. ₁₆But the LORD told him, “You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden, ₁₇except the one that has the power to let you know the difference between right and wrong. If you eat any fruit from that tree, you will die before the day is over!”

₁₈The LORD God said, “It isn't good for the man to live alone. I need to make a suitable partner for him.” _19-20So the LORD took some soil and made animals and birds. He brought them to the man to see what names he would give each of them. Then the man named the tame animals and the birds and the wild animals. That's how they got their names.

None of these was the right kind of partner for the man. ₂₁So the LORD God made him fall into a deep sleep, and he took out one of the man's ribs. Then after closing the man's side, ₂₂the LORD made a woman out of the rib.

The LORD God brought her to the man, ₂₃and the man exclaimed,

₂₄That's why a man will leave his own father and mother. He marries a woman, and the two of them become like one person.

₂₅Although the man and his wife were both naked, they were not ashamed.

₁The snake was more cunning than any of the other wild animals that the LORD God had made. One day it came to the woman and asked, “Did God tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”

₂The woman answered, “God said we could eat fruit from any tree in the garden, ₃except the one in the middle. He told us not to eat fruit from that tree or even to touch it. If we do, we will die.”

₄“No, you won't!” the snake replied. ₅“God understands what will happen on the day you eat fruit from that tree. You will see what you have done, and you will know the difference between right and wrong, just as God does.”

₆The woman stared at the fruit. It looked beautiful and tasty. She wanted the wisdom that it would give her, and she ate some of the fruit. Her husband was there with her, so she gave some to him, and he ate it too. ₇Straight away they saw what they had done, and they realized they were naked. Then they sewed fig leaves together to make something to cover themselves.

₈Late in the afternoon a breeze began to blow, and the man and woman heard the LORD God walking in the garden. They were frightened and hid behind some trees.

₉The LORD called out to the man and asked, “Where are you?”

₁₀The man answered, “I was naked, and when I heard you walking through the garden, I was frightened and hid!”

₁₁“How did you know you were naked?” God asked. “Did you eat any fruit from that tree in the middle of the garden?”

₁₂“It was the woman you put here with me,” the man said. “She gave me some of the fruit, and I ate it.”

₁₃The LORD God then asked the woman, “What have you done?”

“The snake tricked me,” she answered. “And I ate some of that fruit.”

₁₄So the LORD God said to the snake:

₁₆Then the LORD said to the woman,

₁₇The LORD said to the man,

₂₀The man Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all who live.

₂₁Then the LORD God made clothes out of animal skins for the man and his wife.

₂₂The LORD said, “These people now know the difference between right and wrong, just as we do. But they must not be allowed to eat fruit from the tree that lets them live for ever.” ₂₃So the LORD God sent them out of the Garden of Eden, where they would have to work the ground from which the man had been made. ₂₄Then God put winged creatures at the entrance to the garden and a flaming, flashing sword to guard the way to the life-giving tree.

₁Jesus Christ came from the family of King David and also from the family of Abraham. And this is a list of his ancestors.

_12-16From the exile to the birth of Jesus, his ancestors were:

Jehoiachin, Shealtiel, Zerubbabel, Abiud, Eliakim, Azor, Zadok, Achim;

Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, and Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is called the Messiah.

₁₇There were fourteen generations from Abraham to David. There were also fourteen from David to the exile in Babylonia and fourteen more to the birth of the Messiah.

₁₈This is how Jesus Christ was born. A young woman named Mary was engaged to Joseph from King David's family. But before they were married, she learnt that she was going to have a baby by God's Holy Spirit. ₁₉Joseph was a good man and did not want to embarrass Mary in front of everyone. So he decided to call off the wedding quietly.

₂₀While Joseph was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, the baby that Mary will have is from the Holy Spirit. Go ahead and marry her. ₂₁Then after her baby is born, name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

₂₂So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, ₂₃“A virgin will have a baby boy, and he will be called Immanuel,” which means “God is with us.”

₂₄After Joseph woke up, he and Mary were soon married, just as the Lord's angel had told him to do. ₂₅But they did not sleep together before her baby was born. Then Joseph named him Jesus.