Genesis 4

Cain Murders Abel

1.) Adam was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have had a male child with the Lord’s help.
2.) Then she also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground.
3.) In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord.
4.) And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,
5.) but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.

6.) Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent?
7.) If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

8.) Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field. And 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 guardian?”

10.) Then He said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground!
11.) So now you are cursed, alienated, from the ground that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood you have shed.
12.) If you work the ground, it will never again give you its yield. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

13.) But Cain answered the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear!
14.) Since You are banishing me today from the soil, and I must hide myself from Your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me.”

15.) Then the Lord replied to him, “In that case, whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over. And He placed a mark on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him.
16.) Then Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

The Line of Cain

17.) Cain was intimate with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain became the builder of a city, and he named the city Enoch after his son.
18.) Irad was born to Enoch, Irad fathered Mehujael, Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech.
19.) Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah.
20.) Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of the nomadic herdsmen.
21.) His brother was named Jubal; he was the father of all who play the lyre and the flute.
22.) Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools. Tubal-cain’s sister was Naamah.

23.) Lamech said to his wives:

Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
wives of Lamech, pay attention to my words.
For I killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for striking me.
24.) If Cain is to be avenged seven times over,
then for Lamech it will be seventy-seven times!

25.) Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has given me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”
26.) A son was born to Seth also, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of Yahweh.




Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

Genesis 2:4 - 3:24

Chapter 2
Man and Woman in the Garden

4.) These are the records of the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation at the time that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
5.) No shrub of the field had yet grown on the land, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground.
6.) But water would come out of the ground and water the entire surface of the land.
7.) Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.

8.) The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He placed the man He had formed.
9.) The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10.) A river went out from Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became the source of four rivers.
11.) The name of the first is Pishon, which flows through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.
12.) Gold from that land is pure; bdellium and onyx are also there.
13.) The name of the second river is Gihon, which flows through the entire land of Cush.
14.) The name of the third river is the Tigris, which runs east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15.) The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.
16.) And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden,
17.) but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”
18.) Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement.” 19.) So the Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
20.) The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found as his complement.
21.) So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place.
22.) Then the Lord God made the rib He had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man.
23.) And the man said:

This one, at last, is bone of my bone
and flesh of my flesh;
this one will be called “woman,”
for she was taken from man.

24.) This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.
25.) Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.

Genesis 1:1 - 2:3

Chapter 1

The Creation
1.) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.a]">[a]

2.) Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
3.) Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4.) God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.
5.) God called the light “day,” and He called the darkness “night.” Evening came and then morning: the first day.

6.) Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.”
7.) So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so.
8.) God called the expanse “sky.” Evening came and then morning: the second day.

9.) Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.
10.) God called the dry land “earth,” and He called the gathering of the water “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
11.) Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” And it was so.
12.) The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
13.) Evening came and then morning: the third day.

14.) Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for festivals and for days and years.
15.) They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth.” And it was so.
16.) God made the two great lights—the greater light to have dominion over the day and the lesser light to have dominion over the night—as well as the stars.
17.) God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth,
18.) to dominate the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19.) Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.

20.) Then God said, “Let the water swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.”
21.) So God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22.) So God blessed them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”
23.) Evening came and then morning: the fifth day.

24.) Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.
25.) So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26.) Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”

27.) So God created man in His own image;
He created him in the image of God;
He created them male and female.

28.) God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”
29.) God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you,
30.) for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it. I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31.) God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.

Chapter 2
1.) So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed.
2.) By the seventh day God completed His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done.
3.) God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation.




Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

Ephesians 1 3-14
God’s Rich Blessings

3.) Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.
4.) For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love
5.) He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will,
6.) to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.

7.) We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
8.) that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
9.) He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him
10.) for the administration of the days of fulfillment—to bring everything together in the Messiah, both things in heaven and things on earth in Him.

11.) We have also received an inheritance in Him, predestined according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will,
12.) so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory.

13.) When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.
14.) He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.



Holman Christian Standard Bible
(HCSB) Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.