The LORD God placed the man
in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.
but the LORD God warned him,
“You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—
except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
If you eat its fruit,
you are sure to die.”
The serpent was the shrewdest
of all the wild animals the LORD God had made.
One day he asked the woman,
“Did God really say you must not eat the fruit
from any of the trees in the garden?”
Then the LORD God said,
“It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a helper who is just right for him.”
So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep.
While the man slept,
the LORD God took out one of the man’s ribs
and closed up the opening.
The the LORD God made a woman from the rib,
and he brought her to the man.
So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
Then God blessed them…
Then God looked over all he had made,
and he saw that it was very good!
…
So the creation of the heavens and the earth
and everything in them was completed.
On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation,
so he rested from all his work.
And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy,
because it was the day when he rested
from all his work of creation.
Then God said…
And that is what happened.
Then God said…
And that is what happened.
Then God said…
And that is what happened.
Then God said…
And that is what happened.
Then God said…
And that is what happened.
Genesis 1:6-7, 9, 11, 14-15, 24
Then God said,
“Let there be light,”
and there was light.
And God saw that the light was good.
Then he separated the light from the darkness.
…Noah was a righteous man,
the only blameless person living on earth at the time,
and he walked in close fellowship with God.
…God saw that the earth had become corrupt
and was filled with violence.
So God said to Noah,
“I have decided to destroy all living creatures,
for they have filled the earth with violence…
Build a large boat…
Look!
I am about to cover the earth with a flood
that will destroy every living thing that breathes.
Everything on earth will die.
But I will confirm my covenant with you.
Go into the boat with all your family,
for among all the people of the earth,
I can see that you alone are righteous.
So Noah did everything as the LORD commanded him.
The LORD observed the extent
of human wickedness on the earth,
and he saw that everything they thought or imagined
was consistently and totally evil.
So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them
and put them on the earth.
It broke his heart.
And the LORD said,
“I will wipe this human race I have created
from the face of the earth…
I am sorry I ever made them.”
But Noah found favor with the LORD.
Oh, the joys of those who do not
follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners,
or join in with mockers.
But they delight in the law of the LORD,
meditating on it day and night.
They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do.
Then I saw a lamb
that looked as if it had been slaughtered…
He stepped forward and took the scroll…
And when he took the scroll,
the four living beings and the twenty-four elders
fell down before the Lamb.
…and they held gold bowls filled with incense,
which are the prayers of God’s people.
