Before I went all-in on storytelling, I was a pastor as well as an editor for a Bible translation. So, given this professional experience, joined by my academic background with post-graduate degrees in divinity and theology, I thought I would offer a fresh translation of the Creation Narrative in Genesis 1 and 2!


The translation included throughout this story is both faithful to the original Bible text, coming straight from the original Hebrew manuscripts, as well as accessible to modern readers—offering a new way to read our origin story that I hope will give you new insight into God’s magical intent for our lives and universe.


I have included it here for your own reference and spiritual edification, with an adjustment to the chapterization to more faithfully reflect the original narrative flow.

In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth.

And the earth was formless and chaotic, empty and void—and darkness was upon the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of Elohim was hovering over the surface of the water.

Then Elohim said, ‘Let there be light!’ and there was light. Elohim saw that the light was good, and Elohim separated the light from the darkness. Elohim called the light Day and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning—the First Day.

Then Elohim said, ‘Let there be an expanse in the midsts of the waters to separate waters from waters!’ So Elohim made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse—and it was so. Elohim called the expanse Sky. And there was evening and there was morning—the Second Day.

Then Elohim said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, and let there appear the dry ground—and it was so. And Elohim called the dry ground Land and the waters that were brought together he called Seas. And Elohim saw that it was good.

Then Elohim said, ‘Let the land sprout vegetation: seed-yielding plants, fruit-bearing trees which carry seeds in them upon the land—and it was so. And the Land brought forth vegetation: seed-yielding plants of their kind and fruit-bearing trees which carry seeds in them of their kind. And Elohim saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning—the Third Day.

Then Elohim said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs of the seasons and days and years, and let the lights in the expanse of the heavens be light to the Land—and it was so. So Elohim made the two Great Lights—the Greater Light to rule the day and the Lesser Light to rule the night, as well as the stars. Elohim placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the Land—to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from the darkness. And Elohim saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning—the Fourth Day.

Then Elohim said, ‘Let the waters swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly above the Land across the expanse of the sky. So Elohim created the great sea creatures and every living thing which moves and swarms in the waters of their kind, and every winged bird of their kind. And Elohim saw that it was good. Elohim blessed them, saying: ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply in the Land. And there was evening and there was morning—the Fifth Day.

Then Elohim said, ‘Let living creatures of their kind go forth upon the Land: livestock and creeping things upon the ground and wild beasts of the Land, each of their kind—and it was so. So Elohim made the wild beasts of the Land according to their kind, and the livestock according to their kind, and all the creeping things upon the ground according to their kind. And Elohim saw that it was good.

Then Elohim said, ‘Let us make a Human in our Image, according to our Likeness, so that they may have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock and over all the Land, and over all the creeping things that creep over the Land.

So God created the Human in his own Image—
in Elohim’s Image he created him; male and female he created them.

Then Elohim blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the Land—subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over all living creatures that move over the Land.’

Then Elohim said, ‘Behold, I have given to you every seed-yielding plant on the surface of the whole Land, and every fruit-bearing tree which has seed in it—they will be for you to have as food. And to all the beasts of the Land and all the birds of the sky and everything that creeps over the Land and everything that has living breath, I give every green plant for food—and it was so.

So Elohim saw everything that he had made—and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning—the Sixth Day.

Thus were completed the heavens and the earth in all their vast array. And Elohim had completed by the Seventh Day the work which he had done—and he rested on the Seventh Day from all the work that he had done. Then Elohim blessed the Seventh Day and consecrated it, making it holy, because on it he rested from all the work which Elohim had created and made.

This is the account of the Heavens and the Land when they were created, on the day which Yahweh God made the Land and Heavens.

Now no bush of the field had yet been on the Land and no plant of the field had yet sprouted up, for Yahweh God had not made it rain upon the Land—and there was no Man to work and cultivate the Land. But a mist would come up from the Land and water the whole surface of the Land. Then Yahweh God crafted Man from the dust of the Land, and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life—and the Man became a living being.

Now Yahweh God planted a Garden in Eden, in the east, and he placed there the Man whom he had crafted. And Yahweh God grew up out of the Land all kinds of trees that were pleasant in appearance and good for food. And the Tree of Life was in the midst of the Garden, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

A river flowed out of Eden, watering the Garden, and from there it was divided, becoming four headwaters. The name of the first is Pishon; it flows across the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold—the gold of the land is good; there is bdellium and onyx stone. The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows across all the land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

And Yahweh God took the Man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to work and serve, watch over and preserve it. Then Yahweh God commanded the Man, saying, ‘From all the trees of the Garden you are surely free to eat; but from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you may not eat from it. Because when in the day that you eat from it, surely you are doomed to die.’

Now Yahweh God said, ‘It is not good for the Man to be alone. I will make a helper for him that is suitable for him.’

So Yahweh God had crafted from the Land every wild beast of the field and every bird in the sky. And he brought them to the Man to see what he would call them, and whatever the Man called each living creature, that was its name. So the Man gave the names of every livestock and bird of the heavens and every wild beast of the field. But for the Man, there was not found a helper that was suitable for him.

So Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to come over the Man, and while he slept he took one of his ribs, and then closed up his flesh at that place. Then Yahweh God built from the rib the woman he had taken from the Man, and he brought her to the Man.The Man said, ‘This is now bone from my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because from Man she was taken.’

That is why a man leaves his father and his mother to be joined to his wife, and they become one flesh.
The Man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.