Chapter by chapter
1Genesis 1 presents God as the sovereign Creator who makes a good world and appoints humans to rule under him.2Genesis 2 presents human life as God’s gift, sustained by his provision and ordered through work, obedience, and marriage.3Genesis 3 traces human disobedience into fear, toil, and death, while God announces hostility between the serpent and the woman’s offspring.4Genesis 4 traces violence from Cain’s anger to Lamech’s boast, alongside God’s warning, judgment, and restraint of vengeance.5Genesis 5 traces the continuation of human life under death’s shadow, with Enoch’s departure breaking the repeated pattern.6Genesis 6 sets God’s grief and judgment over human corruption alongside his favor toward Noah and his provision for preserving life.7Genesis 7 recounts God’s judgment through the flood and his preservation of Noah’s household and the creatures aboard the ship.8God brings Noah and the animals through the flood and pledges to sustain life despite humanity’s continuing evil.9God pledges to preserve life after the flood, while Noah’s household reveals the continuing disorder within the human family.10Genesis 10 traces the nations’ shared descent from Noah while recording their distinct families, languages, and lands.11YHWH overturns Babel’s bid for a lasting name, while the genealogy traces humanity’s story toward Abram’s household.12God promises blessing through Abram, whose obedience in leaving home is followed by fear and deception in Egypt.13Abram yields the choice of land to Lot, while YHWH declares that Abram’s inheritance rests on his promise.14Abram rescues Lot, receives Melchizedek’s blessing, and refuses wealth that would let Sodom’s king claim credit for his prosperity.15God answers Abram’s questions with promises of offspring and land, sealing a covenant that includes a long wait and suffering.16Genesis 16 follows a household’s conflict into the wilderness, where God finds Hagar and hears her affliction.17God defines his covenant with Abraham, appoints its bodily sign, and names Sarah’s promised son as its heir.18YHWH promises a son beyond human ability, then hears Abraham's appeal for mercy grounded in God's justice.19Genesis 19 sets YHWH’s judgment on Sodom beside his mercy toward Lot, then records further harm within the rescued household.20God protects Sarah and confronts the danger Abraham’s deception brings, while appointing Abraham to pray for the household harmed.21God fulfills his promise through Isaac, preserves Hagar’s son in the wilderness, and establishes Abraham’s standing with Abimelech.22God tests Abraham’s trust, spares Isaac through a substitute, and confirms his promise of blessing through Abraham’s offspring.23Abraham’s mourning for Sarah leads to a public purchase that secures a burial place in the land where he lives.24God’s faithfulness to Abraham shapes the search for Isaac’s wife, as prayer and human choices carry the promise forward.25Genesis 25 carries Abraham’s family story into another generation, where God’s declared purpose precedes the twins’ rivalry over inheritance.26God carries Abraham’s covenant forward through Isaac amid famine, fear, disputes over water, and an uneasy peace with his neighbors.27Isaac’s blessing passes to Jacob through deception, leaving Esau in bitter grief and the household under threat of violence.28God confirms Abraham’s blessing to Jacob and promises his presence as Jacob leaves home for an uncertain future.29Jacob’s love for Rachel unfolds into a household divided by deception and unequal affection, where God sees Leah’s affliction.30Genesis 30 traces a household’s rivalry and contested prosperity while naming God as the giver of children and blessing.31God directs Jacob’s return and restrains Laban’s power as a household divided by mistrust parts under a covenant.32Jacob’s feared meeting with Esau becomes the setting for an encounter with God that leaves him blessed, renamed, and wounded.33Jacob’s meeting with Esau ends in peace, and his arrival in Canaan leads to worship of the God of Israel.34Genesis 34 follows the violation of Dinah into deceptive negotiations, collective slaughter, and an unresolved dispute over the brothers’ response.35God renews his promises to Jacob at Bethel while the family’s history continues through worship, death, and wrongdoing.36Genesis 36 traces Esau’s household into the people of Edom, recording their land, family lines, and rulers.37Genesis 37 traces how favoritism and envy erupt into betrayal, leaving Joseph enslaved and Jacob mourning under a deception.38Judah’s condemnation of Tamar turns into an admission of his own failure, and his family line continues through her.39Genesis 39 traces YHWH’s presence with Joseph through trusted service, resistance to sexual pressure, and unjust imprisonment.40Joseph credits God for interpreting two prisoners’ dreams, and both predictions come true while his own imprisonment remains unresolved.41God reveals the coming famine through Joseph, whose wisdom and authority provide food for Egypt and the countries around it.42Joseph’s brothers find food in Egypt, but their encounter with him exposes old guilt and leaves the family divided by fear.43Genesis 43 brings a fearful family back before Joseph, whose welcome and hidden tears leave his identity still undisclosed.44Joseph’s staged accusation brings the brothers back, and Judah offers his own freedom to spare Benjamin and their father.45Joseph reveals himself and receives his brothers, declaring that God has worked through their betrayal to preserve the family.46God assures Jacob of his presence as his household enters Egypt, where a family will grow into a nation.47Joseph preserves lives through famine while Pharaoh gains land and servants, and Jacob’s household prospers without making Egypt its final home.48Jacob passes the ancestral promise to Joseph’s sons, placing Ephraim first and grounding their future in God’s enduring care.49Jacob’s final words place his sons’ failures and futures within Israel’s unfolding history, with rule promised to Judah and help from God.50Genesis closes with mourning and mercy, while Joseph’s burial instructions place his family’s future under God’s promise.
Read Genesis with a pen in hand.
Psalmlog builds a reading plan through Genesis and turns each day's passage into an entry with one next step.
Nearby booksExodus →The whole map
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).