Torah FeedParashat Bereshit
Genesis 1:1 to 6:8, 146 verses. Next read on Shabbat, October 10, 2026.
Updated September 24, 2026
בְּרֵאשִׁית
- Book
- Genesis
- Reading
- 1:1 to 6:8
- Verses
- 146
- Position
- 1 of 54
Opening verse
בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ׃
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Read the full text from the start of the portion: Genesis 1 in Hebrew and English.
Summary
The Torah opens with creation. In six days the world is spoken into order, and on the seventh God rests and makes the day holy. Adam and Eve are placed in the garden with one prohibition, the serpent talks them past it, and they are sent out into a world of work and mortality. Cain kills Abel and is marked. Ten generations run from Adam to Noah, and by the end of the portion the earth is so full of violence that God resolves to wash it clean. Almost every large idea in the Torah is introduced here: Shabbat, human dignity, free will, responsibility for one another.
Key moments
- Creation in six days and the first Shabbat (1:1 to 2:3)
- The garden, the serpent and the expulsion (2:4 to 3:24)
- Cain and Abel, and the question "Am I my brother's keeper?" (4:1 to 4:16)
When is Bereshit read?
Upcoming Shabbat readings in the Diaspora calendar:
- Saturday, October 10, 2026
- Saturday, October 30, 2027
- Saturday, October 14, 2028
In some years this portion is read together with its neighbor as a double portion. The dates above include those weeks.