Genesis means beginnings and it covers a lot of ground. It begins with the creation of the world and ends with Israel's journey from its homeland in Canaan to Egypt to escape famine, where the Israelites would become slaves.

Genesis is comprised of three sections: the primordial history (chapters 1-11), Israel's beginnings under Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, (chapters 12-36), and the story of Jacob's son Joseph in Egypt (chapters 37-50).

Genesis 1-3 presents the creation story from two different perspectives. Genesis 1 describes the formation of the cosmos in six days. God brings order to chaos, represented by the waters or "the deep". God's spirit hovers over the chaotic waters and moves them to make room for sky and earth. Then he fills the earth, sky, and sea with plant and animal life, culminating in the creation of humans on the sixth day and God's rest from his labors on the seventh day.

Genesis 2-3 describes His creation of mankind, beginning with the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve, and how they were given a garden paradise called Eden to live in.

Sin entered the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God by listening to the tempting words of a serpent who deceived them and induced them to eat the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, resulting in their being exiled from the garden. Thus began the human drama of sin and misery.

Chapters 6-9 describe the great flood that destroyed all of humanity except for the family of Noah because of the wickedness that had overtaken mankind.

Chapter 11 describes how God divided mankind into a multitude of different languages at the Tower of Babel and scattered the nations over the earth.

God then created the nation of Israel, beginning with Abraham, his son Isaac, and his grandson Jacob. Abraham's father and brothers left Ur in ancient Mesopotamia and traveled to Haran, just north of Canaan. From there, God called Abraham to journey to Canaan, a land that God promised to give to his descendants forever.

Abraham's family settled in the land in a covenant relationship with God. God changed Jacob's named to Israel, which name means "he struggled with God." This account describes the nature of Israel's relationship with God from that point on. Jacob became the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, and thus the Hebrew nation was born.

Genesis concludes with the account of one of Jacob's sons, Joseph, who was sold to a band of traders, who in turn sold him to Potiphar, the captain of the guard of Egypt's king. Joseph began as a servant but, because of his ability to interpret dreams, he eventually became Pharaoh's most trusted right hand man. Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all of the land of Egypt to administer a plan to save Egypt from a coming famine. His position eventually allowed him to be reunited with his long-lost brothers and his father Jacob.

Genesis explains how God established a covenant relationship between Himself mankind that requires obedience, in return for which God promises to provide eternal life to all who truly believe in and follow God.