Genesis 1
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Long, long ago God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.
When he began to create the earth, it was shapeless and completely desolate/chaotic. Darkness covered the deep water that surrounded the earth. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the water.
3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
God said, “I want light to shine!” And light shone.
4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.
God was pleased with the light. Then he made the light to shine in some places, and in other places there was still darkness.
5 God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day.
He gave to the light the name ‘day’, and he gave to the darkness the name ‘night’. After that, there was an evening which was followed by a morning. He called that whole period of time ‘the first day’.
6 God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”
Then God said, “I command that there be an empty space like a huge dome to separate the water that is above it from the water on the earth that is below it!”
7 God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
And that is what happened. God gave to the space the name ‘sky’.
8 God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day.
Then there was another evening, which was followed by another morning. He called that period of time ‘the second day’.
9 God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so.
Then God said, “I want the water that is below the sky to come together, and dry ground to appear and rise above the water.” And that is what happened.
10 God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good.
God gave to the ground the name ‘earth’, and he gave to the water that came together the name ‘oceans’. God was pleased with the earth and the oceans.
11 God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth;” and it was so.
Then God said, “I want the earth to produce plants, including plants that will produce seeds and trees that will produce fruit. Each kind of tree will bear its own kind of fruit.”
12 The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.
Then plants grew on the earth; each kind of plant began to produce its own kind of seed.
13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
Then there was another evening which was followed by another morning. God called that period of time ‘the third day’.
14 God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years;
Then God said, “I want a sun, a moon, and many stars to shine in the sky. The sun will shine in the daytime and the moon and stars will shine during the nighttime. By the changes in their appearance they will indicate the various seasons (OR, the times for special celebrations), and will enable people to know when days and years begin.
15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth;” and it was so.
I want them also to be like lights in the sky that will shine on the earth.” And that is what happened.
16 God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars.
God made two of them that were like big lights. The bigger one, the sun, shines during the day and the smaller one, the moon, shines during the night. He also made the stars.
17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth,
God set all of them in the sky to shine on the earth,
18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.
to rule the day and the night, and to separate the light of the daytime from the darkness of the nighttime. God was pleased with these things he had made.
19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
Then there was another evening which was followed by another morning. He called that period of time ‘the fourth day’.
20 God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.”
Then God said, “I want many creatures to live in all the oceans, and I also want birds to fly in the sky above the earth.”
21 God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good.
So God created huge sea creatures and every other kind of creature that moves in the water, and caused them to live in all the oceans. He also created many kinds of birds. God was pleased with all those creatures.
22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
God blessed them. He said, “Produce offspring and become very numerous. I want the creatures in the water to live in all the oceans, and birds also to become very numerous.” And that is what happened.
23 There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
Then there was another evening that was followed by another morning. He called that period of time ‘the fifth day’.
24 God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;” and it was so.
Then God said, “I want various kinds of creatures to appear on the earth. There will be many kinds of (livestock/domestic animals), creatures that scurry across the ground, and large wild animals.” And that is what happened.
25 God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.
God made all kinds of wild animals and (livestock/domestic animals) and all kinds of creatures that scurry across the ground. God was pleased with all these creatures.
26 God said, “Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Then God said, “Now we will make human beings that will be like us in many ways. I want them to rule over the fish in the sea, over the birds, over all the (livestock/domestic animals), and over all the other creatures that scurry across the ground.”
27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.
So God created human beings that were like him in many ways. He made them to be like himself. He created some to be male and some to be female.
28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
God blessed them, saying, “Produce many children, who will live all over the earth and rule over it. I want them to rule over the fish and the birds and over all creatures that scurry across the ground.”
29 God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.
God said to the humans, “Listen! I have given you all the plants that produce seeds, all over the earth, and all the trees that have seeds in their fruit. All these things are for you to eat.
30 To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so.
I have given all the green plants to all the wild animals and to the birds and to all the creatures that scurry across the ground, to everything that breathes, for them to eat.” And that is what happened.
31 God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
God was pleased with everything that he had made. Truly, it was all very good. Then there was another evening, that was followed by another morning. He called that period of time ‘the sixth day’.
