Genesis 1
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Long, long ago God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God 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 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
God said, “I want light to shine!” And light shone.
4 And God saw that the light was good, and He separated 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.” And 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 And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, to separate 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 So God made the expanse and separated the waters beneath it from the waters above. And it was so.
And that is what happened. God gave to the space the name ‘sky’.
8 God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
Then there was another evening, which was followed by another morning. He called that period of time ‘the second day’.
9 And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may 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 of waters He called “seas.” And 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 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each bearing fruit with seed according to its kind.” 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 produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed according to their kinds. 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 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
Then there was another evening which was followed by another morning. God called that period of time ‘the third day’.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and 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 serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon 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 two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. And He made the stars as well.
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 these lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth,
God set all of them in the sky to shine on the earth,
18 to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And 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 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
Then there was another evening which was followed by another morning. He called that period of time ‘the fourth day’.
20 And God said, “Let the waters teem 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 So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every bird of flight after its kind. And 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 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of 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 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
Then there was another evening that was followed by another morning. He called that period of time ‘the fifth day’.
24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, land crawlers, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” 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 beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And 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 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.”
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 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God 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 and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon 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 Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for 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 And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth—everything that has the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant 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 And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the 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’.
