Genesis 1
1 In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.
Long, long ago God created the heavens and the earth.
2 But the earth was unsightly and unfurnished, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the water.
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 the light that it was good, and God divided between the light and 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 And 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 a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it be a division between water and water, and it was so.
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 And God made the firmament, and God divided between the water which was under the firmament and the water which was above the firmament.
And that is what happened. God gave to the space the name ‘sky’.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven, and God saw that it was good, 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 water which is under the heaven be collected into one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so. And the water which was under the heaven was collected into its places, and the dry land appeared.
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 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gatherings of the 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 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind 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 And the earth brought forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth, 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 firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, to divide between day and night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for 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 light in the firmament of the heaven, so as 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 And God made the two great lights, the greater light for regulating the day and the lesser light for regulating the night, the stars also.
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 And God placed them in the firmament of the heaven, so as to shine upon the earth,
God set all of them in the sky to shine on the earth,
18 and to regulate day and night, and to divide between the light and 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 bring forth reptiles having life, and winged creatures flying above the earth in the firmament of heaven, and it was so.
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 And God made great whales, and every living reptile, which the waters brought forth according to their kinds, and every creature that flies with wings according to its kind, and God saw that they were 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 And God blessed them saying, Increase and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the creatures that fly be multiplied 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 the living creature according to its kind, quadrupeds and reptiles and wild beasts of the earth according to 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 And God made the wild beasts of the earth according to their kind, and cattle according to their kind, and all the reptiles of the earth according to their kind, and God saw that they were 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 And God said, Let us make man according to our image and likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the flying creatures of heaven, and over the cattle and all the earth, and over all the reptiles that creep 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 And God made man, according to the image of God he made him, male and female he made 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 And God blessed them, saying, Increase and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the seas and flying creatures of heaven, and all the cattle and all the earth, and all the reptiles that creep 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 And God said, Behold I have given to you every seed-bearing herb sowing seed which is upon all the earth, and every tree which has in itself the fruit of seed that is sown, to you it shall be 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 all the wild beasts of the earth, and to all the flying creatures of heaven, and to every reptile creeping on the earth, which has in itself the breath of life, even 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 saw all the things that he had made, and, behold, they were 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’.
