The Beginning
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
The First Day: Light
3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”
There was evening, and there was morning, the first day.
The Second Day: Firmament
6 God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 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. 8 God called the expanse “sky.”
There was evening, and there was morning, a second day.
The Third Day: Dry Ground
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. 10 God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas.” God saw that it was good.
11 God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit according to their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth,” and it was so. 12 The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed according to their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, according to their kind, and God saw that it was good.
13 There was evening, and there was morning, a third day.
The Fourth Day: Sun, Moon, Stars
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 15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth,” and it was so.
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.
17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to 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.
19 There was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.
The Fifth Day: Fish and Birds
20 God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” 21 God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. God saw that it was good.
22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas and let birds multiply on the earth.”
23 There was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.
The Sixth Day: Creatures on Land
24 God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth according to their kind,” and it was so. 25 God made the animals of the earth according to their kind and the livestock according to their kind and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. God saw that it was good.
26 God said, “Let us 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.”
27 God created man in his own image.
In God’s image he created him.
Male and female, he created them.
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.”
29 God said, “I have given you every herb yielding seed on the face of the whole the earth and every seed-bearing tree, which produces fruit. It will be your food. 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.
31 God saw everything that he had made, and it was very good.
There was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day.