Genesis 1
1
The Creation
1In the beginning#Ps 90:2; 102:12; Is 40:21; Jn 1:1–3; Eph 3:21 God created the heavens and the earth.#1:1 Or created the universe#Neh 9:6; Is 40:12–14; 43:7; Jr 10:12–16; Am 4:13; Rm 1:25; 1Co 11:9; Col 1:16; Rv 4:11
2Now the earth was formless and empty,#Jr 4:23 darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.#Jb 26:13; 33:4; Ps 33:6; 104:30 3Then God said, “Let there be light,”#2Co 4:6 and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was an evening, and there was a morning: one day.
6Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.”#Is 44:24; Jr 10:12 7So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse.#Ps 148:4 And it was so. 8God called the expanse “sky.”#1:8 Or “heavens.” Evening came and then morning: the second day.
9Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place,#Jb 38:8–11; Ps 33:7; 136:6; Jr 5:22; 2Pt 3:5 and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of the water he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.”#Ps 65:9–13; 104:14 And it was so. 12The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13Evening came and then morning: the third day.
14Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs#Jr 10:2 for seasons#1:14 Or for the appointed times and for days and years.#Ps 104:19 15They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth.” And it was so. 16God made the two great lights — the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night — as well as the stars.#Dt 4:19; Ps 136:7–9; Is 40:26 17God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth, 18to rule the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.#Jr 31:35 And God saw that it was good. 19Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.
20Then God said, “Let the water swarm with#1:20 Lit with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 21So God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water,#Ps 104:25–28 according to their kinds. He also created every winged creature according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22God blessed them: “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”#Gn 8:17; 9:1 23Evening came and then morning: the fifth day.
24Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26Then God said, “Let us#Gn 3:22; 11:7 make man#1:26 Or human beings; Hb ’adam, also in v. 27 in#1:26 Or as our image, according to our likeness.#Gn 5:1,3; 9:6; Rm 8:29; 1Co 11:7; 15:49; 2Co 3:18; 4:4; Eph 4:24; Col 1:15; Jms 3:9 They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl#1:26 Or scurry on the earth.”#Gn 9:2; Ps 8:6–8; Jms 3:7
27So God created man
in his own image;
he created him in the image of God;
he created them male and female.#Gn 5:2; Mt 19:4; Mk 10:6
28God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth,#Gn 9:1,7 and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” 29God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you,#Gn 9:3; Ps 104:14–15; 136:25; 145:15–16 30for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth — everything having the breath of life in it — I have given#1:30 I have given added for clarity every green plant for food.”#Ps 147:9 And it was so. 31God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed.#1Tm 4:4 Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Genesis 1
1
1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the surface of the deep. The Spirit of God moved over the surface of the waters.
3God said, “Let there be light!” and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day,” and he called the darkness “night.” So there was evening, and then the morning, making day one.#1:5. It is significant that the “day” is measured from darkness to light, which is still the Jewish method of calculating days.
6God said, “Let there be an expanse#1:6. “Expanse.” Older translations have often rendered this word as “firmament,” borrowing from the Latin “firmamentum.” That this referred to some ancient belief that the sky was like a dome of hammered metal, and therefore a tangible physical object, has now been shown to be mistaken. In fact, Latin translations from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries usually use the word “expansionem.” in the middle of the waters to divide the waters.” 7So God made an expanse to divide the waters that were above from the waters that were below. And that's what happened. 8God called the expanse, “sky.” So there was evening, and then the morning, making day two.
9God said, “Let the waters below the sky collect together in one place so that the land may appear.” And so it was. 10God called the land “earth” and the waters “seas.” God saw that it was good.
11God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation—plants that produce seeds and trees that produce seeded fruit—each one according to its own kind.” And that's what happened. 12The earth produced vegetation—plants that produce seeds and trees that produce seeded fruit—each one according to its own kind. God saw that it was good. 13So there was evening, and then the morning, making day three.
14God said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate day from night, and to provide a way to mark seasons, days, and years. 15They shall be lights in the sky to shine on the earth.” And that's what happened. 16God created two great lights:#1:16. Hebrew has words for sun and moon, but they are not used here, perhaps to avoid any temptation to worship the sun and the moon. the larger one in charge of the day, and the smaller one in charge of the night. He created the stars too. 17God placed these lights in the sky to shine upon the earth, 18to be in charge of the day and in charge of the night, and to separate light from darkness. God saw that it was good. 19So there was evening, and then the morning, making day four.
20God said, “Let the waters be full of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the sky.” 21So God created huge sea creatures and all the living things that swim and fill the waters, each one according to its own kind; and every bird that flies, each one according to its own kind. God saw that it was good. 22God blessed them and said, “Reproduce and increase, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23So there was evening, and then the morning, making day five.
24God said, “Let the land produce living creatures, each one according to its own kind—the livestock, the creatures that run along the ground, and the wild animals, each one according to its own kind.” And that's what happened. 25God made the wild animals, the livestock, and the creatures that run along the ground, all according to their own kind. God saw that it was good.
26God said, “Let us make human beings in our image who are like us.#1:26. This aspect of being “like” God conveys the idea of being “patterned” after God. The word is also translated “similitude,” “figure” or “form.” The most essential aspect of this resemblance is surely that of character. They will have authority over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over the whole of the earth and every creature that moves on it.” 27So God created human beings in his own image. He created them in the image of God. He created them male and female.#1:27. The repetition of “created” in this verse is surely significant, which is why this is placed first in each sentence. 28God blessed them and told them, “Reproduce, increase, and spread throughout the earth and control it; exercise authority over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the earth.”
29God said, “Look, I'm giving you as your food every seed-bearing plant anywhere on earth, and every tree that produces fruit with seeds. 30I'm giving all the green plants to all the land animals, to the birds, and to every creature that moves on the earth—to every living thing.” And that's what happened.
31God saw everything that he had created, and yes, it was very good. So there was evening, and then the morning, making day six.
Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com