Berĕshith (Genesis) 1
1
1In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth.
2And the earth came to be#Or the earth became. formless and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Elohim was moving on the face of the waters.
3And Elohim said, “Let light come to be,” and light came to be.
4And Elohim saw the light, that it was good. And Elohim separated the light from the darkness.
5And Elohim called the light ‘day’ and the darkness He called ‘night.’ And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, one day.
6And Elohim said, “Let an expanse come to be in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
7And Elohim made the expanse, and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse. And it came to be so.
8And Elohim called the expanse ‘heavens.’ And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the second day.
9And Elohim said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it came to be so.
10And Elohim called the dry land ‘earth,’ and the collection of the waters He called ‘seas.’ And Elohim saw that it was good.
11And Elohim said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the plant that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth.” And it came to be so.
12And the earth brought forth grass, the plant that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good.
13And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the third day.
14And Elohim said, “Let lights come to be in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and appointed times, and for days and years,
15and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.” And it came to be so.
16And Elohim made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars.
17And Elohim set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,
18and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And Elohim saw that it was good.
19And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the fourth day.
20And Elohim said, “Let the waters teem with shoals of living beings, and let birds fly above the earth on the face of the expanse of the heavens.”
21And Elohim created great sea creatures and every living being that moves, with which the waters teemed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good.
22And Elohim blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and increase, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.”
23And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the fifth day.
24And Elohim said, “Let the earth bring forth the living being according to its kind: livestock and creeping creatures and beasts of the earth, according to its kind.” And it came to be so.
25And Elohim made the beast of the earth according to its kind, livestock according to its kind, and all that creep on the earth according to its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good.
26And Elohim said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth and over all the creeping creatures that creep on the ground.”
27And Elohim created the man in His image, in the image of Elohim He created him – male and female He created them.
28And Elohim blessed them, and Elohim said to them, “Be fruitful and increase, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over all creeping creatures on the earth.”
29And Elohim said, “See, I have given you every plant that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed, to you it is for food.
30And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to every creeping creature on the earth, in which there is a living being, every green plant is for food.” And it came to be so.
31And Elohim saw all that He had made, and see, it was very good. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the sixth day.
Copyright© 1993 – 2015 by the Institute for Scripture Research (ISR). All rights reserved.
Genesis 1
1
The Story of Creation
1In the beginning, when God created the universe,#1.1 In the beginning… the universe; or In the beginning God created the universe; or When God began to create the universe. 2the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God#1.2 the Spirit of God; or the power of God; or a wind from God; or an awesome wind. was moving over the water. 3#2 Cor 4.6Then God commanded, “Let there be light” — and light appeared. 4God was pleased with what he saw. Then he separated the light from the darkness, 5and he named the light “Day” and the darkness “Night”. Evening passed and morning came — that was the first day.
6-7 # 2 Pet 3.5 Then God commanded, “Let there be a dome to divide the water and to keep it in two separate places” — and it was done. So God made a dome, and it separated the water under it from the water above it. 8He named the dome “Sky”. Evening passed and morning came — that was the second day.
9Then God commanded, “Let the water below the sky come together in one place, so that the land will appear” — and it was done. 10He named the land “Earth”, and the water which had come together he named “Sea”. And God was pleased with what he saw. 11Then he commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of plants, those that bear grain and those that bear fruit” — and it was done. 12So the earth produced all kinds of plants, and God was pleased with what he saw. 13Evening passed and morning came — that was the third day.
14Then God commanded, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate day from night and to show the time when days, years, and religious festivals#1.14 religious festivals; or seasons. begin; 15they will shine in the sky to give light to the earth” — and it was done. 16So God made the two larger lights, the sun to rule over the day and the moon to rule over the night; he also made the stars. 17He placed the lights in the sky to shine on the earth, 18to rule over the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God was pleased with what he saw. 19Evening passed and morning came — that was the fourth day.
20Then God commanded, “Let the water be filled with many kinds of living beings, and let the air be filled with birds.” 21So God created the great sea monsters, all kinds of creatures that live in the water, and all kinds of birds. And God was pleased with what he saw. 22He blessed them all and told the creatures that live in the water to reproduce, and to fill the sea, and he told the birds to increase in number. 23Evening passed and morning came — that was the fifth day.
24Then God commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life: domestic and wild, large and small” — and it was done. 25So God made them all, and he was pleased with what he saw.
26 # 1 Cor 11.7 Then God said, “And now we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us. They will have power over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild,#1.26 One ancient translation animals, domestic and wild; Hebrew domestic animals and all the earth. large and small.” 27#Mt 19.4; Mk 10.6 #Gen 5.1–2So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female, 28blessed them, and said, “Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals. 29I have provided all kinds of grain and all kinds of fruit for you to eat; 30but for all the wild animals and for all the birds I have provided grass and leafy plants for food” — and it was done. 31God looked at everything he had made, and he was very pleased. Evening passed and morning came — that was the sixth day.
Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.