Genesis 1
1
1In the beginning God#GodHebrew: Elohim created the heavens and the earth. 2And the earth was waste and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God#GodHebrew: Elohim was hovering over the face of the waters.
3And God#GodHebrew: Elohim said, Let there be light. And there was light. 4And God#GodHebrew: Elohim saw the light that it was good; and God#GodHebrew: Elohim divided between the light and the darkness. 5And God#GodHebrew: Elohim called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day.
6And God#GodHebrew: Elohim said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it be a division between waters and waters. 7And God#GodHebrew: Elohim made the expanse, and divided between the waters that are under the expanse and the waters that are above the expanse; and it was so. 8And God#GodHebrew: Elohim called the expanse Heavens. And there was evening, and there was morning — a second day.
9And God#GodHebrew: Elohim said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear. And it was so. 10And God#GodHebrew: Elohim called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called Seas. And God#GodHebrew: Elohim saw that it was good. 11And God#GodHebrew: Elohim said, Let the earth cause grass to spring up, herb producing seed, fruit-trees yielding fruit after their kind, the seed of which is in them, on the earth. And it was so. 12And the earth brought forth grass, herb producing seed after its kind, and trees yielding fruit, the seed of which is in them, after their kind. And God#GodHebrew: Elohim saw that it was good. 13And there was evening, and there was morning — a third day.
14And God#GodHebrew: Elohim said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens, to divide between the day and the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, 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 was so. 16And God#GodHebrew: Elohim made the two great lights, the great light to rule the day, and the small light to rule the night, — and the stars. 17And God#GodHebrew: Elohim set them in the expanse of the heavens, to give light on the earth, 18and to rule during the day and during the night, and to divide between the light and the darkness. And God#GodHebrew: Elohim saw that it was good. 19And there was evening, and there was morning — a fourth day.
20And God#GodHebrew: Elohim said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living souls, and let fowl fly above the earth in the expanse of the heavens. 21And God#GodHebrew: Elohim created the great sea monsters, and every living soul that moves with which the waters swarm, after their kind, and every winged fowl after its kind. And God#GodHebrew: Elohim saw that it was good. 22And God#GodHebrew: Elohim blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply on the earth. 23And there was evening, and there was morning — a fifth day.
24And God#GodHebrew: Elohim said, Let the earth bring forth living souls after their kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth, after their kind. And it was so. 25And God#GodHebrew: Elohim made the beast of the earth after its kind, and the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing of the ground after its kind. And God#GodHebrew: Elohim saw that it was good.
26And God#GodHebrew: Elohim said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over the whole earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth. 27And God#GodHebrew: Elohim created Man in his image, in the image of God#GodHebrew: Elohim created he him; male and female created he them. 28And God#GodHebrew: Elohim blessed them; and God#GodHebrew: Elohim said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over every animal that moveth on the earth.
29And God#GodHebrew: Elohim said, Behold, I have given you every herb producing seed that is on the whole earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree producing seed: it shall be food for you; 30and to every animal of the earth, and to every fowl of the heavens, and to everything that creepeth on the earth, in which is a living soul, every green herb for food. And it was so.
31And God#GodHebrew: Elohim saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning — the sixth day.
First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Genesis 1
1
The Story of Creation
1In the beginning God
created the heavens
and the earth.#1.1 the heavens and the earth: “The heavens and the earth” stood for the universe.
2The earth was barren,
with no form of life;#1.1,2 In … life: Or “When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was barren with no form of life.”
it was under a roaring ocean
covered with darkness.
But the Spirit of God#1.2 the Spirit of God: Or “a mighty wind.”
was moving over the water.
The First Day
3 #
2 Macc 7.28; 2 Co 4.6. God said, “I command light to shine!” And light started shining. 4God looked at the light and saw that it was good. He separated light from darkness 5and named the light “Day” and the darkness “Night.” Evening came, then morning—that was the first day.#1.5 the first day: A day was measured from evening to evening.
The Second Day
6 #
2 P 3.5. God said, “I command a dome to separate the water above it from the water below it.” 7And that's what happened. God made the dome 8and named it “Sky.” Evening came, then morning—that was the second day.
The Third Day
9God said, “I command the water under the sky to come together in one place, so there will be dry ground.” And that's what happened. 10God named the dry ground “Land,” and he named the water “Ocean.” God looked at what he had done and saw that it was good.
11God said, “I command the earth to produce all kinds of plants, including fruit trees and grain.” And that's what happened. 12The earth produced all kinds of vegetation. God looked at what he had done, and it was good. 13Evening came, then morning—that was the third day.
The Fourth Day
14God said, “I command lights to appear in the sky and to separate day from night and to show the time for seasons, special days, and years. 15I command them to shine on the earth.” And that's what happened. 16God made two powerful lights, the brighter one to rule the day and the other#1.16 the brighter … the other: The sun and the moon. But they are not called by their names, because in Old Testament times some people worshiped the sun and the moon as though they were gods. to rule the night. He also made the stars. 17Then God put these lights in the sky to shine on the earth, 18to rule day and night, and to separate light from darkness. God looked at what he had done, and it was good. 19Evening came, then morning—that was the fourth day.
The Fifth Day
20God said, “I command the ocean to be full of living creatures, and I command birds to fly above the earth.” 21So God made the giant sea monsters and all the living creatures that swim in the ocean. He also made every kind of bird. God looked at what he had done, and it was good. 22Then he gave the living creatures his blessing—he told the ocean creatures to increase and live everywhere in the ocean and the birds to increase everywhere on earth. 23Evening came, then morning—that was the fifth day.
The Sixth Day
24God said, “I command the earth to give life to all kinds of tame animals, wild animals, and reptiles.” And that's what happened. 25God made every one of them. Then he looked at what he had done, and it was good.
26 #
Ws 2.23; Si 17.3,4; 1 Co 11.7. God said, “Now we will make humans, and they will be like us. We will let them rule the fish, the birds, and all other living creatures.”
27 #
Gn 5.1,2. #Mt 19.4; Mk 10.6. So God created humans to be like himself; he made men and women. 28God gave them his blessing and said:
Have a lot of children! Fill the earth with people and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, and every animal on the earth.
29I have provided all kinds of fruit and grain for you to eat. 30And I have given the green plants as food for everything else that breathes, including animals, both wild and tame, and birds. And so it was.
31God looked at what he had done. All of it was very good! Evening came, then morning—that was the sixth day.
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.