Genesis 1
1
The Creation of the World
1In the #Job 38:4-7; Ps. 33:6; 136:5; Isa. 42:5; 45:18; John 1:1-3; Acts 14:15; 17:24; Col. 1:16, 17; Heb. 1:10; 11:3; Rev. 4:11beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was #Jer. 4:23without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3And God said, #2 Cor. 4:6“Let there be light,” and there was light. 4And God 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. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6And God said, #Job 37:18; Ps. 136:5; Jer. 10:12; 51:15“Let there be an expanse#1:6 Or a canopy; also verses 7, 8, 14, 15, 17, 20 in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7And God made#1:7 Or fashioned; also verse 16 the expanse and #Prov. 8:27-29 separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were #Ps. 148:4above the expanse. And it was so. 8And God called the expanse Heaven.#1:8 Or Sky; also verses 9, 14, 15, 17, 20, 26, 28, 30; 2:1 And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
9And God said, #Job 38:8-11; Ps. 33:7; 136:6; Jer. 5:22; 2 Pet. 3:5“Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10God called the dry land Earth,#1:10 Or Land; also verses 11, 12, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30; 2:1 and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11And God said, #Ps. 104:14“Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants#1:11 Or small plants; also verses 12, 29 yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for #Jer. 10:2; Ezek. 32:7, 8; Joel 2:30, 31; 3:15; Matt. 24:29; Luke 21:25 signs and for #Ps. 104:19seasons,#1:14 Or appointed times and for days and years, 15and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16And God #Deut. 4:19; Ps. 136:7-9made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18to #Jer. 31:35rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
20And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds#1:20 Or flying things; see Leviticus 11:19–20 fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21So #Ps. 104:25, 26God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22And God blessed them, saying, #ch. 8:17; 9:1“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26Then God said, #ch. 3:22; 11:7; Isa. 6:8 “Let us make man#1:26 The Hebrew word for man (adam) is the generic term for mankind and becomes the proper name Adam in our image, #ch. 5:1; 9:6; 1 Cor. 11:7; Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10; James 3:9 after our likeness. And #ch. 9:2; Ps. 8:6-8; James 3:7let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
# ch. 2:18, 21-23; 5:2; Mal. 2:15; Matt. 19:4; Mark 10:6 male and female he created them.
28And God blessed them. And God said to them, #ch. 9:1, 7“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. #ch. 9:3; Ps. 104:14, 15; 145:15, 16You shall have them for food. 30And #Ps. 147:9to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31#Eccles. 7:29; 1 Tim. 4:4And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Genesis 1
1
Chapter 1
God makes the earth
1In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was without shape and it was empty. Deep water covered the earth and everywhere was dark. The Spirit of God moved above the water. #1:2 God was present before he made the universe. He made everything.
3God said, ‘There will be light!’
And there was light.
4God saw that the light was good.
He caused the light and the dark to be separate.
5God called the light ‘day’. He called the dark ‘night’.
Evening passed and then it was morning.
That was the first day. #1:5 Light appeared when it was morning. It was dark at night. One day is a time of light and a time of dark.
6Then God said, ‘A wide space will appear between the waters. So the waters will be in two separate places.’
7So God made this wide space. He made the water under the space separate from the water that was above it. What God said happened.
8God called the wide space ‘sky’.
Evening passed and then it was morning.
That was the second day.
9God said, ‘The water that is under the sky will come together in one place. Then dry ground will appear.’
And what God said happened.
10God called the dry ground ‘land’. He called the water that had come together ‘sea’.
God looked at what he had made. He saw that it was good.
11Then God said, ‘The land will cause plants to grow. There will be plants with their seeds and trees with their fruits. Each kind of plant and tree will have its own seeds and fruits.’
And what God said happened.
12All kinds of plants and trees began to grow in the ground. The plants made seeds. The trees made fruits with seeds in them. Each plant made its own kind of seeds.
God looked at what he had made. He saw that it was good.
13Evening passed and then it was morning.
That was the third day.
14God said, ‘There will be lights all across the sky. #1:14 ‘Lights’ means bright things that shine. They will make the day different from the night. They will show the seasons, days and years. 15The lights in the sky will give light to the earth.’
And what God said happened.
16God made two great lights. The brighter light ruled over the day. The less bright light ruled over the night. God also made the stars.
17God put all these lights in the sky to shine their light on the earth.
18They were to rule over the day and night. They were to make the time of light separate from the time of dark.
God looked at what he had made. He saw that it was good.
19Evening passed and then it was morning.
That was the fourth day.
20God said, ‘The waters will become full with many living things. Birds will appear and fly above the earth, all across the sky.’
21God made big animals to live in the sea. He made every different kind of living thing that filled the sea. He made every different kind of bird to fly in the sky.
God looked at what he had made. He saw that it was good.
22God blessed the animals and the birds. He said to them, ‘Give birth to many young ones, so that you grow in number. Fill all the water in the seas. The birds also should become very many, all across the earth.’ #1:22 ‘Birds’ here may include any living thing that can fly, for example bats and insects.
23Evening passed and then it was morning.
That was the fifth day.
24God said, ‘Different kinds of animals will now appear on the land. There will be farm animals and wild animals. There will also be other small animals that move along the ground. There will be many kinds of animals and each kind will be different.’ #1:24 Farm animals are animals that usually live in a village or on a farm. People take care of them and they may use their milk or their meat as food.
And what God said happened.
25God made the different kinds of wild animals and the different kinds of farm animals. He made all the different kinds of animals that move along the ground.
God looked at what he had made. He saw that it was good.
26Then God said, ‘We will make humans so that they are very much like us. #1:26 When God speaks about himself as ‘us’, he is speaking as the three persons of God. They are God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. God was there as all three persons when he made the universe. They will rule over the fish in the sea and over the birds in the sky. They will rule over the farm animals. They will rule over the whole earth and all the animals that move along the ground.’
27God made humans.
He made them to be like himself.
He made some of them males and some of them females.
28God blessed them. He said to them, ‘Give birth to children. Grow in number. Fill the earth and rule over it. Rule over the fish in the sea. Rule over the birds in the sky. Rule over every different kind of living animal that moves along the ground.’ #1:28 God told the man and the woman to rule over the earth. This means that they have authority over the earth and everything in it. It also means that they must take care of everything.
29Then God said, ‘Listen! I now give to you every plant on the earth as your food. I give you every plant that has seeds in it. I give you every tree that has fruit with a seed in it. I give them to you for your food.
30I give to the animals green plants for their food. It will be food for all the animals on the earth, all the birds in the sky and all the animals that move along the ground. Everything that has life may eat every kind of green plant.’
And what God said happened.
31God looked at everything that he had made. He saw that it was very good.
Evening passed. And then it was morning.
That was the sixth day.
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