Genesis 1
1
Heaven and Earth
1-2First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.
3-5God spoke: “Light!”
And light appeared.
God saw that light was good
and separated light from dark.
God named the light Day,
he named the dark Night.
It was evening, it was morning—
Day One.
6-8God spoke: “Sky! In the middle of the waters;
separate water from water!”
God made sky.
He separated the water under sky
from the water above sky.
And there it was:
he named sky the Heavens;
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Two.
9-10God spoke: “Separate!
Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place;
Land, appear!”
And there it was.
God named the land Earth.
He named the pooled water Ocean.
God saw that it was good.
11-13God spoke: “Earth, green up! Grow all varieties
of seed-bearing plants,
Every sort of fruit-bearing tree.”
And there it was.
Earth produced green seed-bearing plants,
all varieties,
And fruit-bearing trees of all sorts.
God saw that it was good.
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Three.
14-15God spoke: “Lights! Come out!
Shine in Heaven’s sky!
Separate Day from Night.
Mark seasons and days and years,
Lights in Heaven’s sky to give light to Earth.”
And there it was.
16-19God made two big lights, the larger
to take charge of Day,
The smaller to be in charge of Night;
and he made the stars.
God placed them in the heavenly sky
to light up Earth
And oversee Day and Night,
to separate light and dark.
God saw that it was good.
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Four.
20-23God spoke: “Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life!
Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!”
God created the huge whales,
all the swarm of life in the waters,
And every kind and species of flying birds.
God saw that it was good.
God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean!
Birds, reproduce on Earth!”
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Five.
24-25God spoke: “Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind:
cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds.”
And there it was:
wild animals of every kind,
Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug.
God saw that it was good.
26-28God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them
reflecting our nature
So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
the birds in the air, the cattle,
And, yes, Earth itself,
and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.”
God created human beings;
he created them godlike,
Reflecting God’s nature.
He created them male and female.
God blessed them:
“Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”
29-30Then God said, “I’ve given you
every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth
And every kind of fruit-bearing tree,
given them to you for food.
To all animals and all birds,
everything that moves and breathes,
I give whatever grows out of the ground for food.”
And there it was.
31God looked over everything he had made;
it was so good, so very good!
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Six.
THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Genesis 1
1
The Creation
1#Heb 11:3; Rev 4:11In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2#Ps 104:30; Jer 4:23The earth was formless and void,#Or a waste and emptiness. darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving#Or hovering. over the surface of the water.
3#2Co 4:6; Ps 33:6God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5#Ps 74:16God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
6#Job 37:18; Jer 51:15Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7#Ps 148:4; Pr 8:28–29So God made the expanse and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse. And it was so. 8#Ge 1:5God called the expanse Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.
9#Jer 5:22; 2Pe 3:5Then God said, “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, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. Then God saw that it was good.
11#Heb 6:7Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation:#Or grass. plants yielding seed and fruit trees on the earth yielding fruit after their kind with seed in them.” And it was so. 12The earth produced vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind and trees yielding fruit with seed in them after their kind. And God saw that it was good. 13So the evening and the morning were the third day.
14#Isa 40:26; Jer 10:2And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons, and days, and years. 15Let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16#Job 38:7; Ps 8:3God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 17Then God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18#Jer 31:35to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. Then God saw that it was good. 19So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures and let the birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” 21So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22#Ge 8:17; 1:28Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24#Ge 6:20; 7:14Then 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. 25So God made the beasts of the earth according to their kind, and the livestock according to their kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26#Jas 3:9; Ge 9:6; 1Co 11:7Then God 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 birds of the air, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27#Mt 19:4; Mk 10:6; Ps 139:14So God created man in His own image;
in the image of God He created him;
male and female He created them.
28#Ge 9:1; 9:7God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29#Ge 9:3; Ps 104:14–15Then God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is on the face of all the earth and every tree which has fruit yielding seed. It shall be food for you. 30#Ps 147:9; 104:14To every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the earth which has the breath of life in it, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31#1Ti 4:4; Ps 104:24God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
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