The Creation

1 ^(A)In the beginning ^(B)God ^(C)created the heavens and the earth.

²⁶ Then God said, “^[a]Let ^(A)Us make ^(B)mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and ^[b]let them ^(C)rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man ^(D)in His own image, in the image of God He created him; ^(E)male and female He created them.

^3 (A)All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him ^[a]not even one thing came into being that has come into being.

¹⁶ for ^[a](A)by Him all things were created, ^(B)both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ^(C)thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—^(D)all things have been created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ He ^[b](E)is before all things, and in Him all things ^[c]hold together.