God makes the earth

1 In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth. ² The 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.^[a]

³ God said, ‘There will be light!’

And there was light.

⁴ God saw that the light was good.

He caused the light and the dark to be separate.

⁵ God called the light ‘day’. He called the dark ‘night’.

Evening passed and then it was morning.

That was the first day.^[b]

⁶ Then God said, ‘A wide space will appear between the waters. So the waters will be in two separate places.’

⁷ So God made this wide space. He made the water under the space separate from the water that was above it. What God said happened.

⁸ God called the wide space ‘sky’.

Evening passed and then it was morning.

That was the second day.

⁹ God said, ‘The water that is under the sky will come together in one place. Then dry ground will appear.’

And what God said happened.

¹⁰ God 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.

¹¹ Then 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.

¹² All 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.

¹³ Evening passed and then it was morning.

That was the third day.

¹⁴ God said, ‘There will be lights all across the sky.^[c] They will make the day different from the night. They will show the seasons, days and years. ¹⁵ The lights in the sky will give light to the earth.’

And what God said happened.

¹⁶ God made two great lights. The brighter light ruled over the day. The less bright light ruled over the night. God also made the stars.

¹⁷ God put all these lights in the sky to shine their light on the earth.

¹⁸ They 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.

¹⁹ Evening passed and then it was morning.

That was the fourth day.

²⁰ God said, ‘The waters will become full with many living things. Birds will appear and fly above the earth, all across the sky.’

²¹ God 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.

²² God 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.’^[d]

²³ Evening passed and then it was morning.

That was the fifth day.

²⁴ God 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.’^[e]

And what God said happened.

²⁵ God 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.

²⁶ Then God said, ‘We will make humans so that they are very much like us.^[f] 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.’

²⁸ God 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.’^[g]

²⁹ Then 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.

³⁰ I 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.

³¹ God 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.