Genesis 1
Living Bible
1 When God began creating[a] the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was[b] a shapeless, chaotic mass, with the Spirit of God brooding over the dark vapors.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light.” And light appeared. 4-5 And God was pleased with it and divided the light from the darkness. He called the light “daytime,” and the darkness “nighttime.” Together they formed the first day.[c]
6 And God said, “Let the vapors separate[d] to form the sky above and the oceans below.” 7-8 So God made the sky, dividing the vapor above from the water below. This all happened on the second day.[e]
9-10 Then God said, “Let the water beneath the sky be gathered into oceans so that the dry land will emerge.” And so it was. Then God named the dry land “earth,” and the water “seas.” And God was pleased. 11-12 And he said, “Let the earth burst forth with every sort of grass and seed-bearing plant, and fruit trees with seeds inside the fruit, so that these seeds will produce the kinds of plants and fruits they came from.” And so it was, and God was pleased. 13 This all occurred on the third day.[f]
14-15 Then God said, “Let bright lights appear in the sky to give light to the earth and to identify the day and the night; they shall bring about the seasons on the earth, and mark the days and years.” And so it was. 16 For God had made two huge lights, the sun and moon, to shine down upon the earth—the larger one, the sun, to preside over the day and the smaller one, the moon, to preside through the night; he had also made the stars. 17 And God set them in the sky to light the earth, 18 and to preside over the day and night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God was pleased. 19 This all happened on the fourth day.[g]
20 Then God said, “Let the waters teem with fish and other life, and let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” 21-22 So God created great sea animals, and every sort of fish and every kind of bird. And God looked at them with pleasure, and blessed them all. “Multiply and stock the oceans,” he told them, and to the birds he said, “Let your numbers increase. Fill the earth!” 23 That ended the fifth day.[h]
24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth every kind of animal—cattle and reptiles and wildlife of every kind.” And so it was. 25 God made all sorts of wild animals and cattle and reptiles. And God was pleased with what he had done.
26 Then God said, “Let us make a man[i]—someone like ourselves, to be the master of all life upon the earth and in the skies and in the seas.”
27 So God made man like his Maker.
Like God did God make man;
Man and maid did he make them.
28 And God blessed them and told them, “Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it; you are masters of the fish and birds and all the animals. 29 And look! I have given you the seed-bearing plants throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. 30 And I’ve given all the grass and plants to the animals and birds for their food.” 31 Then God looked over all that he had made, and it was excellent in every way. This ended the sixth day.[j]
Footnotes
- Genesis 1:1 When God began creating, or “In the beginning God created.”
- Genesis 1:2 the earth was, or “the earth became.” a shapeless, chaotic mass, or “shapeless and void.” over the dark vapors, or “over the cloud of darkness,” or “over the darkness and waters,” or “over the dark gaseous mass.” There is not one correct way to translate these words.
- Genesis 1:4 Together they formed the first day, literally, “And there was evening and there was morning, one day (or ‘period of time’).”
- Genesis 1:6 Let the vapors separate, literally, “Let there be a dome to divide the waters.”
- Genesis 1:7 This all happened on the second day, literally, “There was evening and there was morning, a second day (or ‘period of time’).”
- Genesis 1:13 This all occurred on the third day, literally, “And there was evening and there was morning, a third day (or ‘period of time’).”
- Genesis 1:19 This all happened on the fourth day, literally, “And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day (or ‘period of time’).”
- Genesis 1:23 That ended the fifth day, literally, “And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day (or ‘period of time’).”
- Genesis 1:26 a man, literally, “men.” someone like ourselves, literally, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.”
- Genesis 1:31 This ended the sixth day, literally, “And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day (or ‘period of time’).”
Genesis 1
Young's Literal Translation
1 In the beginning of God's preparing the heavens and the earth --
2 the earth hath existed waste and void, and darkness [is] on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God fluttering on the face of the waters,
3 and God saith, `Let light be;' and light is.
4 And God seeth the light that [it is] good, and God separateth between the light and the darkness,
5 and God calleth to the light `Day,' and to the darkness He hath called `Night;' and there is an evening, and there is a morning -- day one.
6 And God saith, `Let an expanse be in the midst of the waters, and let it be separating between waters and waters.'
7 And God maketh the expanse, and it separateth between the waters which [are] under the expanse, and the waters which [are] above the expanse: and it is so.
8 And God calleth to the expanse `Heavens;' and there is an evening, and there is a morning -- day second.
9 And God saith, `Let the waters under the heavens be collected unto one place, and let the dry land be seen:' and it is so.
10 And God calleth to the dry land `Earth,' and to the collection of the waters He hath called `Seas;' and God seeth that [it is] good.
11 And God saith, `Let the earth yield tender grass, herb sowing seed, fruit-tree (whose seed [is] in itself) making fruit after its kind, on the earth:' and it is so.
12 And the earth bringeth forth tender grass, herb sowing seed after its kind, and tree making fruit (whose seed [is] in itself) after its kind; and God seeth that [it is] good;
13 and there is an evening, and there is a morning -- day third.
14 And God saith, `Let luminaries be in the expanse of the heavens, to make a separation between the day and the night, then they have been for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years,
15 and they have been for luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth:' and it is so.
16 And God maketh the two great luminaries, the great luminary for the rule of the day, and the small luminary -- and the stars -- for the rule of the night;
17 and God giveth them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth,
18 and to rule over day and over night, and to make a separation between the light and the darkness; and God seeth that [it is] good;
19 and there is an evening, and there is a morning -- day fourth.
20 And God saith, `Let the waters teem with the teeming living creature, and fowl let fly on the earth on the face of the expanse of the heavens.'
21 And God prepareth the great monsters, and every living creature that is creeping, which the waters have teemed with, after their kind, and every fowl with wing, after its kind, and God seeth that [it is] good.
22 And God blesseth them, saying, `Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and the fowl let multiply in the earth:'
23 and there is an evening, and there is a morning -- day fifth.
24 And God saith, `Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after its kind:' and it is so.
25 And God maketh 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 seeth that [it is] good.
26 And God saith, `Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, and let them rule over fish of the sea, and over fowl of the heavens, and over cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that is creeping on the earth.'
27 And God prepareth the man in His image; in the image of God He prepared him, a male and a female He prepared them.
28 And God blesseth them, and God saith to them, `Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over fish of the sea, and over fowl of the heavens, and over every living thing that is creeping upon the earth.'
29 And God saith, `Lo, I have given to you every herb sowing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which [is] the fruit of a tree sowing seed, to you it is for food;
30 and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the heavens, and to every creeping thing on the earth, in which [is] breath of life, every green herb [is] for food:' and it is so.
31 And God seeth all that He hath done, and lo, very good; and there is an evening, and there is a morning -- day the sixth.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.