Genesis 1

New International Version

The Beginning

1 In the beginning^(A) God created^(B) the heavens^(C) and the earth.^(D) ²Now the earth was formless^(E) and empty,^(F) darkness was over the surface of the deep,^(G) and the Spirit of God^(H) was hovering^(I) over the waters.

³And God said,^(J) “Let there be light,” and there was light.^(K) ⁴God saw that the light was good,^(L) and he separated the light from the darkness.^(M) ⁵God called^(N) the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”^(O) And there was evening, and there was morning^(P)—the first day.

⁶And God said,^(Q) “Let there be a vault^(R) between the waters^(S) to separate water from water.” ⁷So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it.^(T) And it was so.^(U) ⁸God called^(V) the vault “sky.”^(W) And there was evening, and there was morning^(X)—the second day.

⁹And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place,^(Y) and let dry ground^(Z) appear.” And it was so.^(AA) ¹⁰God called^(AB) the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters^(AC) he called “seas.”^(AD) And God saw that it was good.^(AE)

¹¹Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation:^(AF) seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.^(AG)” And it was so.^(AH) ¹²The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds^(AI) and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.^(AJ) ¹³And there was evening, and there was morning^(AK)—the third day.

¹⁴And God said, “Let there be lights^(AL) in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night,^(AM) and let them serve as signs^(AN) to mark sacred times,^(AO) and days and years,^(AP) ¹⁵and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.^(AQ) ¹⁶God made two great lights—the greater light^(AR) to govern^(AS) the day and the lesser light to govern^(AT) the night.^(AU) He also made the stars.^(AV) ¹⁷God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸to govern the day and the night,^(AW) and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.^(AX) ¹⁹And there was evening, and there was morning^(AY)—the fourth day.

²⁰And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures,^(AZ) and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”^(BA) ²¹So God created^(BB) the great creatures of the sea^(BC) and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it,^(BD) according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.^(BE) And God saw that it was good.^(BF) ²²God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.”^(BG) ²³And there was evening, and there was morning^(BH)—the fifth day.

²⁴And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures^(BI) according to their kinds:^(BJ) the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.^(BK) ²⁵God made the wild animals^(BL) according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds.^(BM) And God saw that it was good.^(BN)

²⁶Then God said, “Let us^(BO) make mankind^(BP) in our image,^(BQ) in our likeness,^(BR) so that they may rule^(BS) over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky,^(BT) over the livestock and all the wild animals,^[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

²⁷So God created^(BU) mankind^(BV) in his own image,^(BW)
in the image of God^(BX) he created them;
male and female^(BY) he created them.^(BZ)

²⁸God blessed them and said to them,^(CA) “Be fruitful and increase in number;^(CB) fill the earth^(CC) and subdue it. Rule over^(CD) the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.^(CE)”

²⁹Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.^(CF) ³⁰And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life^(CG) in it—I give every green plant for food.^(CH)” And it was so.

³¹God saw all that he had made,^(CI) and it was very good.^(CJ) And there was evening, and there was morning^(CK)—the sixth day.

Footnotes

Genesis 1:26 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text (see Syriac); Masoretic Text the earth

Exodus 1

New International Version

The Israelites Oppressed

1 These are the names of the sons of Israel^(A) who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: ²Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; ³Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; ⁴Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.^(B) ⁵The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy^[a] in all;^(C) Joseph was already in Egypt.

⁶Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,^(D) ⁷but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers^(E) and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.

⁸Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.^(F) ⁹“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous^(G) for us.^(H) ¹⁰Come, we must deal shrewdly^(I) with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”^(J)

¹¹So they put slave masters^(K) over them to oppress them with forced labor,^(L) and they built Pithom and Rameses^(M) as store cities^(N) for Pharaoh. ¹²But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites ¹³and worked them ruthlessly.^(O) ¹⁴They made their lives bitter with harsh labor^(P) in brick^(Q) and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.^(R)

¹⁵The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives,^(S) whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, ¹⁶“When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.”^(T) ¹⁷The midwives, however, feared^(U) God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do;^(V) they let the boys live. ¹⁸Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

¹⁹The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”^(W)

²⁰So God was kind to the midwives^(X) and the people increased and became even more numerous. ²¹And because the midwives feared^(Y) God, he gave them families^(Z) of their own.

²²Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile,^(AA) but let every girl live.”^(AB)