Genesis 1:1-2

Contemporary English Version

The Story of Creation

1 In the beginning God
created the heavens
    and the earth.^[a]
²The earth was barren,
    with no form of life;^[b]
it was under a roaring ocean
    covered with darkness.
But the Spirit of God^[c]
    was moving over the water.

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Footnotes

1.1 the heavens and the earth: “The heavens and the earth” stood for the universe.
1.1,2 In … life: Or “When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was barren with no form of life.”
1.2 the Spirit of God: Or “a mighty wind.”

Genesis 1:26-31

Contemporary English Version

²⁶^(A) God said, “Now we will make humans, and they will be like us. We will let them rule the fish, the birds, and all other living creatures.”

²⁷^(B)^(C) So God created humans to be like himself; he made men and women. ²⁸God gave them his blessing and said:

Have a lot of children! Fill the earth with people and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, and every animal on the earth.

²⁹I have provided all kinds of fruit and grain for you to eat. ³⁰And I have given the green plants as food for everything else that breathes, including animals, both wild and tame, and birds. And so it was.

³¹God looked at what he had done. All of it was very good! Evening came, then morning—that was the sixth day.

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