Genesis 1
International Children’s Bible
The Beginning of the World
1 In the beginning God created the sky and the earth. 2 The earth was empty and had no form. Darkness covered the ocean, and God’s Spirit was moving over the water.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good. So he divided the light from the darkness. 5 God named the light “day” and the darkness “night.” Evening passed, and morning came. This was the first day.
6 Then God said, “Let there be something to divide the water in two!” 7 So God made the air to divide the water in two. Some of the water was above the air, and some of the water was below it. 8 God named the air “sky.” Evening passed, and morning came. This was the second day.
9 Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered together so the dry land will appear.” And it happened. 10 God named the dry land “earth.” He named the water that was gathered together “seas.” God saw that this was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the earth produce plants. Some plants will make grain for seeds. Others will make fruit with seeds in it. Every seed will produce more of its own kind of plant.” And it happened. 12 The earth produced plants. Some plants had grain for seeds. The trees made fruit with seeds in it. Each seed grew its own kind of plant. God saw that all this was good. 13 Evening passed, and morning came. This was the third day.
14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate day from night. These lights will be used for signs, seasons, days and years. 15 They will be in the sky to give light to the earth.” And it happened.
16 So God made the two large lights. He made the brighter light to rule the day. He made the smaller light to rule the night. He also made the stars. 17 God put all these in the sky to shine on the earth. 18 They are to rule over the day and over the night. He put them there to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that all these things were good. 19 Evening passed, and morning came. This was the fourth day.
20 Then God said, “Let the water be filled with living things. And let birds fly in the air above the earth.”
21 So God created the large sea animals. He created every living thing that moves in the sea. The sea is filled with these living things. Each one produces more of its own kind. God also made every bird that flies. And each bird produces more of its own kind. God saw that this was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Have many young ones and grow in number. Fill the water of the seas, and let the birds grow in number on the earth.” 23 Evening passed, and morning came. This was the fifth day.
24 Then God said, “Let the earth be filled with animals. And let each produce more of its own kind. Let there be tame animals and small crawling animals and wild animals. And let each produce more of its kind.” And it happened.
25 So God made the wild animals, the tame animals and all the small crawling animals to produce more of their own kind. God saw that this was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image and likeness. And let them rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky. Let them rule over the tame animals, over all the earth and over all the small crawling animals on the earth.”
27 So God created human beings in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female. 28 God blessed them and said, “Have many children and grow in number. Fill the earth and be its master. Rule over the fish in the sea and over the birds in the sky. Rule over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29 God said, “Look, I have given you all the plants that have grain for seeds. And I have given you all the trees whose fruits have seeds in them. They will be food for you. 30 I have given all the green plants to all the animals to eat. They will be food for every wild animal, every bird of the air and every small crawling animal.” And it happened. 31 God looked at everything he had made, and it was very good. Evening passed, and morning came. This was the sixth day.
Genesis 1
New Catholic Bible
Origin of the World and Humankind[a]
Creation and the Fall
Chapter 1
Origin of the Universe.[b] 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.[c] 2 The earth was formless and barren, and darkness covered the abyss while the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.
3 God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 And he called the light day, and he called the darkness night. This was the evening and the morning of the first day.
6 God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters to separate one set of waters from the other.”[d] 7 God separated the firmament from the waters, those waters that are under the firmament from those that are above the firmament. And it was so. 8 God called the firmament the heavens. This was the evening and the morning of the second day.
9 God said, “Let the waters that are under the heavens be gathered into one place and let a dry place appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry place the land, and the gathered waters he called the sea. And God saw that it was good.
11 God said, “Let the land bring forth plants, those that produce seeds and fruit trees that have seeds inside of the fruit they bear, each according to its own kind. And it was so. 12 The land brought forth plants, each according to its kind, and trees that have fruit with seeds inside of them, each according to its kind.” God saw that they were good. 13 This was the evening and the morning of the third day.
14 God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; let them be markers to separate seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light to the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night, and he also made the stars. 17 God placed them in the firmament of the heavens to light the earth 18 and to rule over the day and the night and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 This was the evening and the morning of the fourth day.
20 God said, “Let the waters be filled with living creatures and let birds fly above the earth in the firmament of the heavens.” 21 God created the great sea creatures and all the other creatures that fill the waters, each according to its kind, and all the birds that fly in the sky, each according to its kind. 22 God blessed them saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the sea, and let the birds multiply upon the earth.” 23 And this was the evening and the morning of the fifth day.
24 God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures each according to its kind: cattle and reptiles and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the savage beasts according to their kind and the cattle according to their kind and all of the reptiles according to their kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 And God said, “Let us[e] make man in our image and likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the wild animals and reptiles that crawl upon the earth.”
27 God created mankind in his image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth; subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the seas and over the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves upon the earth.”
29 And God said, “Behold, I give you every plant that produces seeds upon the earth and every tree that has fruit with its seed inside of it: these shall be your food. 30 And I give all green plants to every wild animal and to all the birds of the air and to all creatures that move upon the surface of the earth and that have the breath of life in them.” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good. This was the evening and the morning of the sixth day.
Footnotes
- Genesis 1:1 The description of the origins of the universe and of humankind is not based on human testimony but is the fruit of reflection that was inspired by God and directed by him over the centuries. The Lord is the supreme master of the universe; he has from eternity formed a plan for the salvation of all the peoples of the earth. Humankind was brought to ruin by its own sin; the sin of Adam disfigured the divine work, but God loves humankind and, in order to lead it to salvation, chooses for himself a special people.
- Genesis 1:1 This majestic song in rhythmical prose was composed, it seems, in the priestly circles of Israel, perhaps after the Exile. It reflects the naive ideas of that time on the physical structure of the world: the heavens, for example, are imagined to be a solid vault in which the stars are set. The biblical text is akin to ancient Babylonian stories, now known to us, but it rises far above them. Here, everything that exists is the work of a single God; it takes only his word to create the universe. The Spirit, that is, the “breath,” of God presides over creation. A day will come when, through the Spirit on Pentecost, God will give rise to the new creation, the new humankind that is reborn in Christ (2 Cor 5:17).
- Genesis 1:1 The story of creation is not intended as a scientific theory about the origins of the universe and human beings; it takes as its starting point ideas current in that part of the world and intends to teach certain fundamental and perennial truths about God as one, transcendent, existing prior to the universe, and about human beings as his creatures.
- Genesis 1:6 The ancient Semites viewed the heavens as a vault made of a solid material—the firmament—which holds back the waters above and separates them from the waters below; from openings in it—the floodgates (see Gen 7:11)—the flood will pour down.
- Genesis 1:26 Let us: the plural “us” here is not a plural of majesty (this does not exist in Hebrew) but rather shows the divine process of deliberation as a consultation of God with himself (or with the angels?). When Isaiah describes the divine majesty (6:8), he too feels the need of using the plural; the same in Gen 3:22.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
