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.
Genesis 1
Good News Translation
The Story of Creation
1 In the beginning, when God created the universe,[a] 2 the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God[b] was moving over the water. 3 (A)Then God commanded, “Let there be light”—and light appeared. 4 God was pleased with what he saw. Then he separated the light from the darkness, 5 and he named the light “Day” and the darkness “Night.” Evening passed and morning came—that was the first day.
6-7 (B)Then God commanded, “Let there be a dome to divide the water and to keep it in two separate places”—and it was done. So God made a dome, and it separated the water under it from the water above it. 8 He named the dome “Sky.” Evening passed and morning came—that was the second day.
9 Then God commanded, “Let the water below the sky come together in one place, so that the land will appear”—and it was done. 10 He named the land “Earth,” and the water which had come together he named “Sea.” And God was pleased with what he saw. 11 Then he commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of plants, those that bear grain and those that bear fruit”—and it was done. 12 So the earth produced all kinds of plants, and God was pleased with what he saw. 13 Evening passed and morning came—that was the third day.
14 Then God commanded, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate day from night and to show the time when days, years, and religious festivals[c] begin; 15 they will shine in the sky to give light to the earth”—and it was done. 16 So God made the two larger lights, the sun to rule over the day and the moon to rule over the night; he also made the stars. 17 He placed the lights in the sky to shine on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God was pleased with what he saw. 19 Evening passed and morning came—that was the fourth day.
20 Then God commanded, “Let the water be filled with many kinds of living beings, and let the air be filled with birds.” 21 So God created the great sea monsters, all kinds of creatures that live in the water, and all kinds of birds. And God was pleased with what he saw. 22 He blessed them all and told the creatures that live in the water to reproduce and to fill the sea, and he told the birds to increase in number. 23 Evening passed and morning came—that was the fifth day.
24 Then God commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life: domestic and wild, large and small”—and it was done. 25 So God made them all, and he was pleased with what he saw.
26 (C)Then God said, “And now we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us. They will have power over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild,[d] large and small.” 27 (D)So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female, 28 blessed them, and said, “Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals. 29 I have provided all kinds of grain and all kinds of fruit for you to eat; 30 but for all the wild animals and for all the birds I have provided grass and leafy plants for food”—and it was done. 31 God looked at everything he had made, and he was very pleased. Evening passed and morning came—that was the sixth day.
Footnotes
- Genesis 1:1 In the beginning … the universe; or In the beginning God created the universe; or When God began to create the universe.
- Genesis 1:2 the Spirit of God; or the power of God; or a wind from God; or an awesome wind.
- Genesis 1:14 religious festivals; or seasons.
- Genesis 1:26 One ancient translation animals, domestic and wild; Hebrew domestic animals and all the earth.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
