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Six Days of Creation and the Sabbath

When God began to create[a] the heavens and the earth,(A) the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God[b] swept over the face of the waters.(B) Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.(C) And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.(D) God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.(E)

And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”(F) So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so.(G) God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.(H) 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.(I) 11 Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so.(J) 12 The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years,(K) 15 and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.(L) 17 God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.(M) 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” 21 So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good.(N) 22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”(O) 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind and the cattle of every kind and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.(P)

26 Then God said, “Let us make humans[c] in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth[d] and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”(Q)

27 So God created humans[e] in his image,
    in the image of God he created them;[f]
    male and female he created them.(R)

28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”(S) 29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.(T) 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.(U) 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.(V)

Footnotes

  1. 1.1 Or In the beginning God created
  2. 1.2 Or while the spirit of God or while a mighty wind
  3. 1.26 Heb adam
  4. 1.26 Syr: Heb and over all the earth
  5. 1.27 Heb adam
  6. 1.27 Heb him

The Creation

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth— Now[a] the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good, and God caused there to be a separation between the light and between the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

And God said, “Let there be a vaulted dome[b] in the midst of the waters, and let it cause a separation between the waters.”[c] So[d] God made the vaulted dome,[e] and he caused a separation between the waters which were under the vaulted dome[f] and between the waters which were over the vaulted dome.[g] And it was so. And God called the vaulted dome[h] “heaven.”[i] And there was evening, and there was morning, a second day.

And God said, “Let the waters under heaven[j] be gathered to one place, and let the dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 And God called the dry ground “earth,” and he called the collection of the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, “Let the earth produce green plants that will bear seed—fruit trees bearing fruit in which there is seed[k]—according to its[l] kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth green plants bearing seed according to its[m] kind, and trees bearing fruit in which there was seed[n] according to its[o] kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights[p] in the vaulted dome[q] of heaven[r] to separate day from night,[s] and let them be as signs and for appointed times, and for days and years, 15 and they shall be as lights[t] in the vaulted dome[u] of heaven[v] to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made two lights,[w] the greater light[x] to rule[y] the day and the smaller light[z] to rule[aa] the night, and the stars. 17 And God placed them in the vaulted dome[ab] of heaven[ac] to give light on the earth 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate light from darkness.[ad] And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly over the earth across the face of the vaulted dome[ae] of heaven.[af] 21 So[ag] God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kind, and every bird with wings according to its[ah] kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kind: cattle and moving things, and wild animals[ai] according to their kind.” And it was so. 25 So[aj] God made wild animals[ak] according to their kind and the cattle according to their kind, and every creeping thing of the earth according to its[al] kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 And God said, “Let us make humankind in[am] our image and according to[an] our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of heaven,[ao] and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every moving thing that moves upon the earth.” 27 So[ap] God created humankind in[aq] his image, in[ar] the likeness of God he created him,[as] male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven,[at] and over every animal that moves upon the earth.”

29 And God said, “Look—I am giving to you every plant that bears seed which is on the face of the whole earth, and every kind of tree that bears fruit.[au] They shall be yours as food.” 30 And to every kind of animal of the earth and to every bird of heaven,[av] and to everything that moves upon the earth in which there is life I am giving every green plant as food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 1:2 Or “And”
  2. Genesis 1:6 Or “expanse”
  3. Genesis 1:6 Literally “Let there be a separation made between waters to waters”
  4. Genesis 1:7 Or “And”
  5. Genesis 1:7 Or “expanse”
  6. Genesis 1:7 Or “expanse”
  7. Genesis 1:7 Or “expanse”
  8. Genesis 1:8 Or “expanse”
  9. Genesis 1:8 Or “sky”
  10. Genesis 1:9 Or “the sky”
  11. Genesis 1:11 Literally “which its seed is in it”
  12. Genesis 1:11 Or “their”
  13. Genesis 1:12 Or “their”
  14. Genesis 1:12 Literally “which its seed is in it”
  15. Genesis 1:12 Or “their”
  16. Genesis 1:14 Or “light sources”
  17. Genesis 1:14 Or “expanse”
  18. Genesis 1:14 Or “the sky”
  19. Genesis 1:14 Literally “to make a separation between the day and between the night”
  20. Genesis 1:15 Or “light sources”
  21. Genesis 1:15 Or “expanse”
  22. Genesis 1:15 Or “the sky”
  23. Genesis 1:16 Or “light sources”
  24. Genesis 1:16 Or “light source”
  25. Genesis 1:16 Literally “as the authority of”
  26. Genesis 1:16 Or “light source”
  27. Genesis 1:16 Literally “as the authority of”
  28. Genesis 1:17 Or “expanse”
  29. Genesis 1:17 Or “the sky”
  30. Genesis 1:18 Literally “make a separation between the light and between the darkness”
  31. Genesis 1:20 Or “expanse”
  32. Genesis 1:20 Or “the sky”
  33. Genesis 1:21 Or “And”
  34. Genesis 1:21 Or “their”
  35. Genesis 1:24 Literally “animals of the earth/land”
  36. Genesis 1:25 Or “And”
  37. Genesis 1:25 Literally “animals of the earth/land”
  38. Genesis 1:25 Or “their”
  39. Genesis 1:26 Or “as”
  40. Genesis 1:26 Or “as”
  41. Genesis 1:26 Or “the sky”
  42. Genesis 1:27 Or “And”
  43. Genesis 1:27 Or “as”
  44. Genesis 1:27 Or “as”
  45. Genesis 1:27 Or “it” collective: humankind
  46. Genesis 1:28 Or “the sky”
  47. Genesis 1:29 Literally “which in it fruit of a tree bears seed”
  48. Genesis 1:30 Or “the sky”