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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)

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all their multitude.(W) On the sixth[g] day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done.(X) So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.(Y)

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
  7. 2.2 Sam Gk Syr: MT seventh

The Creation

In the beginning(A) God created the heavens and the earth.[a](B)

Now the earth was formless and empty,(C) darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.(D) Then God said, “Let there be light,”(E) and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was an evening, and there was a morning: one day.

Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.”(F) So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse.(G) And it was so. God called the expanse “sky.”[b] Evening came and then morning: the second day.

Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place,(H) and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of the water he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.”(I) And it was so. 12 The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 Evening came and then morning: the third day.

14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs(J) for seasons[c] and for days and years.(K) 15 They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on 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—as well as the stars.(L) 17 God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth, 18 to rule the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.(M) And God saw that it was good. 19 Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.

20 Then God said, “Let the water swarm with[d] living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 21 So God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water,(N) according to their kinds. He also created every winged creature according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them: “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”(O) 23 Evening came and then morning: the fifth day.

24 Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us(P) make man[e] in[f] our image, according to our likeness.(Q) They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl[g] on the earth.”(R)

27 So God created man
in his own image;
he created him in the image of God;
he created them male and female.(S)

28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth,(T) and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” 29 God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you,(U) 30 for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it—I have given[h] every green plant for food.”(V) And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed.(W) Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.

So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed.(X) On the seventh[i] day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested[j] on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.(Y) God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested(Z) from all his work of creation.(AA)

Footnotes

  1. 1:1 Or created the universe
  2. 1:8 Or “heavens.”
  3. 1:14 Or for the appointed times
  4. 1:20 Lit with swarms of
  5. 1:26 Or human beings; Hb ’adam, also in v. 27
  6. 1:26 Or as
  7. 1:26 Or scurry
  8. 1:30 I have given added for clarity
  9. 2:2 Sam, LXX, Syr read sixth
  10. 2:2 Or ceased, also in v. 3