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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”

The Creation

In the beginning, God created the universe.[a] When the earth[b] was as yet unformed and desolate, with the surface of the ocean depths shrouded[c] in darkness, and while the Spirit of God was hovering[d] over the surface of the waters, God said, “Let there be light!” So there was light.

God saw that the light was beautiful.[e] He[f] separated the light from the darkness, calling the light “day,” and the darkness[g] “night.” The twilight and the dawn were day one.

Then God said, “Let there be a canopy[h] between bodies of water,[i] separating bodies of water[j] from bodies of water!”[k] So God made a canopy[l] that separated the water beneath the canopy[m] from the water above it.[n] And that is what happened:[o] God called the canopy[p] “sky.”[q] The twilight and the dawn were the second day.

Then God said, “Let the water beneath the sky come together into one area, and let dry ground appear!” And that is what happened:[r] 10 God called the dry ground “land,”[s] and he called the water that had come together “oceans.” And God saw how good it was.

11 Then God said, “Let vegetation sprout all over the earth, including[t] seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each kind containing its own seed!” And that is what happened:[u] 12 Vegetation sprouted all over the earth, including seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each kind containing its own seed. And God saw that it was good. 13 The twilight and the dawn were the third day.

14 Then God said, “Let there be lights across[v] the sky to distinguish day from night, to act as signs for seasons,[w] days, and years, 15 to serve as lights in[x] the sky, and to shine on the earth!” And that is what happened:[y] 16 God fashioned two great lights—the larger light to shine during[z] the day and the smaller light to shine during[aa] the night—as well as stars. 17 God placed them in space[ab] to shine on the earth, 18 to differentiate between[ac] day and night, and to distinguish[ad] light from darkness. And God saw how good it was. 19 The twilight and the dawn were the fourth day.

20 Then God said, “Let the oceans swarm[ae] with living creatures, and let flying creatures soar above the earth throughout[af] the sky!” 21 So God created every kind of magnificent marine creature, every kind of living marine crawler[ag] with which the waters swarmed, and every kind of flying creature.[ah] And God saw how good it was. 22 God blessed them by saying, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the oceans. Let the birds multiply throughout the earth!” 23 The twilight and the dawn were the fifth day.

24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth each kind of living creature, each kind of livestock and crawling thing, and each kind of earth’s animals!”[ai] And that is what happened:[aj] 25 God made each kind of the earth’s animals, along with every kind of livestock and crawling thing.[ak] And God saw how good it was.

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, to be like us.[al] Let them be masters over the fish in the ocean, the birds that fly,[am] the livestock, everything that crawls on the earth, and over the earth itself!”

27 So God created mankind in his own image;
    in his own image God created them;[an]
        he created them male and female.

28 God blessed the humans by saying to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it! Be masters over the fish in the ocean, the birds that fly, and every living thing that crawls on the earth!”

29 God also told them,[ao] “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant that grows throughout[ap] the earth, along with every tree that grows seed-bearing fruit. They will produce your food. 30 I have given all green plants as food for every wild animal[aq] of the earth, every bird that flies, and to every living thing[ar] that crawls on the earth.” And that is what happened.[as]

31 Now God saw all that he had made, and indeed, it was very good! The twilight and the dawn were the sixth day.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 1:1 Lit. the heavens and the earth; i.e. space and matter
  2. Genesis 1:2 Or When God began to create the universe, the earth
  3. Genesis 1:2 The Heb. lacks shrouded
  4. Genesis 1:2 Or brooding
  5. Genesis 1:4 Or good
  6. Genesis 1:4 Lit. God
  7. Genesis 1:5 Lit. darkness he called
  8. Genesis 1:6 Or an expanse
  9. Genesis 1:6 Lit. between waters
  10. Genesis 1:6 Lit. separating waters
  11. Genesis 1:6 Lit. from waters
  12. Genesis 1:7 Or made an expanse
  13. Genesis 1:7 Or expanse
  14. Genesis 1:7 Lit. above the canopy
  15. Genesis 1:7 Lit. And so it was
  16. Genesis 1:8 Or expanse
  17. Genesis 1:8 Or Heaven
  18. Genesis 1:9 Lit. And so it was
  19. Genesis 1:10 Or Earth
  20. Genesis 1:11 The Heb. lacks including
  21. Genesis 1:11 Lit. And so it was
  22. Genesis 1:14 Lit. lights in the expanse of
  23. Genesis 1:14 I.e. sacred seasons set by the lunar calendar later utilized for Israel’s festivals and gatherings
  24. Genesis 1:15 Lit. lights in the expanse of
  25. Genesis 1:15 Lit. And so it was
  26. Genesis 1:16 Lit. to govern
  27. Genesis 1:16 Lit. to govern
  28. Genesis 1:17 Lit. the expanse of the sky
  29. Genesis 1:18 Lit. to govern
  30. Genesis 1:18 Or separate
  31. Genesis 1:20 Lit. swarm with a swarm
  32. Genesis 1:20 Lit. earth in the expanse of
  33. Genesis 1:21 Lit. living thing that crawls
  34. Genesis 1:21 Lit. winged bird
  35. Genesis 1:24 I.e., non-domesticated animals, as opposed to domesticated livestock; and so through 2:25
  36. Genesis 1:24 Lit. And so it was
  37. Genesis 1:25 Lit. thing of the earth
  38. Genesis 1:26 Lit. image, according to our likeness
  39. Genesis 1:26 Lit. birds of the sky; and so through 2:25
  40. Genesis 1:27 Lit. him
  41. Genesis 1:29 The Heb. lacks them
  42. Genesis 1:29 Lit. plant that is on the surface of
  43. Genesis 1:30 I.e., non-domesticated animals, as opposed to domesticated livestock
  44. Genesis 1:30 Lit. soul
  45. Genesis 1:30 Lit. And so it was