Creation

1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2And the earth was [†]formless and void, and darkness was over the [†]surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the [†]surface of the waters. 3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

6Then God said, “Let there be [†]an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7So God made the [†]expanse and separated the waters which were below the [†]expanse from the waters which were above the [†]expanse; and it was so. 8And God called the [†]expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

9Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. 11Then God said, “Let the earth sprout [†]vegetation, [†]plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after [†]their kind [†]with seed in them”; and it was so. 12And the earth brought forth [†]vegetation, [†]plants yielding seed after [†]their kind, and trees bearing fruit [†]with seed in them, after [†]their kind; and God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

14Then God said, “Let there be [†]lights in the [†]expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; 15and let them be for [†]lights in the [†]expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16So God made the two [†]great lights, the greater [†]light [†]to rule the day, and the lesser [†]light [†]to rule the night, and also the stars. 17And God placed them in the [†]expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18and [†]to rule the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

20Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth [†]across the face of the [†]expanse of the heavens.” 21And God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. 22Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

24Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after [†]their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after [†]their kind”; and it was so. 25God made the beasts of the earth after [†]their kind, and the cattle after [†]their kind, and every creeping thing of the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, so that they will have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the [†]sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28God 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 [†]sky and over every living thing that creeps on the earth.” 29Then God said, “Behold, I have given to you every plant yielding seed that is on the [†]surface of all the earth, and every tree [†]which has the fruit of the tree yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the [†]sky and to every thing that creeps on the earth [†]which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. 31And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.