Genesis

Genesis

¹In the beginning God made heaven and earth. ²The earth could not be seen and was not yet formed, and darkness lay over the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the water. ³God said, "Let there be light." And there was light. ⁴God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵God called the light day and the darkness night. Night came, then morning dawned, and it was the first day. ⁶God said, "Let there be a firmament in the middle of the water, to separate water from water." And so it was. ⁷God made the firmament, and God separated the water below the firmament from the water above the firmament. ⁸God called that firmament heaven. And God saw that it was good. Night came, then morning dawned, and it was the second day. ⁹God said, "Let the water under the sky gather into one place, and let dry land appear." And so it was. The water gathered into its gathering places, and the dry land appeared. ¹⁰God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the water he called sea. And God saw that it was good. ¹¹God said, "Let the earth sprout green plants, grass that is sown, each by its seed, its kind and its likeness, and trees that bear fruit, whose seed is inside it, each by its kind on the earth." And so it was. ¹²The earth brought out green plants, grass that is sown, its seed by its kind and by its likeness, and trees that bear fruit, whose seed is inside it, each by its kind on the earth. And God saw that it was good. ¹³Night came, then morning dawned, and it was the third day. ¹⁴God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to shine on the earth and to separate day from night. Let them serve as signs, and for seasons, for days and for years. ¹⁵Let them be lights in the firmament of heaven to shine on the earth." And so it was. ¹⁶God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, along with its stars. ¹⁷God set them in the firmament of heaven to shine on the earth, ¹⁸to govern the day and the night, and to separate night from light. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹Night came, then morning dawned, and it was the fourth day. ²⁰God said, "Let the water bring out moving creatures that have the breath of life, and birds that fly above the earth, under the sky." And so it was. ²¹God made the great sea creatures, and every living creature that moves, which the water brought out, each by its kind, and every bird that flies, each by its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²²God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, and let the birds also multiply on the earth." ²³Night came, then morning dawned, and it was the fifth day. ²⁴God said, "Let the earth bring out livestock, creeping things and wild animals of the earth, each by its kind." And so it was. ²⁵God made the livestock, each by its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth by its kind, and the wild animals of the earth by their kind. And God saw that it was good. ²⁶God said, "Let us make man in our image and in our likeness. Let him rule the fish of the sea, the wild animals of the earth, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that move on the earth." ²⁷So God made humankind in the likeness of God. Male and female he made them. ²⁸God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and take possession of it. Rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, all the livestock, and everything that moves on the earth." ²⁹God said, "Look, I have given you every plant that is sown and springs up from its seed, sown over all the earth, and every tree that has its seed in its fruit, ready to be sown. These will be your food. ³⁰And for all the wild animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, and everything that moves on the earth and has the breath of life, every green plant will be food." And so it was. ³¹God saw everything he had made, that it was very good. Night came, then morning dawned, and it was the sixth day.