GenesisChapter 1

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¹In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ²The earth had no shape and was empty. Darkness was over the surface of the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. ³Then God said, "Let there be light." And there was light. ⁴God saw that the light was good. He separated the light from the darkness. ⁵God called the light "day." He called the darkness "night." There was evening, and there was morning. That was the first day. ⁶Then God said, "Let there be a wide space between the waters. Let it separate the waters from the waters." ⁷So God made the wide space. He separated the waters below it from the waters above it. And that is what happened. ⁸God called the wide space "sky." There was evening, and there was morning. That was the second day. ⁹Then God said, "Let the waters under the sky come together into one place, so that dry land will appear." And that is what happened. ¹⁰God called the dry land "earth." He called the waters that came together "seas." And God saw that it was good. ¹¹Then God said, "Let the earth grow green plants. Let there be plants that make seeds. Let there be trees that grow fruit with seeds in it, each of its own kind." And that is what happened. ¹²The earth grew green plants. There were plants that made seeds, each of its own kind. There were trees that grew fruit with seeds in it, each of its own kind. And God saw that it was good. ¹³There was evening, and there was morning. That was the third day. ¹⁴Then God said, "Let there be lights in the wide space of the sky. Let them divide the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, the days, and the years. ¹⁵Let them be lights in the sky to shine on the earth." And that is what happened. ¹⁶God made two great lights. He made the bigger light to rule the day. He made the smaller light to rule the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷God put these lights in the wide space of the sky to shine on the earth. ¹⁸They were to rule over the day and the night. They were to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹There was evening, and there was morning. That was the fourth day. ²⁰Then God said, "Let the waters be full of living creatures. Let birds fly above the earth across the open sky." ²¹So God created the great sea creatures. He made every living thing that moves and fills the waters, each of its own kind. He made every bird with wings, each of its own kind. And God saw that it was good. ²²God blessed them. He said, "Have many young and grow in number. Fill the waters of the seas. And let the birds grow in number on the earth." ²³There was evening, and there was morning. That was the fifth day. ²⁴Then God said, "Let the earth bring out living creatures, each of its own kind. Let there be farm animals, creatures that crawl, and wild animals, each of its own kind." And that is what happened. ²⁵God made the wild animals, each of its own kind. He made the farm animals, each of its own kind. He made every creature that crawls on the ground, each of its own kind. And God saw that it was good. ²⁶Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, to be like us. Let them rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky. Let them rule over the farm animals and over all the earth. Let them rule over every creature that crawls on the ground." ²⁷So God created man in his own image. In the image of God he created him. Male and female he created them. ²⁸God blessed them. He said to them, "Have many children and grow in number. Fill the earth and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky. Rule over every creature that crawls on the ground." ²⁹Then God said, "Look! I have given you every plant on the whole earth that makes seeds. I have given you every tree that has fruit with seeds in it. They will be your food. ³⁰And I have given every green plant as food to every wild animal, every bird in the sky, and every creature that crawls on the ground. I have given it to everything that has the breath of life in it." And that is what happened. ³¹God looked at everything he had made. And it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning. That was the sixth day.