1 In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty,
darkness was over the surface of the
deep, and the Spirit of God was
hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and
there was light.
4 God saw that the light was good, and
he separated the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light "day," and the
darkness he called "night." And there
was evening, and there was morningthe
first day.
6 And God said, "Let there be an
expanse between the waters to
separate water from water."
7 So God made the expanse and
separated the water under the expanse
from the water above it. And it was so.
8 God called the expanse "sky." And
there was evening, and there was
morning-the second day.
9 And God said, "Let the water under the
sky be gathered to one place, and let
dry ground appear." And it was so.
10 God called the dry ground "land," and
the gathered waters he called "seas."
And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, "Let the land produce
vegetation: seed-bearing plants and
trees on the land that bear fruit with
seed in it, according to their various
kinds." And it was so.
12 The land produced vegetation: plants
bearing seed according to their kinds
and trees bearing fruit with seed in it
according to their kinds. 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 expanse of the sky to separate the
day from the night, and let them serve
as signs to mark seasons and days and
years,
15 and let them be lights in the expanse
of the sky to give light on the earth." And
it was so.
16 God made two great lights-the greater
light to govern the day and the lesser
light to govern the night. He also made
the stars.
17 God set them in the expanse of the
sky to give light on the earth,
18 to govern the day and the night, and to
separate light from darkness. And God
saw that it was good.
19 And there was evening, and there was
morning-the fourth day.
20 And God said, "Let the water teem
with living creatures, and let birds fly
above the earth across the expanse of
the sky."
21 So God created the great creatures of
the sea and every living and moving
thing with which the water teems,
according to their kinds, and every
winged bird according to its kind. And
God saw that it was good.
22 God blessed them and said, "Be
fruitful and increase in number and fill
the water in the seas, and let the birds
increase on the earth."
23 And there was evening, and there was
morning-the fifth day.
24 And God said, "Let the land produce
living creatures according to their kinds:
livestock, creatures that move along the
ground, and wild animals, each
according to its kind." And it was so.
25 God made the wild animals according
to their kinds, the livestock according to
their kinds, and all the creatures that
move along the ground according to
their kinds. And God saw that it was
good.
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in
our image, in our likeness, and let them
rule over the fish of the sea and the
birds of the air, over the livestock, over
all the earth, and over all the creatures
that move along the ground."
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them,
"Be fruitful and increase in number; fill
the earth and subdue it. Rule over the
fish of the sea and the birds of the air
and over every living creature that
moves on the ground."
29 Then God said, "I give you every seedbearing
plant on the face of the whole
earth and every tree that has fruit with
seed in it. They will be yours for food.
30 And to all the beasts of the earth and
all the birds of the air and all the
creatures that move on the groundeverything
that has the breath of life in
it-I give every green plant for food." And
it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it
was very good. And there was evening,
and there was morning-the sixth day.
