In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth.
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.
And God said, "Let
there be light," and there was light.
God saw that the
light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
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 an expanse between the waters to separate water from
water."
So God made the
expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water
above it. And it was so.
God called the
expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was
morning--the second day.
And God said, "Let
the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry
ground appear." And it was so.
God called the
dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called
"seas." And God saw that it was good.
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.
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.
And there was evening,
and there was morning--the third day.
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,
and let them be
lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth."
And it was so.
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.
God set them in
the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth,
to govern the day
and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God
saw that it was good.
And there was evening,
and there was morning--the fourth day.
And God said, "Let
the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above
the earth across the expanse of the sky."
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.
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."
And there was evening,
and there was morning--the fifth day.
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.
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.
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."
So God created
man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male
and female he created them.
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."
Then God said,
"I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the
whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They
will be yours for food.
And to all the
beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the
creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath
of life in it--I give every green plant for food." And
it was so.
God saw all that
he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and
there was morning--the sixth day.
