Genesis 1:1–31

The Beginning

1In the beginning^a God created^b the heavens^c and the earth.^{d 2}Now the earth was formless^e and empty,^f darkness was over the surface of the deep,^g and the Spirit of God^h was hoveringⁱ over the waters.

³And God said,^j “Let there be light,” and there was light.^{k 4}God saw that the light was good,^l and he separated the light from the darkness.^{m 5}God calledⁿ the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”^o And there was evening, and there was morning^p—the first day.

⁶And God said,^q “Let there be a vault^r between the waters^s to separate water from water.” ⁷So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it.^t And it was so.^{u 8}God called^v the vault “sky.”^w And there was evening, and there was morning^x—the second day.

⁹And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place,^y and let dry ground^z appear.” And it was so.^{a 10}God called^b the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters^c he called “seas.”^d And God saw that it was good.^e

¹¹Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation:^f seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.^g” And it was so.^{h 12}The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kindsⁱ and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.^{j 13}And there was evening, and there was morning^k—the third day.

¹⁴And God said, “Let there be lights^l in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night,^m and let them serve as signsⁿ to mark sacred times,^o and days and years,^{p 15}and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.^{q 16}God made two great lights—the greater light^r to govern^s the day and the lesser light to govern^t the night.^u He also made the stars.^{v 17}God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸to govern the day and the night,^w and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.^{x 19}And there was evening, and there was morning^y—the fourth day.

²⁰And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures,^z and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”^{a 21}So God created^b the great creatures of the sea^c and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it,^d according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.^e And God saw that it was good.^{f 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.”^{g 23}And there was evening, and there was morning^h—the fifth day.

²⁴And God said, “Let the land produce living creaturesⁱ according to their kinds:^j the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.^{k 25}God made the wild animals^l according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds.^m And God saw that it was good.ⁿ

²⁶Then God said, “Let us^o make mankind^p in our image,^q in our likeness,^r so that they may rule^s over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky,^t over the livestock and all the wild animals,^a and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

²⁷So God created^u mankind^v in his own image,^w

in the image of God^x he created them;

male and female^y he created them.^z

²⁸God blessed them and said to them,^a “Be fruitful and increase in number;^b fill the earth^c and subdue it. Rule over^d the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.^e”

²⁹Then 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.^{f 30}And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life^g in it—I give every green plant for food.^h” And it was so.

³¹God saw all that he had made,ⁱ and it was very good.^j And there was evening, and there was morning^k—the sixth day.