Genesis 1

1In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth

2The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

3Then God said, let there be light, and there was light.

4God looked at the light and He saw that the light was good. God took the dark away from the light.

5God named the light day, and he named the darkness night. There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the first day.

6God said: There must be sky high up above the earth. There must be water above and under the sky.

7God made the sky and then there was water above and under the sky.

8God named that sky Heaven. There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the second day.

9Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered together so that the dry land will appear. And it happened.

10God said that the name for the dry land was Earth. He said that the name for the water was sea. God saw that it was good.

11Then God said, Let the earth grow grass, plants that make grain, and fruit trees. The fruit trees will make fruit with seeds in it. And each plant will make its own kind of seed. Let these plants grow on the earth. And it happened Genesis 1: 12 The earth grew grass and plants that made grain. And it grew trees that made fruit with seeds in it. Every plant made its own kind of seeds. And God saw that this was good.

13It became night and then it was morning. That was the 3rd day.

14God said: There must be lights in the sky. They will show when it is day and when it is night. They will be used for signs to show when special meetings begin. They will also show when it is summer, winter, spring or autumn. The lights will also show when the days and years start and when they end.

15Let the lights in the sky shine and give light to the earth. Then it happened.

16God made the sun, the moon and the stars. The biggest light, the sun, to shine in the day and the smaller light, the moon, had to shine at night.

17God put them in the sky to give light on the earth.

18He put them in the sky to rule over the day and over the night. They separated the light from the darkness. And God saw that this was good.

19There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the fourth day.

20Then God said, Let the water be filled with many living things, and let there be birds to fly in the sky of heaven.

21God created the whales, and he also created all the living things in the sea. God created every kind of bird that flies in the air. God looked at how He had made the fish and the birds, and He saw that it was good.

22God blessed them, and He said: There must be more and more fish and water animals. The water must be full of fish. And there must be lots of birds on earth.

23There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the fifth day.

24God said: Let the land make all kinds of animals, each having babies of the same animals. The cows, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.

25God made the different wild animals, the cows and creeping animals. Each was able to make babies after itself. God looked at how He had made the animals and He saw that it was good.

26Then God said, Now let Us make people who will be like Us. They will rule over all the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. They will rule over all the large animals and all the little things that crawl on the earth.

27So God created humans in his own image. He created them to be like himself. He created them male and female.

28God blessed them, and He said: You must have many children and fill the earth with people. You must rule over the fish in the sea and over the birds in the sky. You must rule over all the animals on the earth.

29God said, I am giving you all the grain bearing plants and all the fruit trees. These trees make fruit with seeds in it. This grain and fruit will be your food.

30Every animal on earth, every bird in the air, and all the little things that crawl on the earth. I am giving all the green plants to the animals. These green plants will be their food. And all these things happened.

31God looked at everything that He had made, and He saw that it was very good. It became night and then it was morning. That was the 6th day.