Genesis 1

Modern English Version

The Creation

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was formless and void,^[a] darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving^[b] over the surface of the water.

³ God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

⁶ Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷ So God made the expanse and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse. And it was so. ⁸ God called the expanse Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

⁹ Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. Then God saw that it was good.

¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation:^[c] plants yielding seed and fruit trees on the earth yielding fruit after their kind with seed in them.” And it was so. ¹² The earth produced vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind and trees yielding fruit with seed in them after their kind. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ So the evening and the morning were the third day.

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons, and days, and years. ¹⁵ Let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. ¹⁷ Then God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. Then God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

²⁰ Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures and let the birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” ²¹ So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

²⁴ Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. ²⁵ So God made the beasts of the earth according to their kind, and the livestock according to their kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

²⁹ Then God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is on the face of all the earth and every tree which has fruit yielding seed. It shall be food for you. ³⁰ To every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the earth which has the breath of life in it, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

³¹ God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.