Genesis 1

1 When God began to create the sky and the earth— 2 while the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the deep, and a wind from God was hovering over 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." Evening came, and morning came: the first day.

6 Then God said, "Let there be a dome in the middle of the water, to keep one body of water apart from the other." 7 So God made the dome and separated the water under the dome from the water above it. And that is how it was. 8 God called the dome "sky." Evening came, and morning came: the second day.

9 Then God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, so that dry ground appears." And that is how it was. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered water he called "seas." And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, "Let the land grow plants: plants that make seeds, and fruit trees that make fruit after their kind, with seeds inside, on the land." And that is how it was. 12 The land brought out plants: plants that make seeds after their kind, and trees that make fruit with seeds inside, after their kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 Evening came, and morning came: the third day.

14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be for signs and for festivals, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to shine on the earth." And that is how it was. 16 God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the smaller light to rule the night. He made the stars too. 17 God set them in the dome of the sky to shine on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 Evening came, and morning came: the fourth day.

20 Then God said, "Let the water swarm with living souls, and let flying creatures fly above the earth, across the dome of the sky." 21 So God created the great sea dragons, every living soul that moves, which the water swarmed with, after their kinds, and every winged flying creature after its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Bear fruit and become many. Fill the water in the seas, and let the flying creatures become many on the earth." 23 Evening came, and morning came: the fifth day.

24 Then God said, "Let the land bring out living souls after their kind: livestock, crawling things, and wild animals, each after its own kind." And that is how it was. 25 God made the wild animals after their kind, the livestock after their kind, and every crawling thing on the ground after its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, like us, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, the flying creatures of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and every crawling thing that crawls on the earth." 27 So God created human beings in his image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, "Bear fruit and become many. Fill the earth and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish of the sea, the flying creatures of the sky, and every living thing that crawls on the earth." 29 Then God said, "Look, I have given you every plant on the whole earth that makes seeds, and every tree with fruit that has seeds in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to every wild animal, every flying creature of the sky, and everything that crawls on the earth and has a living soul in it, I give every green plant for food." And that is how it was. 31 God looked at everything he had made, and it was very good. Evening came, and morning came: the sixth day.