1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.4And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.6And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.7And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.8And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.9And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.10And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.11And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.12And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.13And the evening and the morning were the third day.14And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:15And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.16And 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.17And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,18And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.19And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.20And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.21And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.22And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.24And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.26And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.30And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Genesis 1
New International Reader’s Version
The beginning
1In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.2The earth didn’t have any shape. And it was empty. There was darkness over the surface of the waves. At that time, the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.3God said, ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light.4God saw that the light was good. He separated the light from the darkness.5God called the light ‘day’. He called the darkness ‘night’. There was evening, and there was morning. It was day one.6God said, ‘Let there be a huge space between the waters. Let it separate water from water.’7And that’s exactly what happened. God made the huge space between the waters. He separated the water under the space from the water above it.8God called the huge space ‘sky’. There was evening, and there was morning. It was day two.9God said, ‘Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place. Let dry ground appear.’ And that’s exactly what happened.10God called the dry ground ‘land’. He called all the water that was gathered together ‘seas’. And God saw that it was good.11Then God said, ‘Let the land produce plants. Let them produce their own seeds. And let there be trees on the land that grow fruit with seeds in it. Let each kind of plant or tree have its own kind of seeds.’ And that’s exactly what happened.12So the land produced plants. Each kind of plant had its own kind of seeds. And the land produced trees that grew fruit with seeds in it. Each kind of tree had its own kind of seeds. God saw that it was good.13There was evening, and there was morning. It was day three.14God said, ‘Let there be lights in the huge space of the sky. Let them separate the day from the night. Let the lights set the times for the holy celebrations and the days and the years.15Let them be lights in the huge space of the sky to give light on the earth.’ And that’s exactly what happened.16God made two great lights. He made the larger light to rule over the day and the smaller light to rule over the night. He also made the stars.17God put the lights in the huge space of the sky to give light on the earth.18He put them there to rule over the day and the night. He put them there to separate light from darkness. God saw that it was good.19There was evening, and there was morning. It was day four.20God said, ‘Let the seas be filled with living things. Let birds fly above the earth across the huge space of the sky.’21So God created the great sea creatures. He created every kind of living thing that fills the seas and moves about in them. He created every kind of bird that flies. And God saw that it was good.22God blessed them. He said, ‘Have little ones so that there will be many of you. Fill the water in the seas. Let there be more and more birds on the earth.’23There was evening, and there was morning. It was day five.24God said, ‘Let the land produce every kind of living creature. Let there be livestock, and creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals.’ And that’s exactly what happened.25God made every kind of wild animal. He made every kind of livestock. He made every kind of creature that moves along the ground. And God saw that it was good.26Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings so that they are like us. Let them rule over the fish in the seas and the birds in the sky. Let them rule over the livestock and all the wild animals. And let them rule over all the creatures that move along the ground.’27So God created human beings in his own likeness. He created them to be like himself. He created them as male and female.28God blessed them. He said to them, ‘Have children so that there will be many of you. Fill the earth and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the seas and the birds in the sky. Rule over every living creature that moves along the ground.’29Then God said, ‘I am giving you every plant on the face of the whole earth that produces its own seeds. I am giving you every tree that has fruit with seeds in it. All of them will be given to you for food.30I am giving every green plant as food for all the land animals and for all the birds in the sky. I am also giving the plants to all the creatures that move along the ground. I am giving them to every living thing that breathes.’ And that’s exactly what happened.31God saw everything he had made. And it was very good. There was evening, and there was morning. It was day six.