Genesis - The Account of Creation
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the
earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the
deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God
said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the
light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God
called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And
there was evening, and there was morning--the first day.
And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to
separate water from water." So God made the expanse and separated
the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was
so. God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there
was morning--the second day.
And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one
place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the
dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And
God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the land produce
vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear
fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it
was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed
according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it
according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there
was evening, and there was morning--the third day.
And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to
separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to
mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the
expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. God
made two great lights--the greater light to govern the day and the
lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set
them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to
govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.
And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was
morning--the fourth day.
And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let
birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God
created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving
thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and
every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was
good. 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." And there was evening, and there was morning--the
fifth day.
And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to
their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and
wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. God made
the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according
to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground
according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Then God
said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them
rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the
livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that
move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in
the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in
number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the
sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that
moves on the ground." Then 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. And
to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and
all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the
breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food." And it
was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And
there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast
array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been
doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God
blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested
from all the work of creating that he had done.
Genesis 1:1-31 and 2:1-3
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