The Six Days of Creation
1When God began to create the heavens and the earth, 2the earth was a formless void, darkness covered the deep, and the breath of God swept over the waters. 3God said, “Let there be light,” and light appeared. 4God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. Evening came, and morning came — the first day. 6God said, “Let there be a dome between the waters, to separate water from water.” 7God made the dome and separated the waters under the dome from the waters above it. And so it was. 8God called the dome Sky. Evening came, and morning came — the second day. 9God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, and let dry ground appear.” And so it was. 10God called the dry ground Earth, and the gathered waters he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants bearing seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit with seed in it, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And so it was. 12The earth brought forth vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kind. And God saw that it was good. 13Evening came, and morning came — the third day. 14God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them serve as signs to mark seasons, days, and years, 15and let them shine in the dome of the sky to give light on the earth.” And so it was. 16God made the two great lights — the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night — and the stars as well. 17God set them in the dome of the sky to give light on the earth, 18to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19Evening came, and morning came — the fourth day.
Living Creatures Fill Sea, Sky, and Land
20God said, “Let the waters swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth, across the dome of the sky.” 21God created the 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. 22God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23Evening came, and morning came — the fifth day. 24God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kind: livestock, creeping things, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And so it was. 25God made the wild animals according to their kind, the livestock according to their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and every creeping thing that moves on the earth.” 27So God created humankind in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29God said, “See, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth, and every tree with seed-bearing fruit in it — they will be yours for food. 30And to every animal of the earth, every bird of the sky, and everything that creeps on the earth, everything with the breath of life in it, I give every green plant for food.” And so it was. 31God saw everything he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came, and morning came — the sixth day.
