The Creation of the World

1 In the beginning⁠a the Lord created the heavens and the earth. 2 And the earth was desolate and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and a wind from before the Lord blew over the surface of the waters. 3 And the Lord said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. 4 And the Lord saw that the light was good. And the Lord separated the light from the darkness. 5 And the Lord called the light daytime, and the darkness He called nighttime. And there was evening, and there was morning, one day. 6 And the Lord said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it separate one body of water from another.” 7 And the Lord made the expanse, and separated the waters below the expanse from the waters above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And the Lord called the expanse the heavens. And it was evening, and it was morning, the second day. 9 And the Lord said, “The waters shall gather under the heavens in one place, and the dry land shall appear.” And it was so. 10 And the Lord called the dry land earth, and the place where the waters gathered He called sea. And the Lord saw that it was good. 11 And the Lord said, “The earth shall produce grass, plants with seeds to sow, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit of their own kind with seeds in it.” And it was so. 12 And the earth produced grass, plants with seeds to sow, each of its own kind, and trees bearing fruit with seeds in it, each of its own kind. And the Lord saw that it was good. 13 And it was evening, and it was morning, the third day. 14 And the Lord said, “There shall be lights in the expanse of heaven, to separate day from night. They shall serve as signs, mark appointed times, and help count days and years. 15 And they shall be lights in the expanse of heaven to shine upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And the Lord made the two great lights: the greater light to rule during the day, and the smaller light to rule during the night, and the stars. 17 And the Lord set them in the expanse of heaven to shine upon the earth, 18 and to rule during the day and during the night, and to separate light from darkness. And the Lord saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning, the fourth day. 20 And the Lord said, “Let the waters produce living creatures that move, and let birds fly over the earth across the expanse of heaven.” 21 And the Lord created the great sea monsters and every living animal that moves that the waters produced, each of its own kind, and every bird that flies, each of its own kind. And the Lord saw that it was good. 22 And the Lord blessed them, saying, “Spread out and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas; and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And it was evening, and it was morning, the fifth day. 24 And the Lord said, “Let the earth produce living animals, each of its own kind: cattle, crawling creatures, and wild animals of the earth, each of its own kind.” And it was so. 25 And the Lord made the wild animals of the earth, each of its own kind, and cattle of their own kind, and every crawling creature of the earth of its own kind. And the Lord saw that it was good. 26 And the Lord said, “Let us make humans in Our image, in Our likeness. They shall rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every crawling creature that moves on the earth.” 27 And the Lord created Adam in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 And the Lord blessed them, and said to them, “Spread out and multiply, and fill the earth, and have power over it, and rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And the Lord said, “Look, I have given you every plant on all the earth that produces seed, and every tree whose fruit produces seed. It shall be yours for food. 30 And to every wild animal of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to every crawling creature on the earth in which is the breath of life, I have given every green plant to eat.” And it was so. 31 And the Lord saw all that He had made, and saw that it was firmly established.⁠b And it was evening, and it was morning, the sixth day.