Classic

Genesis 1

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1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2And the earth was waste 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 there was evening and there was morning, one 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 there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

9And God said, Let the waters under the heavens 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 put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so.

12And the earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind: and God saw that it was good.

13And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

14And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of 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 heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16And God made the two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he madethe stars also.

17And God set them in the firmament of 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 there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

20And God said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

21And God created the great sea-monsters, and every living creature that moveth, wherewith the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its 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 birds multiply on the earth.

23And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

24And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind: and it was so.

25And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the ground after its 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 birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27And 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 birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food:

30and to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for food: and it was so.

31And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

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Parallel translations · Genesis 1:1

WEB · World English Bible (2000)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

KJV · King James Version (1611)

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

ASV · American Standard Version (1901)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

BBE · Bible in Basic English (1949)

At the first God made the heaven and the earth.

YLT · Young's Literal Translation (1862)

In the beginning of God's preparing the heavens and the earth--

DRA · Douay-Rheims (Challoner) (1752)

In the beginning God created heaven, and earth.

DBY · Darby Bible (1890)

In the beginningGod created the heavens and the earth.

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Commentary · Genesis 1

The Six Days of Creation

The Bible opens not with an argument for the existence of God but with the announcement of his creative act. In six measured days God speaks the cosmos into being — light, sky, sea, land, plants, sun and moon, fish and birds, animals, and finally man and woman in his own image. Each act ends with the refrain, 'and God saw that it was good.' The chapter establishes God's sovereignty, the goodness of the material world, the dignity of humanity, and the rhythm of work and rest that will shape all of Scripture.

Themes

  • Creation ex nihilo
  • The image of God
  • The goodness of creation
  • Sabbath rhythm

Application

We were made on purpose, by a good God, to bear his image and steward his world. Every honest vocation is a participation in his creative work.

Key cross-references

From the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — verses that illuminate Genesis 1:1.

  • Zechariah 12:1

    The burden of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel. Thus saith Jehovah, who stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him:

  • Proverbs 3:19

    Jehovah by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding he established the heavens.

  • Isaiah 37:16

    O Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, that sittest above the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.

  • Mark 13:19

    For those days shall be tribulation, such as there hath not been the like from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never shall be.

  • Proverbs 8:22

    Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of his way, Before his works of old.

  • Jeremiah 10:12

    He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding hath he stretched out the heavens.

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Genesis 2

"And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them."