The Creation

¹ In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth—

² Now¹ the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

1. Or “And”

³ And God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light.

⁴ And God saw the light, that it was good, and God caused there to be a separation between the light and between the darkness.

⁵ And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

⁶ And God said, “Let there be a vaulted dome¹ in the midst of the waters, and ⌞let it cause a separation between the waters⌟.”²

1. Or “expanse”
2. Literally “Let there be a separation made between waters to waters”

⁷ So¹ God made the vaulted dome,² and he caused a separation between the waters which were under the vaulted dome³ and between the waters which were over the vaulted dome.⁴ And it was so.

1. Or “And”
2. Or “expanse”
3. Or “expanse”
4. Or “expanse”

⁸ And God called the vaulted dome¹ “heaven.”² And there was evening, and there was morning, a second day.

1. Or “expanse”
2. Or “sky”

⁹ And God said, “Let the waters under heaven¹ be gathered to one place, and let the dry ground appear.” And it was so.

1. Or “the sky”

¹⁰ And God called the dry ground “earth,” and he called the collection of the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

¹¹ And God said, “Let the earth produce green plants that will bear seed—fruit trees bearing fruit ⌞in which there is seed⌟¹—according to its² kind, on the earth.” And it was so.

1. Literally “which its seed is in it”
2. Or “their”

¹² And the earth brought forth green plants bearing seed according to its¹ kind, and trees bearing fruit ⌞in which there was seed⌟² according to its³ kind. And God saw that it was good.

1. Or “their”
2. Literally “which its seed is in it”
3. Or “their”

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

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights¹ in the vaulted dome² of heaven³ ⌞to separate day from night⌟,⁴ and let them be as signs and for appointed times, and for days and years,

1. Or “light sources”
2. Or “expanse”
3. Or “the sky”
4. Literally “to make a separation between the day and between the night”

¹⁵ and they shall be as lights¹ in the vaulted dome² of heaven³ to give light on the earth.” And it was so.

1. Or “light sources”
2. Or “expanse”
3. Or “the sky”

¹⁶ And God made two lights,¹ the greater light² to rule³ the day and the smaller light⁴ to rule⁵ the night, and the stars.

1. Or “light sources”
2. Or “light source”
3. Literally “as the authority of”
4. Or “light source”
5. Literally “as the authority of”

¹⁷ And God placed them in the vaulted dome¹ of heaven² to give light on the earth

1. Or “expanse”
2. Or “the sky”

¹⁸ and to rule over the day and over the night, and to ⌞separate light from darkness⌟.¹ And God saw that it was good.

1. Literally “make a separation between the light and between the darkness”

¹⁹ And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

²⁰ And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly over the earth across the face of the vaulted dome¹ of heaven.²

1. Or “expanse”
2. Or “the sky”

²¹ So¹ God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kind, and every bird with wings according to its² kind. And God saw that it was good.

1. Or “And”
2. Or “their”

²² And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”

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

²⁴ And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kind: cattle and moving things, and wild animals¹ according to their kind.” And it was so.

1. Literally “animals of the earth/land”

²⁵ So¹ God made wild animals² according to their kind and the cattle according to their kind, and every creeping thing of the earth according to its³ kind. And God saw that it was good.

1. Or “And”
2. Literally “animals of the earth/land”
3. Or “their”

²⁶ And God said, “Let us make humankind in¹ our image and according to² our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of heaven,³ and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every moving thing that moves upon the earth.”

1. Or “as”
2. Or “as”
3. Or “the sky”

²⁷ So¹ God created humankind in² his image, in³ the likeness of God he created him,⁴ male and female he created them.

1. Or “And”
2. Or “as”
3. Or “as”
4. Or “it” collective: humankind

²⁸ And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven,¹ and over every animal that moves upon the earth.”

1. Or “the sky”

²⁹ And God said, “Look—I am giving to you every plant that bears seed which is on the face of the whole earth, and every kind of tree ⌞that bears fruit⌟.¹ They shall be yours as food.”

1. Literally “which in it fruit of a tree bears seed”

³⁰ And to every kind of animal of the earth and to every bird of heaven,¹ and to everything that moves upon the earth in which there is life I am giving every green plant as food.” And it was so.

1. Or “the sky”

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