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Genesis 1

1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was formless and empty, darkness lay over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of God hovered over the surface of the waters. 3God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 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: one day.

6God said, “Let there be a vault within the waters, separating water from water.” 7God made the vault and separated the waters below the vault from the waters above the vault. And so it was. 8God called the vault Heaven. Evening came and morning came: a second day.

9God said, “Let the waters below heaven gather into one place, and let the dry ground appear.” And so it was. 10God called the dry ground Earth, and the gathered waters he called Seas. God saw that it was good. 11God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation: plants yielding seed and fruit trees bearing fruit according to their kinds, with their seed in it, on the earth.” And so it was. 12The earth brought out vegetation: plants yielding seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with their seed in it according to their kinds. God saw that it was good. 13Evening came and morning came: a third day.

14God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of heaven to separate day from night. Let them serve as signs and for appointed times, days, and years. 15Let them be lights in the vault of heaven to give light on the earth.” And so it was. 16God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars. 17God set them in the vault of heaven to give light on the earth, 18to rule over day and night, and to separate light from darkness. God saw that it was good. 19Evening came and morning came: a fourth day.

20God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly over the earth across the face of the vault of heaven.” 21God created the great sea creatures and every moving living creature with which the waters swarmed, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. God saw that it was good. 22God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23Evening came and morning came: a fifth day.

24God said, “Let the earth bring out living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, crawling things, and wild animals of the earth according to their kinds.” And so it was. 25God made the wild animals of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls on the ground according to its kind. God saw that it was good.

26God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness. Let them rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the livestock, all the earth, and every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.” 27God created humankind in his image; in God's image he created it; 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 heaven, and every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29God said, “Look, I have given you every plant yielding seed on the surface of all the earth, and every tree with seed-bearing fruit. They will be yours for food. 30And to every wild animal of the earth, every bird of heaven, and everything that moves on the earth that has life in it, I have given every green plant for food.” And so it was. 31God saw everything he had made, and look, it was very good. Evening came and morning came: the sixth day.

Translation notes 4

1:1–3 — Beginning; spirit. The opening can also be read as a temporal clause: “When God began to create the heavens and the earth,” with verse 2 as background and verse 3 the main action. The draft takes verse 1 as a complete statement. “Spirit of God” can also mean God's wind, or possibly a mighty wind; the Hebrew does not require the later theological identification of the spirit.

1:6–8 — Vault. The word names the expanse separating the waters above from those below. “Vault” preserves the scene's overhead structure without supplying a modern account of the atmosphere. Heaven and sky translate the same Hebrew word in different contexts.

1:14, 21 — Appointed times; sea creatures. The lights regulate times, including seasons and potentially sacred occasions; the text does not name a festival calendar. The great sea creatures can include the formidable creatures elsewhere called sea monsters.

1:26–28 — Humankind; us. The Hebrew collective “human” embraces male and female, then shifts from a singular pronoun to plural “them.” The draft keeps that movement. The plural “us” is left unexplained in the speech; a heavenly council is a serious contextual interpretation. The verse itself does not identify the addressees. “Subdue” and “rule” preserve the force of the stated human commission.