THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD

The First Day—Light

1 God made the sky and earth. At first, ²the earth was completely empty; nothing was on the earth. Darkness covered the ocean, and God’s Spirit moved over* the water. ³Then God said, “Let there be light!”* And light began to shine. ⁴God saw the light, and he knew it was good. Then God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵God named the light “day,” and he named the darkness “night.” There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the first day.

The Second Day—Sky

⁶Then God said, “Let there be air* to separate the water into two parts!” ⁷So God made the air and separated the water. Some of the water was above the air, and some of the water was below the air. ⁸God named the air “sky.” There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the second day.

The Third Day—Dry Land and Plants

⁹Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered together so the dry land will appear.” And it happened. ¹⁰God named the dry land “earth.” And God named the water that was gathered together “seas.” God saw this was good. ¹¹Then God said, “Let the earth grow grass, plants that make grain, and fruit trees. The fruit trees will make fruit with seeds in it. And each plant will make its own kind of seed. Let these plants grow on the earth.” And it happened. ¹²The earth grew grass and plants that made grain. And it grew trees that made fruit with seeds in it. Every plant made its own kind of seeds. And God saw this was good. ¹³There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the third day.

The Fourth Day—Sun, Moon, and Stars

¹⁴Then God said, “Let there be lights in the sky. These lights will separate the days from the nights. These lights will be used for special signs and to show when special meetings* begin. And they will be used to show the days and years. ¹⁵These lights will be in the sky to shine light on the earth.” And it happened. ¹⁶So God made the two large lights. God made the larger light to rule during the day. He made the smaller light to rule during the night. God also made the stars. ¹⁷God put these lights in the sky to shine on the earth. ¹⁸God put these lights in the sky to rule over the day and over the night. These lights separated the light from the darkness. And God saw this was good. ¹⁹There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the fourth day.

The Fifth Day—Fish and Birds

²⁰Then God said, “Let the water be filled with many living things. And let there be birds to fly in the air over the earth.” ²¹So God made the large sea animals.* God made every living thing that moves in the sea. There are many different kinds of sea animals—and God made them all! God also made every kind of bird that flies in the sky. And God saw this was good. ²²God blessed these animals. God told them to have many babies and fill the seas. And God told the birds on land to make many more birds. ²³There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the fifth day.

The Sixth Day—Land Animals and People

²⁴Then God said, “Let the earth make many kinds of living things. Let there be many different kinds of animals. Let there be large animals and small crawling animals of every kind. And let all these animals make more animals.” And all these things happened. ²⁵So God made every kind of animal. God made the wild animals, the tame animals, and all the small crawling things. And God saw this was good. ²⁶Then God said, “Now let’s make man.* We will make people as a copy of ourselves. People will be like us. They will rule over all the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. They will rule over all the large animals and all the little things that crawl on the earth.” ²⁷So God made people in his own image. God made people as a copy of himself.* God made them male and female. ²⁸God blessed them and said to them, “Have many children. Fill the earth and take control of it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. Rule over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ²⁹God said, “I am giving you all the grain bearing plants and all the fruit trees. Those trees make fruit with seeds in it. This grain and fruit will be your food. ³⁰And I am giving all the green plants to the animals. Those green plants will be their food. Every animal on earth, every bird in the air, and all the little things that crawl on the earth will eat that food.” And all these things happened. ³¹God looked at everything he had made. And God saw that everything was very good. There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the sixth day.

moved over The Hebrew word means “to fly over” or “to swoop down,” like a bird flying over its nest to protect its babies. God made ... light Or, “In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth. While 2the earth had no special shape, and darkness covered the ocean, and God’s Spirit hovered over the water, 3God said, ‘Let there be light!’” Or, “When God began to create the sky and the earth, 2while the earth was completely empty, and darkness covered the ocean, and a powerful wind blew over the water, 3God said, ‘Let there be light.’” air The Hebrew word means “bowl,” or “dome.” special meetings The Israelites used the sun and moon to decide when the months and years began. And many Jewish holidays and special meetings began at the time of the new moon or full moon. large sea animals Or, “sea monsters.” man The Hebrew word means “man,” “people,” or the name “Adam.” It is like the word meaning “earth,” or “red clay.” God made people … himself Compare Gen. 5:1,3.

The Seventh Day—Rest

2 So the earth, the sky, and everything in them were finished. ²God finished the work he was doing. So on the seventh day God rested from his work. ³God blessed the seventh day and made it a holy day. God made that day special because on that day he rested from all the work he did while making the world.

THE BEGINNING OF HUMANITY

⁴This is the history of the sky and the earth. This is the story about the things that happened at the time God made the earth and the sky. ⁵This was before there were plants on the earth. Nothing was growing in the fields. This was because the Lord had not yet made it rain on the earth. And there was no person to care for the plants. ⁶Water* came up from the earth and spread over the ground. ⁷Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and made a man.* The Lord breathed the breath of life into the man’s nose, and the man became a living thing. ⁸Then the Lord God planted a garden in the East,* in a place named Eden. The Lord God put the man he made in that garden. ⁹The Lord God made every beautiful tree and every tree that was good for food to grow in the garden. In the middle of the garden, the Lord God put the tree of life and also the tree that gives knowledge about good and evil. ¹⁰A river flowed from Eden and watered the garden. That river then separated and became four smaller rivers. ¹¹The name of the first river was Pishon. This river flowed around the entire country of Havilah.*

¹²(There is gold in that country, and that gold is good. There are also Bdellium* and Onyx* in that country.) ¹³The name of the second river was Gihon. This river flowed around the entire country of Ethiopia.* ¹⁴The name of the third river was Tigris.* This river flowed east of Assyria. The fourth river was the Euphrates.* ¹⁵The Lord God put the man in the garden of Eden to work the soil and take care of the garden. ¹⁶The Lord God gave the man this command. The Lord God said, “You may eat from any tree in the garden. ¹⁷But you must not eat from the tree that gives knowledge about good and evil. If you eat fruit from that tree you will die!”

The First Woman

¹⁸Then the Lord God said, “I see that it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a person like him to help him.” ¹⁹The Lord God used dust from the ground and made every animal in the fields and every bird in the air. The Lord God brought all these animals to the man, and the man gave everything a name. ²⁰The man gave names to all the tame animals, to all the birds in the air, and to all the wild animals of the forest. The man saw many, many animals and birds, but the man could not find a helper that was right for him. ²¹So the Lord God caused the man to sleep very deeply. While the man was asleep, the Lord God took one of the ribs from the man’s body. Then the Lord God closed the man’s skin at the place where he took the rib. ²²The Lord God used the rib from the man to make a woman. Then the Lord God brought the woman to the man. ²³And the man said, “Finally! {A person like me}. Her bones are from my bones. Her body is from my body. She was taken out of man, so I will call her woman.” ²⁴That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife. This way, two people become one. ²⁵The man and his wife were naked, but they were not ashamed.

Water Or, “A mist.” man The Hebrew word means “man,” “people,” or the name “Adam.” It is like the word meaning “earth,” or “red clay.” East This usually means the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers as far east as the Persian Gulf. Havilah The land along the west coast of the Arabian peninsula and, possibly, the part of Africa south of Ethiopia. Bdellium An expensive, sweet-smelling gum. Onyx A precious stone with many layers of blue or gray. Ethiopia Or, “Cush,” a country in Africa by the Red Sea. Tigris, Euphrates The two largest rivers flowing through the countries of Babylonia and Assyria.