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The Beginning of the World
1In the beginning God created the sky and the earth. 2The earth was empty and had no form. Darkness covered the ocean, and God’s Spirit was moving over the water.
3Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good, so he divided the light from the darkness. 5God named the light “day” and the darkness “night.” Evening passed, and morning came. This was the first day.
6Then God said, “Let there be something to divide the water in two.” 7So God made the air and placed some of the water above the air and some below it. 8God named the air “sky.” Evening passed, and morning came. This was the second day.
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 the water that was gathered together “seas.” God saw that this was good.
11Then God said, “Let the earth produce plants—some to make grain for seeds and others to make fruits with seeds in them. Every seed will produce more of its own kind of plant.” And it happened. 12The earth produced plants with grain for seeds and trees that made fruits with seeds in them. Each seed grew its own kind of plant. God saw that all this was good. 13Evening passed, and morning came. This was the third day.
14Then God said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate day from night. These lights will be used for signs, seasons, days, and years. 15They will be in the sky to give light to the earth.” And it happened.
16So God made the two large lights. He made the brighter light to rule the day and made the smaller light to rule the night. He also made the stars. 17God put all these in the sky to shine on the earth, 18to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that all these things were good. 19Evening passed, and morning came. This was the fourth day.
20Then God said, “Let the water be filled with living things, and let birds fly in the air above the earth.”
21So God created the large sea animals and every living thing that moves in the sea. The sea is filled with these living things, with each one producing more of its own kind. He also made every bird that flies, and each bird produced more of its own kind. God saw that this was good. 22God blessed them and said, “Have many young ones so that you may grow in number. Fill the water of the seas, and let the birds grow in number on the earth.” 23Evening passed, and morning came. This was the fifth day.
24Then God said, “Let the earth be filled with animals, each producing more of its own kind. Let there be tame animals and small crawling animals and wild animals, and let each produce more of its kind.” And it happened.
25So God made the wild animals, the tame animals, and all the small crawling animals to produce more of their own kind. God saw that this was good.
26Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image and likeness. And let them rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the tame animals, over all the earth, and over all the small crawling animals on the earth.”
27So God created human beings in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female. 28God blessed them and said, “Have many children and grow in number. Fill the earth and be its master. Rule over the fish in the sea and over the birds in the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29God said, “Look, I have given you all the plants that have grain for seeds and all the trees whose fruits have seeds in them. They will be food for you. 30I have given all the green plants as food for every wild animal, every bird of the air, and every small crawling animal.” And it happened. 31God looked at everything he had made, and it was very good. Evening passed, and morning came. This was the sixth day.