1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the surface of the deep. The Spirit of God moved over the surface of the waters.

3God said, “Let there be light!” and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day,” and he called the darkness “night.” So there was evening, and then the morning, making day one.#1:5. It is significant that the “day” is measured from darkness to light, which is still the Jewish method of calculating days.

6God said, “Let there be an expanse#1:6. “Expanse.” Older translations have often rendered this word as “firmament,” borrowing from the Latin “firmamentum.” That this referred to some ancient belief that the sky was like a dome of hammered metal, and therefore a tangible physical object, has now been shown to be mistaken. In fact, Latin translations from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries usually use the word “expansionem.” in the middle of the waters to divide the waters.” 7So God made an expanse to divide the waters that were above from the waters that were below. And that's what happened. 8God called the expanse, “sky.” So there was evening, and then the morning, making day two.

9God said, “Let the waters below the sky collect together in one place so that the land may appear.” And so it was. 10God called the land “earth” and the waters “seas.” God saw that it was good.

11God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation—plants that produce seeds and trees that produce seeded fruit—each one according to its own kind.” And that's what happened. 12The earth produced vegetation—plants that produce seeds and trees that produce seeded fruit—each one according to its own kind. God saw that it was good. 13So there was evening, and then the morning, making day three.

14God said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate day from night, and to provide a way to mark seasons, days, and years. 15They shall be lights in the sky to shine on the earth.” And that's what happened. 16God created two great lights:#1:16. Hebrew has words for sun and moon, but they are not used here, perhaps to avoid any temptation to worship the sun and the moon. the larger one in charge of the day, and the smaller one in charge of the night. He created the stars too. 17God placed these lights in the sky to shine upon the earth, 18to be in charge of the day and in charge of the night, and to separate light from darkness. God saw that it was good. 19So there was evening, and then the morning, making day four.

20God said, “Let the waters be full of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the sky.” 21So God created huge sea creatures and all the living things that swim and fill the waters, each one according to its own kind; and every bird that flies, each one according to its own kind. God saw that it was good. 22God blessed them and said, “Reproduce and increase, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23So there was evening, and then the morning, making day five.

24God said, “Let the land produce living creatures, each one according to its own kind—the livestock, the creatures that run along the ground, and the wild animals, each one according to its own kind.” And that's what happened. 25God made the wild animals, the livestock, and the creatures that run along the ground, all according to their own kind. God saw that it was good.

26God said, “Let us make human beings in our image who are like us.#1:26. This aspect of being “like” God conveys the idea of being “patterned” after God. The word is also translated “similitude,” “figure” or “form.” The most essential aspect of this resemblance is surely that of character. They will have authority over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over the whole of the earth and every creature that moves on it.” 27So God created human beings in his own image. He created them in the image of God. He created them male and female.#1:27. The repetition of “created” in this verse is surely significant, which is why this is placed first in each sentence. 28God blessed them and told them, “Reproduce, increase, and spread throughout the earth and control it; exercise authority over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the earth.”

29God said, “Look, I'm giving you as your food every seed-bearing plant anywhere on earth, and every tree that produces fruit with seeds. 30I'm giving all the green plants to all the land animals, to the birds, and to every creature that moves on the earth—to every living thing.” And that's what happened.

31God saw everything that he had created, and yes, it was very good. So there was evening, and then the morning, making day six.

Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com

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B'resheet (Gen) 1

Parashah 1: B’resheet (In the beginning) 1:1–6:8

1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was unformed and void, darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the water. 3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. So there was evening, and there was morning, one day.

6God said, “Let there be a dome in the middle of the water; let it divide the water from the water.” 7God made the dome and divided the water under the dome from the water above the dome; that is how it was, 8and God called the dome Sky. So there was evening, and there was morning, a second day.

9God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let dry land appear,” and that is how it was. 10God called the dry land Earth, the gathering together of the water he called Seas, and God saw that it was good.

11God said, “Let the earth put forth grass, seed-producing plants, and fruit trees, each yielding its own kind of seed-bearing fruit, on the earth”; and that is how it was. 12The earth brought forth grass, plants each yielding its own kind of seed, and trees each producing its own kind of seed-bearing fruit; and God saw that it was good. 13So there was evening, and there was morning, a third day.

(A: ii) 14God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to divide the day from the night; let them be for signs, seasons, days and years; 15and let them be for lights in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth”; and that is how it was. 16God made the two great lights — the larger light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night — and the stars. 17God put them in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth, 18to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. 19So there was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.

20God said, “Let the water swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open dome of the sky.” 21God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that creeps, so that the water swarmed with all kinds of them, and there was every kind of winged bird; and God saw that it was good. 22Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, multiply and fill the water of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23So there was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.

(A: iii) 24God said, “Let the earth bring forth each kind of living creature — each kind of livestock, crawling animal and wild beast”; and that is how it was. 25God made each kind of wild beast, each kind of livestock and every kind of animal that crawls along the ground; and God saw that it was good.

26Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, in the likeness of ourselves; and let them rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the animals, and over all the earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the earth.”

27So God created humankind in his own image;

in the image of God he created him:

male and female he created them.

28God blessed them: God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air and every living creature that crawls on the earth.” 29Then God said, “Here! Throughout the whole earth I am giving you as food every seed-bearing plant and every tree with seed-bearing fruit. 30And to every wild animal, bird in the air and creature crawling on the earth, in which there is a living soul, I am giving as food every kind of green plant.” And that is how it was. 31God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. So there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day.

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Genesis 1

B'resheet (Gen) 1