1-2First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.

3-5God spoke: “Light!”

And light appeared.

God saw that light was good

and separated light from dark.

God named the light Day,

he named the dark Night.

It was evening, it was morning—

Day One.

6-8God spoke: “Sky! In the middle of the waters;

separate water from water!”

God made sky.

He separated the water under sky

from the water above sky.

And there it was:

he named sky the Heavens;

It was evening, it was morning—

Day Two.

9-10God spoke: “Separate!

Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place;

Land, appear!”

And there it was.

God named the land Earth.

He named the pooled water Ocean.

God saw that it was good.

11-13God spoke: “Earth, green up! Grow all varieties

of seed-bearing plants,

Every sort of fruit-bearing tree.”

And there it was.

Earth produced green seed-bearing plants,

all varieties,

And fruit-bearing trees of all sorts.

God saw that it was good.

It was evening, it was morning—

Day Three.

14-15God spoke: “Lights! Come out!

Shine in Heaven’s sky!

Separate Day from Night.

Mark seasons and days and years,

Lights in Heaven’s sky to give light to Earth.”

And there it was.

16-19God made two big lights, the larger

to take charge of Day,

The smaller to be in charge of Night;

and he made the stars.

God placed them in the heavenly sky

to light up Earth

And oversee Day and Night,

to separate light and dark.

God saw that it was good.

It was evening, it was morning—

Day Four.

20-23God spoke: “Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life!

Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!”

God created the huge whales,

all the swarm of life in the waters,

And every kind and species of flying birds.

God saw that it was good.

God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean!

Birds, reproduce on Earth!”

It was evening, it was morning—

Day Five.

24-25God spoke: “Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind:

cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds.”

And there it was:

wild animals of every kind,

Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug.

God saw that it was good.

26-28God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them

reflecting our nature

So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,

the birds in the air, the cattle,

And, yes, Earth itself,

and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.”

God created human beings;

he created them godlike,

Reflecting God’s nature.

He created them male and female.

God blessed them:

“Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!

Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,

for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”

29-30Then God said, “I’ve given you

every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth

And every kind of fruit-bearing tree,

given them to you for food.

To all animals and all birds,

everything that moves and breathes,

I give whatever grows out of the ground for food.”

And there it was.

31God looked over everything he had made;

it was so good, so very good!

It was evening, it was morning—

Day Six.

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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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The Message

Genesis 1

B'resheet (Gen) 1