Genesis 1

₁In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth and everything high up in the sky. ₂There was nothing on the earth. Nothing lived there, and nothing could live there. There was only sea and deep water all over the earth. There was no light. It was very dark. The Spirit of God moved over the water, like a strong wind.

₃God said: ‘There must be light.’ Then the light was there and it shone. ₄God looked at the light and He saw that the light was good. God took the dark away from the light. ₅God said that the name for the light was day and the name for the dark was night. It became night and then it was morning.

That was the first day.

₆God said: ‘There must be an expanse high up above the earth. There must be water above and under the expanse.’

₇Then it happened. God made the expanse and then there was water above and under the expanse. ₈God said that the name for the expanse was the sky. It became night and then it was morning.

That was the 2nd day.

₉God said: ‘All the water under the sky must be in one place, in the sea. There will be sea and dry ground.’

Then it happened. ₁₀God said that the name for the dry ground was land. He said that the name for the water was sea. God looked at how He had made the land and the sea and He saw that it was good. ₁₁God said: ‘There must be green plants that grow on the land. The plants will make seeds and fruit trees will grow, with seeds inside the fruit.’

Then it happened. ₁₂The green plants and trees started growing in the ground. The plants and trees made seeds inside the fruit and more of the same plants and trees started growing. God looked at how He had made the plants and He saw that it was good. ₁₃It became night and then it was morning.

That was the 3rd day.

₁₄God said: ‘There must be lights in the sky. They will show when it is day and when it is night. They will also show when it is summer, winter, spring or autumn. The lights will also show when the days and years start and when they end. ₁₅The lights in the sky must shine and give light to the earth.’

Then it happened. ₁₆God made the sun, the moon and the stars. The biggest light, the sun, had to shine in the day and the smaller light, the moon, had to shine at night. ₁₇God put the sun, moon and stars into the sky to shine on the earth. ₁₈God said that the sun and moon must show when it was day and when it was night. God looked at how He had made the lights and He saw that it was good. ₁₉It became night and then it was morning.

That was the 4th day.

₂₀God said: ‘The sea water must be full of fish and living things and there must be birds that fly in the sky, above the earth.’

₂₁God made fish and the big water animals and everything that lives in the sea. God also made lots of different birds to fly in the sky. God looked at how He had made the fish and the birds and He saw that it was good. ₂₂God blessed them and He said: ‘There must be more and more fish and water animals. The water must be full of fish. And there must be lots of birds on earth.’

₂₃It became night and then it was morning.

That was the 5th day.

₂₄God said: ‘There must be all kinds of animals on earth, farm animals, creeping animals and wild animals.’

Then it happened. ₂₅God made the different wild animals, farm animals and creeping animals. God looked at how He had made the animals and He saw that it was good.

₂₆Then God said: ‘Let Us make people who will be like Us and rule in our place. They must rule over everything for Us, over the fish in the sea, over the birds in the sky, over the animals, over the creeping animals and over everything on earth.’

₂₇So God made people so that they could rule over everything in his place. He made them to be leaders and to be like Him. God made men and women. ₂₈God blessed them and He said: ‘You must have many children and fill the earth with people. You must rule over the fish in the sea and over the birds in the sky. You must rule over all the animals on the earth.’

₂₉Then God said: ‘I am giving you all the plants on earth that have seeds in them and all the trees that have fruit with seeds in them. You may eat them. The seeds and fruit will be your food. ₃₀The grass and the green plants are food for all the animals on earth. They will be food for all the birds in the sky and for all the animals on earth.’

Then it happened.

₃₁God looked at everything that He had made and He saw that it was very good. It became night and then it was morning.

That was the 6th day.