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Genesis 1

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Genesis 1:1 KJV

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:2 KJV

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Genesis 1:3 KJV

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1:4 KJV

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Genesis 1:5 KJV

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

Genesis 1:6 KJV

And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

Genesis 1:7 KJV

And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Genesis 1:8 KJV

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

Genesis 1:9 KJV

And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:10 KJV

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

Genesis 1:11 KJV

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:12 KJV

And the evening and the morning were the third day.

Genesis 1:13 KJV

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

Genesis 1:14 KJV

And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

Genesis 1:15 KJV

And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

Genesis 1:16 KJV

And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

Genesis 1:17 KJV

And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:18 KJV

And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

Genesis 1:19 KJV

And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

Genesis 1:20 KJV

And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:21 KJV

And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

Genesis 1:22 KJV

And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

Genesis 1:23 KJV

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

Genesis 1:24 KJV

And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:25 KJV

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Genesis 1:26 KJV

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Genesis 1:27 KJV

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Genesis 1:28 KJV

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Genesis 1:29 KJV

And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

Genesis 1:30 KJV

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31 KJV

End of Genesis 1

Continue reading Genesis 2

What is Genesis 1 about?

Genesis 1 is the Bible's opening account of creation: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Over six days, God speaks and brings order out of formless darkness. He makes light, the sky, dry land and plants, then the sun, moon and stars, creatures of sea and air, and land animals. Again and again "God saw that it was good." On the sixth day God creates humankind "in his own image," male and female, blesses them, and gives them care of the earth (verse 27). At the end, "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good" (verse 31). Genesis 2 continues with the seventh day of rest.

What does Genesis 1 mean?

Genesis 1:1

The first sentence of the Bible tells us who made everything: God. It does not try to prove that he exists; it simply begins with him. "In the beginning" means time itself had a starting point, and God was already there. "Created" translates a Hebrew word used in the Bible only of God's activity, bringing something new into being. "The heaven and the earth" is a way of saying everything, the whole universe. The verse teaches that the world is not an accident and that God is distinct from what he made. Everything that follows in the Bible rests on this foundation: the Creator has a claim on his creation.

Genesis 1:27

On the sixth day of creation, God makes human beings, and this verse repeats the word "created" three times for emphasis. People are made "in his own image," which sets them apart from the rest of creation. Being made in God's image means humans reflect something of God's nature: they can think, love, create, choose, and relate to him, and they are given responsibility to care for the earth on his behalf. The verse also says "male and female created he them," so men and women equally bear God's image. This is why the Bible treats every human life, of every background, as precious and worthy of dignity.

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