The Beginning of the World
In the beginning, when God created the earth and sky, the earth was without life and not yet useful for anything. Deep waters covered the earth, and darkness covered the water. God’s Spirit was moving like a storm over the surface of the water.
The First Day—Light
Then God said, “Let there be light!” And light began to shine. He saw the light, and he knew that it was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God named the light “day,” and he named the darkness “night.” There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the first day.
The Second Day—Sky
Then God said, “Let there be a space to separate the water into two parts!” So God made the space and separated the water. Some of the water was above it, and some of the water was below it. 8God named that space “sky.” There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the second day.
The Third Day—Dry Land and Plants
Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered together so that the dry land will appear.” And it happened. God named the dry land “earth,” and he named the water that was gathered together “seas.” And God saw that this was good. Then God said, “Let the earth grow grass, plants that make grain, and fruit trees. The fruit trees will make fruit with seeds in it. And each plant will make its own kind of seed. Let these plants grow on the earth.” And it happened. The earth grew grass and plants that made grain. And it grew trees that made fruit with seeds in it. Every plant made its own kind of seeds. And God saw that this was good. There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the third day.
The Fourth Day—Sun, Moon, and Stars
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the sky. These lights will separate the days from the nights. They will be used for signs to show when special meetings begin and to show the days and years. They will be in the sky to shine light on the earth.” And it happened. So God made the two large lights. He made the larger light to rule during the day and the smaller light to rule during the night. He also made the stars. God put these lights in the sky to shine on the earth. He put them in the sky to rule over the day and over the night. They separated the light from the darkness. And God saw that this was good. There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the fourth day.
The Fifth Day—Fish and Birds
Then God said, “Let the water be filled with many living things, and let there be birds to fly in the air over the earth.” So God created the large sea animals. He created all the many living things in the sea and every kind of bird that flies in the air. And God saw that this was good. God blessed all the living things in the sea and told them to have many babies and fill the seas. And he blessed the birds on land and told them to have many more babies. There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the fifth day.
The Sixth Day—Land Animals and People
Then God said, “Let the earth produce many kinds of living things. Let there be many different kinds of animals. Let there be large animals and small crawling animals of every kind. And let all these animals produce more animals.” And all these things happened. So God made every kind of animal. He made the wild animals, the tame animals, and all the small crawling things. And God saw that this was good. Then God said, “Now let’s make humans who will be like us. They will rule over all the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. They will rule over all the large animals and all the little things that crawl on the earth.” So God created humans in his own image.
He created them to be like himself. He created them male and female. God blessed them and said to them, “Have many children. Fill the earth and take control of it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. Rule over every living thing that moves on the earth.” God said, “I am giving you all the grain bearing plants and all the fruit trees. These trees make fruit with seeds in it. This grain and fruit will be your food. And I am giving all the green plants to the animals. These green plants will be their food. Every animal on earth, every bird in the air, and all the little things that crawl on the earth will eat that food.” And all these things happened. God looked at everything he had made. And he saw that everything was very good. There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the sixth day.
The Seventh Day—Rest
So the earth, the sky, and everything in them were finished. God finished the work he was doing, so on the seventh day he rested from his work. God blessed the seventh day and made it a holy day. He made it special because on that day he rested from all the work he did while creating the world.
The First Man and the Garden of Eden
This is the story about the creation of the sky and the earth. This is what happened when the Lord God made the earth and the sky. This was before there were plants on the earth. Nothing was growing in the fields because the Lord God had not yet made it rain on the earth, and there was no one to care for the plants. So water came up from the earth and spread over the ground. Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and made a man. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nose, and the man became a living thing. Then the Lord God planted a garden in the East, in a place named Eden. He put the man he made in that garden.
Then the Lord God caused all the beautiful trees that were good for food to grow in the garden. In the middle of the garden, he put the tree of life and the tree that gives knowledge about good and evil. A river flowed from Eden and watered the garden. The river then separated and became four smaller rivers. 11The name of the first river was Pishon. This river flowed around the entire country of Havilah. (There is gold in that country, and that gold is pure. A kind of expensive perfume and onyx are also found there.) The name of the second river was Gihon. This river flowed around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river was Tigris. This river flowed east of Assyria. The fourth river was the Euphrates. The Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden to work the soil and take care of the garden. The Lord God gave him this command: “You may eat from any tree in the garden. But you must not eat from the tree that gives knowledge about good and evil. If you eat fruit from that tree, on that day you will certainly die!”
