Genesis 1: The six days of creation
A free study, verse by verse. Text: World English Bible. Notes come from the Hebrew. How to read a study
What happens?
God creates the heavens and the earth in six days: light, then the sky, then dry land and plants, then the lights in the sky, then sea creatures and birds, then land animals and people. Each day ends with evening and morning, and at the end God sees that everything he made is very good.
Who is speaking?
The narrator tells the story. God speaks in 16 of the 31 verses: each "Let there be", the names he gives, and his words to the people he made. God's own words are printed in gold, and those verses are marked God speaks
1In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
In plain English: In the beginning (or: when God began to create), God created the heavens and the earth.
The Hebrew word: "God" here is Elohim. It looks like the word for "gods", but the word "created" is written for one person, so it means one God.
How it is translated: This Bible says "God" for Elohim about 9 times out of 10. Most other times it says "gods".
What changes: Read as "gods", the verse would say many gods made the world. The Hebrew word "created" does not allow that here.
Church tradition: Churches teach that God made everything out of nothing. Genesis 1 does not say those words. The teaching usually comes from other verses, like .
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2The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.
In plain English: At first the earth had no shape and nothing on it. It was dark and covered by deep water, and God's Spirit (or a wind from God) was moving over the water.
The Hebrew words: "Formless and empty" is tohu and bohu, two words that sound alike: a waste and an emptiness. "Spirit" is ruach, which can mean spirit, wind, or breath.
How it is translated: For ruach, this Bible says "spirit" about 6 times in 10, "wind" about 3 in 10, and "breath" about 1 in 10. In it is the wind God sends after the flood.
What changes: Read as "wind", this verse says a wind from God was moving over the water, instead of God's Spirit.
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3God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.God speaks
In plain English: God gave the command for light to exist, and light appeared.
Good to know: These are the first words God speaks in the Bible.
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4God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.
In plain English: God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
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5God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day.God speaks
In plain English: God named the light "day" and the darkness "night". Evening came and then morning: that was day one.
The Hebrew word: "Day" is yom. This one verse uses it two ways: first for the daylight, then for a whole evening and morning.
Church tradition: Churches disagree about these days. Some teach six 24-hour days, others teach long ages. The text says "evening and morning" and numbers each day, but it does not mention hours.
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6God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”God speaks
In plain English: God said, "Let there be an expanse (a dome, or a wide space) in the middle of the waters, to separate water from water."
The Hebrew word: "Expanse" is raqia: something spread out, like the arch of the sky.
How it is translated: Older Bibles like the King James say "firmament". This Bible says "expanse" in 14 of the 15 verses that use it.
What changes: Nothing in the meaning: it is the same Hebrew word either way, and tells you what it is: God calls the expanse "sky".
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7God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
In plain English: God made the expanse and separated the water below it from the water above it. It happened just as he said.
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8God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day.God speaks
In plain English: God named the expanse "sky". Evening came and then morning: that was the second day.
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9God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so.God speaks
In plain English: God said, "Let the water under the sky come together into one place, and let dry land appear." It happened just as he said.
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10God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good.God speaks
In plain English: God named the dry land "earth" and the gathered water "seas". God saw that it was good.
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11God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth;” and it was so.God speaks
In plain English: God said, "Let the earth grow plants: grass, plants that make seeds, and fruit trees whose fruit has seeds, each after its own kind." It happened just as he said.
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12The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.
In plain English: The earth grew grass, plants that make seeds, and trees with fruit that has seeds, each after its own kind. God saw that it was good.
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13There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
In plain English: Evening came and then morning: that was the third day.
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14God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years;God speaks
In plain English: God said, "Let there be lights in the sky to separate day from night. Let them be signs, and mark the set times, the days, and the years.
The Hebrew word: "Seasons" is mo'ed, which means an appointed time.
How it is translated: This Bible says "meeting" about 2 times in 3 (as in "the Tent of Meeting"), and also "appointed", "feast" and "season". In God uses it for his feasts: "my set feasts".
What changes: Read as "appointed times", the lights in the sky mark set times, including the feasts, and not only the seasons of the year.
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15and let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth;” and it was so.God speaks
In plain English: Let them shine in the sky to give light to the earth." It happened just as he said.
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16God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars.
In plain English: God made the two big lights: the bigger light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night. He also made the stars.
Good to know: The verse never says "sun" or "moon". It says "the greater light" and "the lesser light". The Hebrew word is ma'or: a light, or something that gives light.
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17God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth,
In plain English: God put them in the sky to give light to the earth,
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18and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.
In plain English: to rule over the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. God saw that it was good.
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19There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
In plain English: Evening came and then morning: that was the fourth day.
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20God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.”God speaks
In plain English: God said, "Let the waters be full of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth, across the sky."
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21God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good.
In plain English: God created the great sea creatures and every kind of living creature that fills the water, and every kind of bird. God saw that it was good.
The Hebrew word: "Large sea creatures" is tannin.
How it is translated: In the 26 verses that use it, this Bible says "jackal" about half the time, and also "serpent" and "monster". In it is the serpent that Aaron's rod turns into.
What changes: The word covers large animals of land and sea. Here, living in the water makes them sea creatures.
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22God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”God speaks
In plain English: God blessed them and said, "Have young and become many. Fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."
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23There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
In plain English: Evening came and then morning: that was the fifth day.
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24God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;” and it was so.God speaks
In plain English: God said, "Let the earth bring out living creatures of every kind: livestock, creeping animals, and wild animals." It happened just as he said.
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25God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.
In plain English: God made the wild animals, the livestock, and every creeping animal, each after its own kind. God saw that it was good.
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26God said, “Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”God speaks
In plain English: God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness. Let them rule over the fish, the birds, the livestock, all the earth, and every creeping animal."
The Hebrew words: God speaks in the plural: "Let us make man in our image." In Hebrew both "make" and "our" are plural, and the text does not say who "us" is. "Man" is adam, which means a human being, or mankind.
What changes: shows that adam here means people, male and female, not one man.
Church tradition: Many churches read "us" as the Trinity. Others read it as God speaking with his heavenly court, or as a royal "we". Genesis 1 does not say which.
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27God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.
In plain English: God created humankind in his own image. In God's image he created him; male and female he created them.
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28God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”God speaks
In plain English: God blessed them and said to them, "Have children and become many. Fill the earth and bring it under control. Rule over the fish, the birds, and every living thing that moves on the earth."
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29God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.God speaks
In plain English: God said, "Look, I have given you every plant that makes seed, all over the earth, and every tree whose fruit has seed. They will be your food.
Good to know: The food God gives here is plants and fruit, for people (this verse) and for animals ().
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30To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so.God speaks
In plain English: And to every animal, every bird, and every creature that moves on the earth, everything that has life, I have given every green plant for food." It happened just as he said.
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31God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
In plain English: God saw everything he had made, and it was very good. Evening came and then morning: that was the sixth day.
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