God made the earth and the sky

1Long, long ago God created the heavens and the earth.

2When he began to create the earth, it was shapeless and completely desolate/chaotic. Darkness covered the deep water that surrounded the earth. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the water.

3God said, “I want light to shine!” And light shone.

4God was pleased with the light. Then he made the light to shine in some places, and in other places there was still darkness.

5He gave to the light the name ‘day’, and he gave to the darkness the name ‘night’. After that, there was an evening which was followed by a morning. He called that whole period of time ‘the first day’.

6Then God said, “I command that there be an empty space like a huge dome to separate the water that is above it from the water on the earth that is below it!”

7And that is what happened. God gave to the space the name ‘sky’.

8Then there was another evening, which was followed by another morning. He called that period of time ‘the second day’.

9Then God said, “I want the water that is below the sky to come together, and dry ground to appear and rise above the water.” And that is what happened.

10God gave to the ground the name ‘earth’, and he gave to the water that came together the name ‘oceans’. God was pleased with the earth and the oceans.

11Then God said, “I want the earth to produce plants, including plants that will produce seeds and trees that will produce fruit. Each kind of tree will bear its own kind of fruit.”

12Then plants grew on the earth; each kind of plant began to produce its own kind of seed.

13Then there was another evening which was followed by another morning. God called that period of time ‘the third day’.

14Then God said, “I want a sun, a moon, and many stars to shine in the sky. The sun will shine in the daytime and the moon and stars will shine during the nighttime. By the changes in their appearance they will indicate the various seasons (OR, the times for special celebrations), and will enable people to know when days and years begin.

15I want them also to be like lights in the sky that will shine on the earth.” And that is what happened.

16God made two of them that were like big lights. The bigger one, the sun, shines during the day and the smaller one, the moon, shines during the night. He also made the stars.

17God set all of them in the sky to shine on the earth,

18to rule the day and the night, and to separate the light of the daytime from the darkness of the nighttime. God was pleased with these things he had made.

19Then there was another evening which was followed by another morning. He called that period of time ‘the fourth day’.

20Then God said, “I want many creatures to live in all the oceans, and I also want birds to fly in the sky above the earth.”

21So God created huge sea creatures and every other kind of creature that moves in the water, and caused them to live in all the oceans. He also created many kinds of birds. God was pleased with all those creatures.

22God blessed them. He said, “Produce offspring and become very numerous. I want the creatures in the water to live in all the oceans, and birds also to become very numerous.” And that is what happened.

23Then there was another evening that was followed by another morning. He called that period of time ‘the fifth day’.

24Then God said, “I want various kinds of creatures to appear on the earth. There will be many kinds of ◄livestock/domestic animals►, creatures that scurry across the ground, and large wild animals.” And that is what happened.

25God made all kinds of wild animals and ◄livestock/domestic animals► and all kinds of creatures that scurry across the ground. God was pleased with all these creatures.

26Then God said, “Now we will make human beings that will be like us in many ways. I want them to rule over the fish in the sea, over the birds, over all the ◄livestock/domestic animals►, and over all the other creatures that scurry across the ground.”

27So God created human beings that were like him in many ways. He made them to be like himself. He created some to be male and some to be female.

28God blessed them, saying, “Produce many children, who will live all over the earth and rule over it. I want them to rule over the fish and the birds and over all creatures that scurry across the ground.”

29God said to the humans, “Listen! I have given you all the plants that produce seeds, all over the earth, and all the trees that have seeds in their fruit. All these things are for you to eat.

30I have given all the green plants to all the wild animals and to the birds and to all the creatures that scurry across the ground, to everything that breathes, for them to eat.” And that is what happened.

31God was pleased with everything that he had made. Truly, it was all very good. Then there was another evening, that was followed by another morning. He called that period of time ‘the sixth day’.