| 1 |
| In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. |
| 2 |
The earth didn't have any shape. And it was empty. Darkness was over the surface of the ocean. At that time, the ocean covered the earth. The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
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| 3 |
| God said, 'Let there be light.' And there was light. |
| 4 |
| God saw that the light was good. He separated the light from the darkness. |
| 5 |
God called the light 'day.' He called the darkness 'night.' There was evening, and there was morning. It was day one.
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| 6 |
| God said, 'Let there be a huge space between the waters. Let it separate water from water.' |
| 7 |
| And that's exactly what happened. God made the huge space between the waters. He separated the water that was under the space from the water that was above it. |
| 8 |
God called the huge space 'sky.' There was evening, and there was morning. It was day two.
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| 9 |
| God said, 'Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place. Let dry ground appear.' And that's exactly what happened. |
| 10 |
| God called the dry ground 'land.' He called the waters that were gathered together 'oceans.' And God saw that it was good. |
| 11 |
| Then God said, 'Let the land produce plants. Let them bear their own seeds. And let there be trees on the land that bear fruit with seeds in it. Let each kind of plant or tree have its own kind of seeds.' And that's exactly what happened. |
| 12 |
| The land produced plants. Each kind of plant had its own kind of seeds. The land produced trees that bore fruit with seeds in it. Each kind of tree had its own kind of seeds. God saw that it was good. |
| 13 |
And there was evening, and there was morning. It was day three.
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| 14 |
| God said, 'Let there be lights in the huge space of the sky. Let them separate the day from the night. Let them serve as signs to mark off the seasons and the days and the years. |
| 15 |
| Let them serve as lights in the huge space of the sky to give light on the earth.' And that's exactly what happened. |
| 16 |
| God made two great lights. He made the larger light to rule over the day. He made the smaller light to rule over the night. He also made the stars. |
| 17 |
| God put the lights in the huge space of the sky to give light on the earth. |
| 18 |
| He put them there to rule over the day and the night. He put them there to separate light from darkness. God saw that it was good. |
| 19 |
And there was evening, and there was morning. It was day four.
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| 20 |
| God said, 'Let the waters be filled with living things. Let birds fly above the earth across the huge space of the sky.' |
| 21 |
| So God created the great creatures of the ocean. He created every living and moving thing that fills the waters. He created all kinds of them. He created every kind of bird that flies. And God saw that it was good. |
| 22 |
| God blessed them. He said, 'Have little ones and increase your numbers. Fill the water in the oceans. Let there be more and more birds on the earth.' |
| 23 |
There was evening, and there was morning. It was day five.
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| 24 |
| God said, 'Let the land produce all kinds of living creatures. Let there be livestock, and creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals. Let there be all kinds of them.' And that's exactly what happened. |
| 25 |
| God made all kinds of wild animals. He made all kinds of livestock. He made all kinds of creatures that move along the ground. And God saw that it was good. |
| 26 |
Then God said, 'Let us make man in our likeness. Let them rule over the fish in the waters and the birds of the air. Let them rule over the livestock and over the whole earth. Let them rule over all of the creatures that move along the ground.'
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| 27 |
So God created man in his own likeness. He created him in the likeness of God. He created them as male and female.
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| 28 |
| God blessed them. He said to them, 'Have children and increase your numbers. Fill the earth and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the waters and the birds of the air. Rule over every living creature that moves on the ground.' |
| 29 |
| Then God said, 'I am giving you every plant on the face of the whole earth that bears its own seeds. I am giving you every tree that has fruit with seeds in it. All of them will be given to you for food. |
| 30 |
| 'I am giving every green plant to all of the land animals and the birds of the air for food. I am also giving the plants to all of the creatures that move on the ground. I am giving them to every living thing that breathes.' And that's exactly what happened. |
| 31 |
| God saw everything he had made. And it was very good. There was evening, and there was morning. It was day six. |