1 In the abeginning bGod created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was awithout form, and void; and darkness1was on the face of the deep. bAnd the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3aThen God said, b“Let there be clight”; and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that itwas good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light Day, and the adarkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 Then God said, a“Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”
7 Thus God made the firmament, aand divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which werebabove the firmament; and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 Then God said, a“Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and blet the dry land appear”; and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that itwas good.
11 Then God said, “Let the earth abring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the bfruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that itwas good.
13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.
14 Then God said, “Let there be alights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and bseasons, and for days and years;
15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.
16 Then God made two great1 lights: the agreater light to rule the day, and the blesser light to rule the night. Hemadecthe stars also.
17 God set them in the firmament of the aheavens to give light on the earth,
18 and to arule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that itwas good.
19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20 Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living1 creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the2 firmament of the heavens.”
21 So aGod created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that itwas good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, a“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that itwas good.
26 Then God said, a“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; blet them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over1 all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man ain His own image; in the image of God He created him; bmale and female He created them.
28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, a“Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and bsubdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that1 moves on the earth.”
29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; ato you it shall be for food.
30 Also, to aevery beast of the earth, to every bbird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which thereis1 life, Ihavegiven every green herb for food”; and it was so.
31 Then aGod saw everything that He had made, and indeed itwas very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
GENESIS, the book of the origin or production of all things, consists of two parts: the first, comprehended in the first through eleventh chapters, gives a general history; the second, contained in the subsequent chapters, gives a special history. The two parts are essentially connected; the one, which sets out with an account of the descent of the human race from a single pair, the introduction of sin into the world, and the announcement of the scheme of divine mercy for repairing the ruins of the fall, was necessary to pave the way for relating the other, namely, the call of Abraham, and the selection of his posterity for carrying out the gracious purpose of God. An evident unity of method, therefore, pervades this book, and the information contained in it was of the greatest importance to the Hebrew people, as without it they could not have understood the frequent references made in their law to the purposes and promises of God regarding themselves. The arguments that have been already adduced as establishing the Mosaic origin of the Pentateuch prove of course that Moses was the author of Genesis. The few passages on which the rationalists grounded their assertions that it was the composition of a later age have been successfully shown to warrant no such conclusion; the use of Egyptian words and the minute acquaintance with Egyptian life and manners, displayed in the history of Joseph, harmonize with the education of Moses, and whether he received his information by immediate revelation, from tradition, or from written documents, it comes to us as the authentic work of an author who wrote as he was inspired by the Holy Ghost (II Peter 1:21).
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