2001 Translation

1

¹In the beginning, The God created the sky and the land.

Day One

²Now the land was not visible and disorganized, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And God’s breath was moving over the water.

Then The God said:

³‘Let there be light.’

And there was light.

And he, The God, saw that the light was good, and he, The God, separated the midst of the light from the midst of the darkness. ⁵And he, The God, called the light ‘day,’ and the darkness he called ‘night.’

So there was evening, and there was morning — [this completed] the 1^st day.

Day Two

Then The God said:

⁶‘Let there be [a] firmament in the midst of the water, and let it separate the water from the water.’

And so it happened.

⁷So The God made the firmament and separated the midst of the water under the firmament from the midst of the water above the firmament. ⁸The God called the firmament ‘sky.’ And The God saw that it was good.

So there was evening, and there was morning — [this completed] the 2^nd day.

Day Three

Then The God said:

⁹‘Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let the dry ground appear.’

And so it happened.

The water under the sky was gathered to their places, and the dry ground appeared. ¹⁰The God called the dry ground ‘land,’ and the collections of waters he called ‘seas.’ And The God saw that it was good.

Then The God said:

¹¹‘Let the land sprout grass vegetation, scattering seed according to its kind and likeness. And [the] fruit tree bearing fruit, whose seed is inside it, according to its kind and likeness upon the land.’

And so it happened.

¹²The land brought forth grass vegetation, scattering seed according to its kind and likeness, and [the] fruit tree bearing fruit, whose seed is inside it, according to its kind and likeness upon the land. And The God saw that it was good.

¹³So there was evening, and there was morning — [this completed] the 3^rd day.

Day Four

Then The God said:

¹⁴‘Let there be lights in the firmament for the illumination of the land, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate between the midst of the day and between the midst of the night. And let them be signs for [marking] seasons and for days and for years; ¹⁵and let them be lights in the firmament of the sky to give light on the land.’

And so it happened.

¹⁶The God made two great lights:

• The greater light to govern the day,
• And the lesser light to govern the night,
• And the stars.

¹⁷The God set them in the firmament of the sky to shine upon the land, ¹⁸to govern the day and the night, and to separate the midst of the light from the midst of the darkness. And The God saw that it was good.

¹⁹So there was evening, and there was morning — [this completed] the 4^th day.

Day Five

Then The God said:

²⁰‘Let’s bring living creeping things out of the waters, and birds flying over the land throughout the firmament of the sky.’

And so it happened.

²¹So The God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, which he led out of the waters, according to their kinds, and every feathered bird according to its kind. And The God saw that it was good.

The God blest them, saying:

²²‘Grow and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas! And the birds, let them multiply upon the land.’

²³So there was evening, and there was morning — [this completed] the 5^th day.

Day Six

Then The God said:

²⁴‘Bring out of the land living creatures according to their kinds: four-footed [creatures], creeping things, and wild beasts, each according to its kind.’

And so it happened.

²⁵The God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creeping things on the ground according to their kinds. And The God saw that it was good.

Then The God said:

²⁶‘Let us make [a] human in our image, after our likeness, and let them rule over:

• The sea’s fish
• The sky’s birds
• The livestock and all the land
• All the creeping things that crawl on the land.’

²⁷So The God created the human in his own image; in God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.

The God blest them and said to them:

²⁸‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the land and subdue it. Rule over:

• The sea’s fish
• The sky’s birds
• The livestock and all the land
• All the creeping things that crawl on the land.’

Then The God said:

²⁹‘Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant upon all the land, and every tree that has fruit with seed inside it. They will be yours for food. ³⁰And to all the land's wild beasts, and to all the sky’s birds, and to every creeping thing that crawls on the land which has life’s breath inside it, I give every green grass for food.’

And so it happened.

³¹The God saw all that he had made, and look! It was very good!

So there was evening, and there was morning — [this completed] the 6^th day.

2

Day Seven

¹Thus the sky and the land were completed, and all their arrangement [or, ‘and their entire world’]. ²And The God completed his works that he had made on the 6^th day.

And on the 7^th day, he rested from all his works that he had made. ³And The God blest the 7^th day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all his works that The God had begun to make.