Religion Page - 2

The Beginning of the Universe and the Earth
Religion Page - 2
Genesis

1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface
of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3And God said, "Let there be
light," and there was light.

4God saw that the light was good,
and he separated the light from
the darkness.

5God called the light
"day," and the darkness he called
"night." And there was evening,
and there was morning--the first
day.

6And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to
separate water from water."

7So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse
from the water above it. And it was so.

8God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was
morning--the second day.

9And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place,
and let dry ground appear." And it was so.

10God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called
"seas." And God saw that it was good.

11Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants
and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their
various kinds." And it was so.

12The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their
kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And
God saw that it was good.

13And there was evening, and there was morning--the third day.

14And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to
separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark
seasons and days and years.

15And let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the
earth." And it was so.

16God made two great lights--the greater light to govern the day and the
lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.

17God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.

18To govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.
And God saw that it was good.

19And there was evening, and there was morning--the fourth day.

20And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds
fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."

21So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and
moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and
every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

22God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and
fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."

23And there was evening, and there was morning--the fifth day.

24And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to
their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild
animals, each according to its kind." And it was so.

25God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock
according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the
ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and
let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the
livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along
the ground."

27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created
him; male and female he created them.

28God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in
number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the
birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

29Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the
whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be
yours for food.

30And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all
the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of
life in it--I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

31God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was
evening, and there was morning--the sixth day.


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Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV
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