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Open English Translation GEN Chapter 1

GEN 1 ©

Readers’ Version

Literal Version

1:1 The six days of creation

1In the beginning, God[fn] created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was formless and empty and darkness covered the surface of the depth waters and God’s spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3Then God said, “Let there be light,” and light came into existence,[ref] 4and God observed that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. 5God named the light daytime, and the darkness he named nighttime. Then evening came, and later morning came, and that was the end of the first day.

6Then God said, “Let there be a large space in the middle of the waters, and let it separate the two lots of waters.”[ref] 7So God made the large space and separated between the waters that were underneath from the waters that were above it. Everything happened exactly as he commanded, 8and he named the space sky. Then evening came, and later morning came, and that was the end of the second day.

9Then God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered to one place, and let the dry ground appear.” Everything happened exactly as he commanded, 10and he named the ground that appeared land, and he named the gathered waters seas, and he saw that what he had done was good. 11Then God said, “Let the land sprout vegetation: every plant yielding seed, every fruit tree bearing its own fruit that has its seed inside it, on the earth.” Everything happened exactly as he commanded, 12so the land started producing vegetation, every plant producing its own seed, and every tree bearing fruit that has its seed inside it. And God saw that what he had done was good. 13Then evening came, and later morning came, and that was the end of the third day.

14Then God said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate daytime from nighttime, so they’ll be signs, and for indicating seasons, and for tracking days and years. 15They must function as lights in the sky that shine light on the earth.” Everything happened exactly as he commanded, 16so God made the two large lights, the larger, brighter light to rule the day, and the smaller light to rule the night, and he also made the stars. 17He put those lights in the sky to shine light on the earth, 18and to oversee the daytime and the nighttime, and to distinguish between the light and the darkness. And God saw that what he had done was good. 19Then evening came, and later morning came, and that was the end of the fourth day.

20Then God said, “Let the waters be full of with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly in the sky above the earth.” 21So God created the great sea creatures and every kind of living creature that moves which the waters swarm with, and every kind of winged bird. And God saw that what he had done was good, 22and he blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23Then evening came, and later morning came, and that was the end of the fifth day.

24Then God said, “Let the land bring forth every kind of living creature: livestock and every crawling creature and every kind of living thing on the earth.” Everything happened exactly as he commanded, 25so he made every kind of creature of the earth, and every kind of livestock, and every kind of crawling creature on the ground. And God saw that what he had done was good.

26Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish in the sea and over the birds in the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every creature moving on the earth.”[ref] 27Then God created humankind in his image, yes, created in the image of God—male and female he created them.[ref] 28Then God blessed them and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and take control of it. You’re in charge of the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29Then God said, “Look, I’ve given you every plant throughout the whole earth that yields seed, and every tree that has fruit with a seed or seeds inside it. They will be yours for food, 30and to every living thing on the earth, and to every bird in the sky, and to everything moving on the earth that has living breath in it, I’ve given every green plant for food.” Everything happened exactly as he commanded, 31and he saw everything that he’d made, and wow, it was very good. Then evening came, and later morning came, and that was the end of the sixth day.


1:1 As per common practice, we use ‘God’ through the Hebrew scriptures for the word ‘elohim’. Note that ‘elohim’ is a Hebrew language plural, and is translated more literally as ‘gods’ in a few places. However the connected Hebrew verb translated ‘created’ here is clearly a singular form, so the singular noun ‘God’ fits better here and everywhere where ‘elohim’ is used with other verbs marked as being singular. The mysterious plurality of God is confirmed in v26 where ‘our’ is used to refer to him/them.


1In_beginning he_created god DOM the_heavens and_DOM the_earth/land.
2And_the_earth it_was formlessness and_emptiness and_darkness [was]_over the_surface of_the_deep and_spirit of_god [was]_hovering over the_surface the_waters.
3And_he/it_said god let_it_be light and_he/it_was light.
4And_he/it_saw god DOM the_light if/because_that [it_was]_good and_he/it_separated god between the_light and_between the_darkness.
5And_he/it_called god to_the_light day and_to_the_darkness he_called night and_he/it_was evening and_he/it_was morning day one.
6and_he/it_said god let_it_be a_firmament in_the_middle the_waters and_let_it_be separating between waters and_waters.
7And_he/it_made god DOM the_firmament and_he/it_separated between the_waters which from_under to_the_firmament and_between the_waters which from_under to_the_firmament and_he/it_was so.
8And_he/it_called god to_the_firmament heaven and_he/it_was evening and_he/it_was morning a_day second.
9and_he/it_said god let_them_be_gathered the_waters from_under the_heavens to a_place one and_let_it_appear the_dry_ground and_he/it_was so.
10And_he/it_called god to_the_dry_ground earth and_to_the_collection the_waters he_called seas and_he/it_saw god if/because_that [it_was]_good.
11And_he/it_said god let_it_sprout the_earth/land vegetation plant[s] [which]_bears_seed seed tree[s] of_fruit producing fruit to/for_his/its_kind which his/its_seed in_him/it on the_earth/land and_he/it_was so.
12And_she/it_produced the_earth/land vegetation plant[s] [which]_bears_seed seed to_his/its_kind and_tree producing fruit[fn][fn] which his/its_seed in_him/it to_his/its_kind and_he/it_saw god if/because_that [it_was]_good.
13And_he/it_was evening and_he/it_was morning a_day third.
14and_he/it_said god let_it_be luminaries in_the_firmament the_heavens to_separate between the_day and_between the_night and_they_will_be to/for_signs and_to/for_seasons and_to/for_days and_years.
15And_they_will_be for_lights in_the_firmament the_heavens to_give_light on the_earth/land and_he/it_was so.
16And_he/it_made god DOM the_two the_lights the_big(pl) DOM the_luminary the_big/great(sg) for_dominion the_day and_DOM the_luminary the_small(sg) for_dominion the_night and_DOM the_stars.
17And_he/it_gave DOM_them god in_the_firmament the_heavens to_give_light on the_earth/land.
18And_to_rule in_the_day and_in_the_night and_to_separate between the_light and_between the_darkness and_he/it_saw god if/because_that [it_was]_good.
19And_he/it_was evening and_he/it_was morning a_day fourth.
20and_he/it_said god let_them_swarm the_waters swarming_thing[s] creature[s] living and_bird let_it_fly above the_earth/land on the_surface of_the_firmament the_heavens.
21And_he/it_created god DOM the_sea_monsters the_big(pl) and_DOM every creature the_living the_creeping which they_swarmed the_waters to_their_kind and_DOM every bird wing to_his/its_kind and_he/it_saw god if/because_that [it_was]_good.
22And_he/it_blessed DOM_them god to_say be_fruitful and_increase/multiply and_fill DOM the_waters in_the_seas and_the_bird let_it_multiply on_the_earth.
23And_he/it_was evening and_he/it_was morning a_day fifth.
24and_he/it_said god let_it_produce the_earth/land creature[s] living to_its_kind livestock and_creeping and_(wild)_animal_of of_[the]_earth to_its_kind and_he/it_was so.
25And_he/it_made god DOM animal(s) the_earth/land to_its_kind and_DOM the_cattle/livestock to_its_kind and_DOM every (the)_creeping_thing the_soil to_his/its_kind and_he/it_saw god if/because_that [it_was]_good.
26And_he/it_said god let_us_make humankind in_our_image according_to_our_likeness/pattern and_they_will_rule_over on/over_(a)_fish_of the_sea and_on/over_bird_of the_heavens and_on/over_cattle/livestock and_on/over_all the_earth/land and_on/over_all the_creeping_(thing) the_(one)_creeping on the_earth/land.
27And_he/it_created god DOM the_humankind in_his/its_image in_(the)_image of_god he_created DOM_him/it male and_female he_created DOM_them.
28And_he/it_blessed DOM_them god and_he/it_said to/for_them god be_fruitful and_increase/multiply and_fill DOM the_earth/land and_subdue_it and_rule(pl) on/over_fish_of the_sea and_on/over_bird_of the_heavens and_on/over_all animal the_creeping on the_earth/land.
29And_he/it_said god here I_give to/for_you_all DOM every plant [which]_bears_seed seed which [is]_on the_surface of_all the_earth/land and_DOM every the_tree which in/on/over_him/it [the]_fruit of_a_tree [which]_bears_seed seed to/for_you_all it_will_belong for_food.
30And_to/for_all (the)_animal the_earth/land and_to/for_all (the)_bird the_heavens and_to/for_all creeping_[thing] on the_earth/land which in/on/over_him/it life living DOM all greenery of_plant[s] for_food and_he/it_was so.
31And_he/it_saw god DOM all that he_had_made and_see/lo/see [it_was]_good very and_he/it_was evening and_he/it_was morning [the]_day the_sixth.

1:12 Note: We read one or more accents in L differently than BHS. Often this notation indicates a typographical error in BHS.

1:12 Note: We read punctuation in L differently from BHS.

GEN 1 ©

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