Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
Parallel translations
- WEB God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
- KJV And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
- BSB And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear.” And it was so.
- NASB Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
- NLT Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God gathers the waters and makes dry land appear at his word. He prepares the stage on which life and humanity will dwell.
Overview
On the third day God commands the seas to gather so that dry land emerges, again with the assurance 'it was so.' This separation makes the earth a place capable of supporting plants, animals, and people. God's effortless mastery over the chaotic waters reappears later when Christ calms the sea, revealing his own divine authority (Mark 4:39-41).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 2 Pet 3:5For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water, by the word of God;
- Jonah 1:9He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.”
- Jer 5:22Don’t you fear me?’ says Yahweh ‘Won’t you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it can’t pass it? and though its waves toss themselves, yet they can’t prevail; though they roar, yet they can’t pass over it.’
- Ps 95:5The sea is his, and he made it. His hands formed the dry land.
- Ps 33:7He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap. He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
- Prov 8:28–29when he established the clouds above, when the springs of the deep became strong,
- Eccl 1:7All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, there they flow again.
- Job 26:10He has described a boundary on the surface of the waters, and to the confines of light and darkness.
- Ps 104:5–9He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.
- Job 38:8–11“Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke out of the womb,
- Ps 24:1–2A Psalm by David. The earth is Yahweh’s, with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein.
- Rev 10:6and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there will no longer be delay,
- Ps 136:5–6To him who by understanding made the heavens; for his loving kindness endures forever:
- Ps 104:3He lays the beams of his rooms in the waters. He makes the clouds his chariot. He walks on the wings of the wind.
- Job 26:7He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Lay
The single best free starting point for Genesis 1–11 — clear, visual, and faithful to the literary design.
Pastoral
The beloved devotional-pastoral classic, free and public domain — warm, quotable, verse by verse.
Commentaries & study tools
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The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 1:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.