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Genesis 1

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Quick answer

God creates an ordered, good world in six days and rests on the seventh, making humanity in his image to rule it.

Genesis 1 is structured poetry-prose: days 1–3 form the realms, days 4–6 fill them, and humanity is the climax — male and female in God's image. The refrain "and God saw that it was good" and the seventh-day rest frame creation as a temple where God will dwell with what he has made.

Part of Creation📖 Genesis introduction

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1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ✦ 2The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. ✦ 3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ✦ 4And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. ✦ 5God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. ✦ 6Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” ✦ 7Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. ✦ 8And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. ✦ 9Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. ✦ 10And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. ✦ 11Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. ✦ 12And 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 it was good. ✦ 13So the evening and the morning were the third day. 14Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; ✦ 15and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. ✦ 17God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, ✦ 18and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ✦ 19So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. 20Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” ✦ 21So God 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 it was good. ✦ 22And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ✦ 23So the evening and the morning were the fifth day. 24Then 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. ✦ 25And 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 it was good. ✦ 26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ✦ 27So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ✦ 28Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ✦ 29And 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; to you it shall be for food. ✦ 30Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. ✦ 31Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

In this chapter

Concept Elohim — GodConcept The Deep (Tehom)Concept The Image of God (Imago Dei)

Where this chapter connects

Gen 1 ·38Ps 104 ·22Job 38 ·12Job 26 ·10Gen 9 ·10Ps 148 ·10Gen 2 ·9Ps 33 ·8

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

  • ★ Start hereDocumentaryExpedition BibleJoel Kramer · Free · evangelical

    On-location biblical archaeology from a credentialed archaeologist (M.A., excavated in Israel) — the best free place to start on "did it really happen?"

  • ★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical

    A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

  • ★ Start hereVideoOverview: Genesis 1–11BibleProject · 9 min · Free

    The single best free starting point for Genesis 1–11 — clear, visual, and faithful to the literary design.

  • VideoSpoken GospelSpoken Gospel · Free · evangelical

    Short, gospel-centered videos and spoken-word poems showing how each passage points to Jesus — especially strong on the Old Testament.

  • ReferenceBook of Genesis — Visual GuideBibleProject · Free

    A free structured guide to the whole book — outline, themes, and links to each video.

  • DocumentaryIs Genesis History?Del Tackett · Free · evangelical

    A young-earth-creationist case for a literal Genesis, free on YouTube. (YEC is one view held by faithful Christians; others read Genesis differently — see the genre guide on how to read it.)

Pastoral

  • SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical

    Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

  • CommentaryCommentary on Genesis 1Matthew Henry · Free

    The beloved devotional-pastoral classic, free and public domain — warm, quotable, verse by verse.

Seminary

  • ★ Start hereCommentaryGenesis (Word Biblical Commentary)Gordon J. Wenham · Paid · evangelical

    For decades the gold-standard commentary on Genesis — technical but rich. (See the ranked list for alternatives like Hamilton, NICOT.)

  • BookThe Pentateuch as NarrativeJohn H. Sailhamer · ~560 pp · Library · evangelical

    A literary-theological reading that makes Genesis's design visible.

Commentaries & study tools

Genesis 2 →