1 In the beginning, God created heaven and earth. 2 But the earth was empty and unoccupied, and darknesses were over the face of the abyss; and so the Spirit of God was brought over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light.” And light became. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and so he divided the light from the darknesses. 5 And he called the light, ‘Day,’ and the darknesses, ‘Night.’ And it became evening and morning, one day. 6 God also said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide waters from waters.” 7 And God made a firmament, and he divided the waters that were under the firmament, from those that were above the firmament. And so it became. 8 And God called the firmament ‘Heaven.’ And it became evening and morning, the second day. 9 Truly God said: “Let the waters that are under heaven be gathered together into one place; and let the dry land appear.” And so it became. 10 And God called the dry land, ‘Earth,’ and he called the gathering of the waters, ‘Seas.’ And God saw that it was good. 11 And he said, “Let the land spring forth green plants, both those producing seed, and fruit-bearing trees, producing fruit according to their kind, whose seed is within itself, over all the earth.” And so it became. 12 And the land brought forth green plants, both those producing seed, according to their kind, and trees producing fruit, with each having its own way of sowing, according to its species. And God saw that it was good. 13 And it became evening and the morning, the third day. 14 Then God said: “Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven. And let them divide day from night, and let them become signs, both of the seasons, and of the days and years. 15 Let them shine in the firmament of heaven and illuminate the earth.” And so it became. 16 And God made two great lights: a greater light, to rule over the day, and a lesser light, to rule over the night, along with the stars. 17 And he set them in the firmament of heaven, to give light over all the earth, 18 and to rule over the day as well as the night, and to divide light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And it became evening and morning, the fourth day. 20 And then God said, “Let the waters produce animals with a living soul, and flying creatures above the earth, under the firmament of heaven.” 21 And God created the great sea creatures, and everything with a living soul and the ability to move that the waters produced, according to their species, and all the flying creatures, according to their kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And he blessed them, saying: “Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea. And let the birds be multiplied above the land.” 23 And it became evening and morning, the fifth day. 24 God also said, “Let the land produce living souls in their kind: cattle, and animals, and wild beasts of the earth, according to their species.” And so it became. 25 And God made the wild beasts of the earth according to their species, and the cattle, and every animal on the land, according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 And he said: “Let us make Man to our image and likeness. And let him rule over the fish of the sea, and the flying creatures of the air, and the wild beasts, and the entire earth, and every animal that moves on the earth.” 27 And God created man to his own image; to the image of God he created him; male and female, he created them. 28 And God blessed them, and he said, “Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the flying creatures of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29 And God said: “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant upon the earth, and all the trees that have in themselves the ability to sow their own kind, to be food for you, 30 and for all the animals of the land, and for all the flying things of the air, and for everything that moves upon the earth and in which there is a living soul, so that they may have these on which to feed.” And so it became. 31 And God saw everything that he had made. And they were very good. And it became evening and morning, the sixth day.
Genesis · Catholic Public Domain Version
Genesis 1 Catholic Public Domain Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
Cross references (26)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 John 1:1–3; Hebrews 11:3; Isaiah 45:18; Revelation 4:11; Hebrews 1:10
- 2 Jeremiah 4:23; Psalm 104:30; Isaiah 45:18; Psalm 33:6; Job 26:7
- 3 2 Corinthians 4:6; John 1:5; Isaiah 45:7; Isaiah 60:19; 1 John 1:5
- 4 Ecclesiastes 2:13; Genesis 1:18; Ecclesiastes 11:7; Genesis 1:31; Genesis 1:12
- 5 Psalm 74:16; Isaiah 45:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:5; Psalm 104:20; Genesis 8:22
- 6 Jeremiah 51:15; Job 37:18; Psalm 33:6; Job 26:7–8; Jeremiah 10:12–13
- 7 Proverbs 8:28–29; Psalm 148:4; Matthew 8:27; Job 38:8–11; Genesis 1:9
- 9 2 Peter 3:5; Jonah 1:9; Jeremiah 5:22; Psalm 95:5; Ecclesiastes 1:7
- 10 Deuteronomy 32:4
- 11 Hebrews 6:7; Psalm 104:14–17; Psalm 147:8; Genesis 1:29; Psalm 65:9–13
- 12 Mark 4:28; Isaiah 55:10–11; Matthew 13:24–26; Galatians 6:7; Luke 6:44
- 14 Psalm 104:19–20; Deuteronomy 4:19; Psalm 74:16–17; Jeremiah 31:35; Psalm 148:3
- 16 Psalm 136:7–9; Deuteronomy 4:19; Psalm 8:3; Psalm 74:16; Psalm 148:5
- 17 Psalm 8:3; Psalm 8:1; Job 38:12
- 18 Jeremiah 31:35; Psalm 19:6
- 20 Psalm 104:24–25; Genesis 2:19; 1 Kings 4:33; Psalm 148:10; Genesis 1:30
- 21 Psalm 104:24–26; Genesis 1:25; Genesis 8:19; Genesis 8:17; Genesis 6:20
- 22 Job 40:15; Genesis 8:17; Genesis 1:28; Psalm 107:38; Genesis 35:11
- 24 Psalm 50:9–10; Genesis 6:20; Genesis 8:19; Job 40:15; Psalm 148:10
- 25 Jeremiah 27:5; Job 12:8–10; Genesis 2:19–20; Job 26:13
- 26 Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:24; Psalm 8:4–8; Genesis 3:22; Genesis 5:1
- 27 Matthew 19:4; Ephesians 2:10; Genesis 5:1–2; Mark 10:6; Genesis 2:21–25
- 28 Genesis 9:1; Genesis 9:7; Leviticus 26:9; Psalm 128:3–4; Genesis 22:17–18
- 29 Genesis 9:3; Psalm 104:14–15; Psalm 145:15–16; Psalm 104:27–28; Acts 14:17
- 30 Psalm 104:14; Psalm 147:9; Psalm 145:15–16; Job 40:15; Job 40:20
- 31 1 Timothy 4:4; Psalm 104:24; Psalm 19:1–2; Exodus 20:11; Psalm 104:31
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Moses, then, they declare, by his mode of beginning the account of the creation, has at the commencement pointed out the mother of all things when he says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth;" for, as they maintain, by naming these four,--God, beginning, heaven, and earth,--he set forth their Tetrad.
And who is this but our God, the God that created heaven and earth, and filleth them, because by filling them He created them?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
… but the heavens are from the waters: the earth is the place of men, but the earth is from the waters: and before the whole six days' formation of the things that were made, the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the water.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
… bound to "seek those things which are above," but because the day seems to us to be in some sense an image of the age which we expect, wherefore, though it is the beginning of days, it is not called by Moses first, but one. For he says "There was evening, and there was morning, one day," as though the …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)
Light, therefore, being the work of the Creator and being made good (for God saw all that He made, and behold they were exceeding good ) produced darkness at His free-will.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 9 (1899)