Genesis 1 Clementine Vulgate
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 In principio creavit Deus cælum et terram.
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Terra autem erat inanis et vacua, et tenebræ erant super faciem abyssi: et spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas.
2 The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.
3 Dixitque Deus: Fiat lux. Et facta est lux.
3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4 Et vidit Deus lucem quod esset bona: et divisit lucem a tenebris.
4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.
5 Appellavitque lucem Diem, et tenebras Noctem: factumque est vespere et mane, dies unus.
5 God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6 Dixit quoque Deus: Fiat firmamentum in medio aquarum: et dividat aquas ab aquis.
6 God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”
7 Et fecit Deus firmamentum, divisitque aquas, quæ erant sub firmamento, ab his, quæ erant super firmamentum. Et factum est ita.
7 God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
8 Vocavitque Deus firmamentum, Cælum: et factum est vespere et mane, dies secundus.
8 God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day.
9 Dixit vero Deus: Congregentur aquæ, quæ sub cælo sunt, in locum unum: et appareat arida. Et factum est ita.
9 God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so.
10 Et vocavit Deus aridam Terram, congregationesque aquarum appellavit Maria. Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum.
10 God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good.
11 Et ait: Germinet terra herbam virentem, et facientem semen, et lignum pomiferum faciens fructum juxta genus suum, cujus semen in semetipso sit super terram. Et factum est ita.
11 God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth;” and it was so.
12 Et protulit terra herbam virentem, et facientem semen juxta genus suum, lignumque faciens fructum, et habens unumquodque sementem secundum speciem suam. Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum.
12 The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.
13 Et factum est vespere et mane, dies tertius.
13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
14 Dixit autem Deus: Fiant luminaria in firmamento cæli, et dividant diem ac noctem, et sint in signa et tempora, et dies et annos:
14 God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years;
15 ut luceant in firmamento cæli, et illuminent terram. Et factum est ita.
15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth;” and it was so.
16 Fecitque Deus duo luminaria magna: luminare majus, ut præesset diei: et luminare minus, ut præesset nocti: et stellas.
16 God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars.
17 Et posuit eas in firmamento cæli, ut lucerent super terram,
17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth,
18 et præessent diei ac nocti, et dividerent lucem ac tenebras. Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum.
18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.
19 Et factum est vespere et mane, dies quartus.
19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
20 Dixit etiam Deus: Producant aquæ reptile animæ viventis, et volatile super terram sub firmamento cæli.
20 God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.”
21 Creavitque Deus cete grandia, et omnem animam viventem atque motabilem, quam produxerant aquæ in species suas, et omne volatile secundum genus suum. Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum.
21 God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good.
22 Benedixitque eis, dicens: Crescite, et multiplicamini, et replete aquas maris: avesque multiplicentur super terram.
22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
23 Et factum est vespere et mane, dies quintus.
23 There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
24 Dixit quoque Deus: Producat terra animam viventem in genere suo, jumenta, et reptilia, et bestias terræ secundum species suas. Factumque est ita.
24 God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;” and it was so.
25 Et fecit Deus bestias terræ juxta species suas, et jumenta, et omne reptile terræ in genere suo. Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum,
25 God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.
26 et ait: Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram: et præsit piscibus maris, et volatilibus cæli, et bestiis, universæque terræ, omnique reptili, quod movetur in terra.
26 God said, “Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 Et creavit Deus hominem ad imaginem suam: ad imaginem Dei creavit illum, masculum et feminam creavit eos.
27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.
28 Benedixitque illis Deus, et ait: Crescite et multiplicamini, et replete terram, et subjicite eam, et dominamini piscibus maris, et volatilibus cæli, et universis animantibus, quæ moventur super terram.
28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29 Dixitque Deus: Ecce dedi vobis omnem herbam afferentem semen super terram, et universa ligna quæ habent in semetipsis sementem generis sui, ut sint vobis in escam:
29 God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.
30 et cunctis animantibus terræ, omnique volucri cæli, et universis quæ moventur in terra, et in quibus est anima vivens, ut habeant ad vescendum. Et factum est ita.
30 To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, 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.
31 Viditque Deus cuncta quæ fecerat, et erant valde bona. Et factum est vespere et mane, dies sextus.
31 God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Adam
Formed from the dust by God's own hand, the father of all who live.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 1–5
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)