God Makes Everything

In the very beginning, before there was anything at all, God made the heavens and the earth. The earth was dark and empty, with deep water everywhere, and the Spirit of God moved over the water. Then God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light! God saw that the light was good. He called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. That was the very first day.

On the second day, God made the big blue sky and set it between the waters. On the third day, God gathered the waters into seas so that dry land could appear. Then God told the land to grow green things — and up came the grass, the flowers, the vegetables, and the trees full of fruit. God saw that it was good. On the fourth day, God made the great lights: the sun to shine in the day, and the moon and all the sparkling stars for the night. God saw that they were good.

On the fifth day, God filled the seas with fish and huge sea animals, and he filled the sky with birds of every kind. God blessed them and said, “Have many babies, and fill the seas and the sky.” On the sixth day, God made the animals that live on the land — the cattle, the creeping things, and the wild animals — every one of them. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, to be like us. Let them be in charge of the fish and the birds and all the animals of the earth.” So God made man in his own image. Male and female he made them — the very first people. God blessed them and told them to have children and fill the earth and be in charge of it. God looked at everything he had made, and it was very good. That was the sixth day. On the seventh day, God rested from all his work. He blessed the seventh day and made it holy — a special day of rest.

God planted a beautiful garden in a place called Delight, in the east, and there he put the man he had made. His name was Adam. The garden was full of every tree that is lovely to look at and good to eat, and a river ran through it to water it all. God told Adam he could eat from every tree in the garden — except one. Of the tree of knowing good and evil, God said, “You must not eat from it. On the day you eat from it, you will surely die.”

Then God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper just right for him.” God brought all the animals and birds to Adam to see what he would call them, and whatever Adam called each one, that was its name. But none of them was the right helper for Adam. So God let a deep sleep fall on Adam, and God took one of his ribs and made it into a woman, and brought her to him. Adam was so glad. She was called woman, because she was taken out of man. She became his wife, and later Adam named her Eve. The man and the woman lived in the garden with God’s good world all around them, and they were not ashamed, and everything was just as it should be.