A vast open ocean at the first light of dawn, mist on the water and a thin band of pale gold along the far horizon under a deep blue-black sky.

The Book of

Genesis 1

Before anything else, there is God. He speaks, and darkness and empty waters become a world He calls very good.

31 verses≈ 6 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

1–11BeginningsCreation, fall, flood, BabelChapter 1
12–24AbrahamThe call and the promise
25–36Isaac and JacobThe promise passed on
37–50JosephGod meant it for good

The Creation

Genesis 1:1

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Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

The First Day

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

The Second Day

And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, to separate the waters from the waters.” So God made the expanse and separated the waters beneath it from the waters above. And it was so. God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

The Third Day

Question

Quick question

God names what He makes in the first three days.

What did God call the dry land when it appeared?

The Fourth Day

A sun setting into the sea on one side while a full moon rises over dark hills on the other, the first stars appearing overhead.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years. And let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth.” And it was so.

God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. And He made the stars as well.

God set these lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth, to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

0:42

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

The Fifth Day

And God said, “Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every winged bird after its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

Pray

It was good

Again and again God looks at what He has made and sees “that it was good.” Light, sky, land, plants, sun and moon, fish and birds. Take a minute to thank Him for one thing in His world you saw today, and praise Him as the Maker of it.

The Sixth Day

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, land crawlers, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.”

Genesis 1:27

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”

Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food. And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth—everything that has the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good.

And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Reflect

In His image

For everything else in this chapter God simply says “Let there be,” “Let the waters” or “Let the earth.” Only for mankind does He pause and say, “Let Us make man in Our image.” You were made “in the image of God,” and so was every person you will meet this week. Write down one way that truth should change how you see yourself, or how you treat someone else.

Forming and filling

Whiteboard

At the start the earth was “formless and void.” In days 1–3 God shapes the spaces: light and dark, sky and sea, dry land. In days 4–6 He fills them, in the same order. By the end of the sixth day it is formed, full, and “very good.”

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Genesis 1

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A verse to carry with you

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1

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