The Creation Story

Don't believe me but don't have your Bible handy? Don't have a Bible period? See www.biblegateway.com. It'll give you 53 versions in 35 languages (and they all say the same thing! How about that?)

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The Genesis 1 Account

Day 1: And God said, "Let there be light, " and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light fromthe darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning-the first day. (vs.3-5)

Day 2: And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And is was so. God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning-the second day. (vs. 6-8)

Day 3: And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. (vs. 9-13)

Day 4: And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. (14-19)

Day 5: And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. (vs. 20-23)

Day 6: And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. (vs. 24-31)

Day 7: God rested and what is now referred to as the Sabbath. (Just as a side note, the Sabbath is actually on Saturday, not Sunday. Early in church history, the Pope changed the Sabbath to Sunday, the day when Christ rose. There's all kinds of debate going on about that issue which I'm not even going to attempt to touch here.)

Creation of Man and Woman

The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being . . . The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
   But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
The man said,
    "This is now bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
    she shall be called 'woman,'
    for she was taken out of man."
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. (Gen. 2:7, 18-24)

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