Genesis 1

1: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

This verse establishes the idea that God is the creator of all things and that everything was created by him.

2: And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

This verse describes earth before God started the process of creation. The earth was without form and void, and was with darkness. The Spirit of God was present, however, and would soon bring order to the chaos. The presence of the Spirit of God indicates that he is actively involved in the creation process.

3: And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

With God’s words, God created light as the first action of creation. This shows God’s power and sovereignty over the universe, and the beginning of time.

4: And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

This verse describes how God evaluated the light and saw that it was good. He then separated the light from the darkness, creating day and night.

5: And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

The first day of creation had begun. God named the light “Day” and the darkness “Night”.

6: And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

Firmament is defined in thefreedictionary.com (https://www.thefreedictionary.com/firmament) as the arch or vault of heaven or sky.

7: And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

God created the sky on the second day and separated the waters above the sky from the waters on the earth. Sky being the heaven/firmament, and above it is water?

8: And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

He named the firmament “Heaven.”

9: And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

10: And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

11: And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12: And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

13: And the evening and the morning were the third day.

On the third day, God created land, seas, and plants.

14: And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15: and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16: And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

17: And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18: and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

19: And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

On the fourth day, God created the sun, moon, and stars to provide light, to separate day from night, and to serve as signs, markers of time and season.

20: And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

On the fifth day God created aquatic creatures and birds.

21: And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

22: And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

This verse describes how God blessed these creatures and gave them the charge to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the waters and the earth.

23: And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24: And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

On the sixth day, God created living creature: beast, cattle, creature that creeps, and man.

25: And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

26: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

This verse describes the creation of human beings, who were created in the image of God and given dominion over the rest of creation.

27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

This verse confirms that human beings were created in the image of God, and that both male and female were created in this image.

28: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

This verse describes how God blessed human beings and gave them the charge to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and have dominion over it.

29: And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

God gave the herb bearing seed and fruits from trees to human.

30: And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

God gave the green herbs for food to the beast, fowl, and creeping things.

31: And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

This marked the end of the process of creation.

Overall Insights:

The first chapter of Genesis provides a description of God’s creative work during the first six days. It explains the origin of the universe, the earth, and all living beings, and it establishes the role of human beings as God’s representatives on the earth. God assessed his creation each day and it was good.