Study Desk

In the beginning, when God created the universe,

the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water.

Then God commanded, "Let there be light"—and light appeared.

God was pleased with what he saw. Then he separated the light from the darkness,

Then God commanded, "Let there be a dome to divide the water and to keep it in two separate places"—and it was done. So God made a dome, and it separated the water under it from the water above it.

Then God commanded, "Let the water below the sky come together in one place, so that the land will appear"—and it was done.

He named the land "Earth," and the water which had come together he named "Sea." And God was pleased with what he saw.

So the earth produced all kinds of plants, and God was pleased with what he saw.

Then God commanded, "Let lights appear in the sky to separate day from night and to show the time when days, years, and religious festivals begin;

So God made the two larger lights, the sun to rule over the day and the moon to rule over the night; he also made the stars.

to rule over the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God was pleased with what he saw.

Then God commanded, "Let the water be filled with many kinds of living beings, and let the air be filled with birds."

So God created the great sea monsters, all kinds of creatures that live in the water, and all kinds of birds. And God was pleased with what he saw.

Then God commanded, "Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life: domestic and wild, large and small"—and it was done.

So God made them all, and he was pleased with what he saw.

Then God said, "And now we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us. They will have power over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild, large and small."

So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female,

God looked at everything he had made, and he was very pleased. Evening passed and morning came—that was the sixth day.

By the seventh day God finished what he had been doing and stopped working.

And that is how the universe was created. When the Lord God made the universe,