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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Genesis 1:1 Context: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001a.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801a.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551a.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251a.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051a.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901a.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801a.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501a.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451a.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../vmenus/genesis/1-1.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmc/genesis/1-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="//biblehub.com/crossref/">Cross Refs</a> > Genesis 1:1</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../revelation/22-21.htm" title="Revelation 22:21">◄</a> Genesis 1:1 <a href="../genesis/1-2.htm" title="Genesis 1:2">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Context</div><font color="#000000"><b><i>The Creation</i></b></font><p>      <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-1.htm" target="_top"><b>1</b></a></span>In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-2.htm" target="_top"><b>2</b></a></span>The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-3.htm" target="_top"><b>3</b></a></span>Then God said, Let there be light; and there was light. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-4.htm" target="_top"><b>4</b></a></span>God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-5.htm" target="_top"><b>5</b></a></span>God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. <p>      <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-6.htm" target="_top"><b>6</b></a></span>Then God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-7.htm" target="_top"><b>7</b></a></span>God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-8.htm" target="_top"><b>8</b></a></span>God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. <p>      <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-9.htm" target="_top"><b>9</b></a></span>Then God said, Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-10.htm" target="_top"><b>10</b></a></span>God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-11.htm" target="_top"><b>11</b></a></span>Then God said, Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, <i>and</i> fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them; and it was so. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-12.htm" target="_top"><b>12</b></a></span>The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-13.htm" target="_top"><b>13</b></a></span>There was evening and there was morning, a third day. <p>      <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-14.htm" target="_top"><b>14</b></a></span>Then God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-15.htm" target="_top"><b>15</b></a></span>and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth; and it was so. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-16.htm" target="_top"><b>16</b></a></span>God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; <i>He made</i> the stars also. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-17.htm" target="_top"><b>17</b></a></span>God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-18.htm" target="_top"><b>18</b></a></span>and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-19.htm" target="_top"><b>19</b></a></span>There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. <p>      <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-20.htm" target="_top"><b>20</b></a></span>Then God said, Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-21.htm" target="_top"><b>21</b></a></span>God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-22.htm" target="_top"><b>22</b></a></span>God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-23.htm" target="_top"><b>23</b></a></span>There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. <p>      <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-24.htm" target="_top"><b>24</b></a></span>Then God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind; and it was so. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-25.htm" target="_top"><b>25</b></a></span>God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. <p>      <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-26.htm" target="_top"><b>26</b></a></span>Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-27.htm" target="_top"><b>27</b></a></span>God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-28.htm" target="_top"><b>28</b></a></span>God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-29.htm" target="_top"><b>29</b></a></span>Then God said, Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-30.htm" target="_top"><b>30</b></a></span>and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, <i>I have given</i> every green plant for food; and it was so. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/1-31.htm" target="_top"><b>31</b></a></span>God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. <p><br /><br /><a href="//www.lockman.org" target="_top">NASB ©1995</a><div class="vheading2">Parallel Verses</div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/asv/genesis/1.htm">American Standard Version</a></span><br />In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/drb/genesis/1.htm">Douay-Rheims Bible</a></span><br />In the beginning God created heaven, and earth. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/dbt/genesis/1.htm">Darby Bible Translation</a></span><br />In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/erv/genesis/1.htm">English Revised Version</a></span><br />In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/wbt/genesis/1.htm">Webster's Bible Translation</a></span><br />In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/web/genesis/1.htm">World English Bible</a></span><br />In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/ylt/genesis/1.htm">Young's Literal Translation</a></span><br /> In the beginning of God's preparing the heavens and the earth -- <div class="vheading2">Library</div><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/discipline_and_other_sermons/sermon_x_gods_world.htm">God's World</a><br></span><span class="snippet">(Preached before the Prince of Wales, at Sandringham, 1866.) GENESIS i. 1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. It may seem hardly worth while to preach upon this text. Every one thinks that he believes it. Of course--they say--we know that God made the world. Teach us something we do not know, not something which we do. Why preach to us about a text which we fully understand, and believe already? Because, my friends, there are few texts in the Bible more difficult to believe <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/discipline_and_other_sermons/sermon_x_gods_world.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Charles Kingsley—</span><span class="citation2">Discipline and Other Sermons</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/expositions_of_holy_scripture_k/the_vision_of_creation.htm">The vision of Creation</a><br></span><span class="snippet">'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. So God created man in His own image: in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. 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 <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/expositions_of_holy_scripture_k/the_vision_of_creation.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Alexander Maclaren—</span><span class="citation2">Expositions of Holy Scripture</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/burgon/inspiration_and_interpretation/v_in_the_present_crusade.htm">In the Present Crusade against the Bible and the Faith of Christian Men...</a><br></span><span class="snippet">IN the present crusade against the Bible and the Faith of Christian men, the task of destroying confidence in the first chapter of Genesis has been undertaken by Mr. C. W. Goodwin, M.A. He requires us to "regard it as the speculation of some Hebrew Descartes or Newton, promulgated in all good faith as the best and most probable account that could be then given of God's Universe." (p. 252.) Mr. Goodwin remarks with scorn, that "we are asked to believe that a vision of Creation was presented to him <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/burgon/inspiration_and_interpretation/v_in_the_present_crusade.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">John William Burgon—</span><span class="citation2">Inspiration and Interpretation</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/gordon/quiet_talks_about_jesus/1_the_purpose_in_the.htm">The Purpose in the Coming of Jesus. </a><br></span><span class="snippet">God Spelling Himself out in Jesus: change in the original language--bother in spelling Jesus out--sticklers for the old forms--Jesus' new spelling of old words. Jesus is God following us up: God heart-broken--man's native air--bad choice affected man's will--the wrong lane--God following us up. The Early Eden Picture, Genesis 1:26-31. 2:7-25: unfallen man--like God--the breath of God in man--a spirit, infinite, eternal--love--holy--wise--sovereign over creation, Psalm 8:5-8--in his own will--summary--God's <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/gordon/quiet_talks_about_jesus/1_the_purpose_in_the.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">S. D. Gordon—</span><span class="citation2">Quiet Talks about Jesus</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/the_good_news_of_god/sermon_xxiii_human_nature_septuagesima.htm">Human Nature (Septuagesima Sunday. )</a><br></span><span class="snippet">GENESIS i. 27. So God created man in his own image; in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. On this Sunday the Church bids us to begin to read the book of Genesis, and hear how the world was made, and how man was made, and what the world is, and who man is. And why? To prepare us, I think, for Lent, and Passion week, Good Friday, and Easter day. For you must know what a thing ought to be, before you can know what it ought not to be; you must know what health is, before <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/the_good_news_of_god/sermon_xxiii_human_nature_septuagesima.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Charles Kingsley—</span><span class="citation2">The Good News of God</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/the_good_news_of_god/sermon_xxix_gods_creation.htm">God's Creation</a><br></span><span class="snippet">GENESIS i. 31. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good. This is good news, and a gospel. The Bible was written to bring good news, and therefore with good news it begins, and with good news it ends. But it is not so easy to believe. We want faith to believe; and that faith will be sometimes sorely tried. Yes; we want faith. As St. Paul says: 'Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God; so that things which are seen were not made of <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/the_good_news_of_god/sermon_xxix_gods_creation.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Charles Kingsley—</span><span class="citation2">The Good News of God</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/the_gospel_of_the_pentateuch/sermon_ii_the_likeness_of.htm">The Likeness of God</a><br></span><span class="snippet">(Trinity Sunday.) GENESIS i. 26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. This is a hard saying. It is difficult at times to believe it to be true. If one looks not at what God has made man, but at what man has made himself, one will never believe it to be true. When one looks at what man has made himself; at the back streets of some of our great cities; at the thousands of poor Germans and Irish across the ocean bribed to kill and to be killed, they know not why; at the <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/the_gospel_of_the_pentateuch/sermon_ii_the_likeness_of.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Charles Kingsley—</span><span class="citation2">The Gospel of the Pentateuch</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/the_gospel_of_the_pentateuch/sermon_i_god_in_christ.htm">God in Christ</a><br></span><span class="snippet">(Septuagesima Sunday.) GENESIS i. I. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. We have begun this Sunday to read the book of Genesis. I trust that you will listen to it as you ought--with peculiar respect and awe, as the oldest part of the Bible, and therefore the oldest of all known works--the earliest human thought which has been handed down to us. And what is the first written thought which has been handed down to us by the Providence of Almighty God? 'In the beginning God created <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/the_gospel_of_the_pentateuch/sermon_i_god_in_christ.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Charles Kingsley—</span><span class="citation2">The Gospel of the Pentateuch</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/binning/the_works_of_the_rev_hugh_binning/lecture_xvii_of_creation.htm">Of Creation</a><br></span><span class="snippet">Heb. xi. 3.--"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."--Gen. i. 1. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." We are come down from the Lord's purposes and decrees to the execution of them, which is partly in the works of creation and partly in the works of providence. The Lord having resolved upon it to manifest his own glory did in that due and predeterminate time apply his <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/binning/the_works_of_the_rev_hugh_binning/lecture_xvii_of_creation.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Hugh Binning—</span><span class="citation2">The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/binning/the_works_of_the_rev_hugh_binning/lecture_xxi_of_the_first.htm">Of the First Covenant Made with Man</a><br></span><span class="snippet">Gen. ii. 17.--"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die."--Gen. i. 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." The state wherein man was created at first, you heard was exceeding good,--all <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/binning/the_works_of_the_rev_hugh_binning/lecture_xxi_of_the_first.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Hugh Binning—</span><span class="citation2">The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/various/the_worlds_great_sermons_vol_2/south__the_image_of.htm">South -- the Image of God in Man</a><br></span><span class="snippet">Robert South, who was born in the borough of Hackney, London, England, in 1638, attracted wide attention by his vigorous mind and his clear, argumentative style in preaching. Some of his sermons are notable specimens of pulpit eloquence. A keen analytical mind, great depth of feeling, and wide range of fancy combined to make him a powerful and impressive speaker. By some critics his style has been considered unsurpassed in force and beauty. What he lacked in tenderness was made up in masculine strength. <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/various/the_worlds_great_sermons_vol_2/south__the_image_of.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Various—</span><span class="citation2">The World's Great Sermons, Vol. 2</span><p><div class="vheading2">Links</div><a href="/niv/genesis/1-1.htm">Genesis 1:1 NIV</a> • <a href="/nlt/genesis/1-1.htm">Genesis 1:1 NLT</a> • <a href="/esv/genesis/1-1.htm">Genesis 1:1 ESV</a> • <a href="/nasb/genesis/1-1.htm">Genesis 1:1 NASB</a> • <a href="/kjv/genesis/1-1.htm">Genesis 1:1 KJV</a> • <a href="//bibleapps.com/genesis/1-1.htm">Genesis 1:1 Bible Apps</a> • <a href="/genesis/1-1.htm">Genesis 1:1 Parallel</a> • <a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../revelation/22-21.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Revelation 22:21"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Revelation 22:21" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../genesis/1-2.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Genesis 1:2"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Genesis 1:2" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mp/genesis/1-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><br /><br /><iframe src="//biblemenus.com/adframebhbl.htm" width="122" height="250" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div> <div id="bot"><div align="center"><span class="p"><br /><br /><br /></span><script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><br /><br /></div><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhparnew.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></body></html>