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About this book: Genesis

Genesis is the book of beginnings. It opens with God speaking the world into being and setting humanity, made in his image, in a good creation. Then it traces how that good order fractures: the first disobedience, the murder of a brother, the corruption that brings the flood, and the scattering at Babel. Against that darkening backdrop, God calls one man, Abram, and promises to bless all the families of the earth through his descendants. The rest of the book follows that promise through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, a family marked by faith and failure alike: barren wives, rival brothers, deception, famine and forgiveness. What holds the story together is not the heroism of its people but the faithfulness of the God who keeps his word. The book closes with the family settled in Egypt and a dying request that points forward to the exodus. Christians have long read Genesis as the foundation of the whole Bible, since creation, sin, judgment, covenant and hope all begin here.

Author
Jewish and Christian tradition credits Moses; many modern scholars see a longer process of composition and editing.
Date
Traditionally the time of Moses (c. 15th–13th century BC); critical views place the final form centuries later.
Audience
Israel, gathered as God's covenant people, learning where they came from and who called them.

Themes

Creation and human dignityThe fall and its consequencesGod's covenant promiseProvidence through sufferingBlessing for all nations

Outline

  1. 1:1–11:32Creation, fall and scattering
  2. 12:1–25:11Abraham and the promise
  3. 25:12–36:43Isaac and Jacob
  4. 37:1–50:26Joseph and the move to Egypt

Key verses

About this chapterThe book opens with God creating the heavens and the earth in six days, giving form to what was empty and ordering light, sky, seas, land, heavenly lights, creatures of water and air, and land animals. After each work he declares it good. Finally he creates humanity, male and female, in his image, and charges them to care for creation. Christians read the days in different ways, as literal days, ages, or a literary framework, but agree that God is Creator of everything.

The book opens with God creating the heavens and the earth in six days, giving form to what was empty and ordering light, sky, seas, land, heavenly lights, creatures of water and air, and land animals. After each work he declares it good. Finally he creates humanity, male and female, in his image, and charges them to care for creation. Christians read the days in different ways, as literal days, ages, or a literary framework, but agree that God is Creator of everything.

Themes

  • God the Creator
  • Image of God
  • Goodness of creation

Key verses

Audio Bible · Genesis 1

Listen while you go about your day.

Genesis 1

Berean Standard Bible31 verses · 4 min read

1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2Now 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. 3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. 6And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, to separate the waters from the waters.” 7So God made the expanse and separated the waters beneath it from the waters above. And it was so. 8God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. 9And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear.” And it was so. 10God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of waters He called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each bearing fruit with seed according to its kind.” And it was so. 12The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. 14And 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. 15And let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth.” And it was so. 16God 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. 17God set these lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth, 18to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. 20And God said, “Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” 21So 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. 22Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. 24And 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. 25God 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. 26Then 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.” 27So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28God 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.” 29Then 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. 30And 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. 31And 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.
Verses in Genesis 1

Chapters of Genesis

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