Genesis 1

King James Version · 31 verses · 640 cross-references linking it to 243 other chapters

1. 1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.98 cross-references: John 1:1–3, Hebrews 11:3, Isaiah 45:18, Revelation 4:11, Hebrews 1:10
2. 2And 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.17 cross-references: Jeremiah 4:23, Psalms 104:30, Isaiah 45:18, Psalms 33:6, Job 26:7
3. 3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.34 cross-references: 2 Corinthians 4:6, John 1:5, Isaiah 45:7, Isaiah 60:19, 1 John 1:5
4. 4And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.10 cross-references: Ecclesiastes 11:7, Genesis 1:18, Ecclesiastes 2:13, Genesis 1:12, Genesis 1:31
5. 5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.21 cross-references: Psalms 74:16, Isaiah 45:7, 1 Thessalonians 5:5, Psalms 104:20, Genesis 8:22
6. 6And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.30 cross-references: Job 37:18, Job 26:7–8, Psalms 33:6, Jeremiah 51:15, Jeremiah 10:12–13
7. 7And 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.16 cross-references: Psalms 148:4, Proverbs 8:28–29, Matthew 8:27, Genesis 1:9, Job 38:8–11
8. 8And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.12 cross-references: Genesis 1:5, Genesis 1:19, Genesis 1:13, Genesis 1:31, Genesis 1:10
9. 9And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.29 cross-references: 2 Peter 3:5, Jonah 1:9, Jeremiah 5:22, Psalms 95:5, Ecclesiastes 1:7
10. 10And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.9 cross-references: Deuteronomy 32:4, Psalms 104:31, Genesis 1:4
11. 11And 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.27 cross-references: Psalms 104:14–17, Hebrews 6:7, Psalms 147:8, Genesis 1:29, Psalms 65:9–13
12. 12And 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.9 cross-references: Mark 4:28, Isaiah 55:10–11, Matthew 13:24–26, Galatians 6:7, Luke 6:44
13. 13And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14. 14And 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:59 cross-references: Psalms 104:19–20, Deuteronomy 4:19, Psalms 74:16–17, Jeremiah 31:35, Psalms 148:3
15. 15And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16. 16And 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.26 cross-references: Psalms 136:7–9, Deuteronomy 4:19, Psalms 8:3, Isaiah 40:26, Psalms 74:16
17. 17And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,7 cross-references: Psalms 8:3, Psalms 8:1, Job 38:12, Acts 13:47, Genesis 9:13
18. 18And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.4 cross-references: Jeremiah 31:35, Psalms 19:6
19. 19And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20. 20And 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.22 cross-references: Psalms 104:24–25, Genesis 2:19, 1 Kings 4:33, Psalms 148:10, Genesis 1:30
21. 21And 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.20 cross-references: Psalms 104:24–26, Genesis 1:25, Genesis 8:19, Genesis 8:17, Genesis 6:20
22. 22And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.18 cross-references: Genesis 8:17, Psalms 107:38, Genesis 1:28, Job 40:15, Job 42:12
23. 23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24. 24And 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.18 cross-references: Psalms 50:9–10, Genesis 6:20, Job 40:15, Genesis 8:19, Psalms 148:10
25. 25And 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.8 cross-references: Jeremiah 27:5, Job 12:8–10, Genesis 2:19–20, Job 26:13
26. 26And 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.57 cross-references: Colossians 3:10, Ephesians 4:24, Psalms 8:4–8, Genesis 3:22, Genesis 5:1
27. 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.23 cross-references: Matthew 19:4, Ephesians 2:10, Genesis 5:1–2, Mark 10:6, Genesis 2:21–25
28. 28And 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.50 cross-references: Genesis 9:1, Genesis 9:7, Leviticus 26:9, Psalms 128:3–4, Genesis 22:17–18
29. 29And 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.32 cross-references: Genesis 9:3, Psalms 145:15–16, Psalms 104:14–15, Psalms 104:27–28, Psalms 24:1
30. 30And 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.12 cross-references: Psalms 104:14, Psalms 147:9, Psalms 145:15–16, Job 38:39–41, Job 40:15
31. 31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.34 cross-references: 1 Timothy 4:4, Psalms 104:24, Psalms 19:1–2, Exodus 20:11, Psalms 104:31

Explained connections

• Male and female from the beginning Genesis 1:27 and Mark 10:6

  Genesis says God created humanity in his image, male and female. Asked about divorce, Jesus goes back past Moses' concession to creation itself to show God's original design for marriage.

• In the beginning Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1

  John deliberately opens his Gospel with the Bible's first words. Where Genesis says God created, John says the Word was already with God and was God — placing Jesus before and behind creation itself.

• The heavens and the earth — made new Genesis 1:1 and Revelation 21:1

  The Bible begins with God creating the heavens and the earth and ends with a new heaven and a new earth. These bookends frame the whole canon as one story: creation, ruin, and restoration — the longest arc on the map.

• Let light shine out of darkness Genesis 1:3 and 2 Corinthians 4:6

  God's first creative word is 'Let there be light'. Paul says the same God who commanded light to shine out of darkness has shone in believers' hearts — conversion as a new act of creation.

• Light shining in darkness Genesis 1:3 and John 1:5

  John's prologue retells Genesis: life and light come through the Word, and the light shines in the darkness, which has not overcome it. Creation's first light returns as Christ.

• Renewed in the image of the Creator Genesis 1:26 and Colossians 3:10

  Humanity is made in God's image. Paul describes believers putting on a new self being renewed after the image of its Creator — salvation as restoring what was marred.

• Christ, the image of God Genesis 1:27 and 2 Corinthians 4:4

  Adam was made in God's image; Paul calls Christ the image of God. Jesus is the true human the first image-bearer was meant to be, and the clearest picture of God himself.

• Everything God created is good Genesis 1:31 and 1 Timothy 4:4

  God sees all he made and calls it very good. Paul answers teachers who forbade marriage and foods: everything created by God is good if received with thanksgiving.

• The Spirit over the waters Genesis 1:2 and Matthew 3:16

  At creation the Spirit hovers over the waters. At Jesus' baptism the Spirit descends over the water of the Jordan like a dove — many readers see a new-creation moment.

Chapters most linked to Genesis 1

• Psalms 10433 links
• Job 3820 links
• Genesis 220 links
• Psalms 14816 links
• Genesis 916 links
• Job 2613 links
• Psalms 3312 links
• Psalms 812 links
• Isaiah 4512 links
• Psalms 13610 links
• Genesis 810 links
• Psalms 1910 links
• Job 3910 links
• Proverbs 87 links
• Acts 177 links
• Jeremiah 106 links

People in Genesis 1

God, Holy Spirit

Hard questions about Genesis 1

• Were the animals created before or after the first man?
• Is there one God or many?
• Were the birds and animals brought forth from the waters or formed from the ground?
• Do Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 give two conflicting accounts of creation?
• Was God pleased with all he had made, or did he regret making mankind?
• Did God create the world alone, or through Christ?
• Were plants created before or after the first man?
• Were the stars made after the earth, on the fourth day, or before the earth’s foundations were laid?
• Was the woman created together with the man, or later, after the animals were named?
• Was Adam given every tree for food, or was one tree forbidden?
• Is childbirth sinful?
• Should we look for signs in the heavens?