The seven days of creation

What God made on each day

1. Day 1: Light

   God said "Let there be light: and there was light." He divided the light from the darkness and called them Day and Night.

   And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

   Genesis 1:3-5

2. Day 2: The firmament (sky)

   God made a firmament to divide the waters below from the waters above, and called the firmament Heaven.

   And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 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. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

   Genesis 1:6-8

3. Day 3: Dry land, seas and plants

   The waters were gathered so the dry land appeared; God called them Earth and Seas. Then the earth brought forth grass, seed-bearing herbs and fruit trees, each after his kind.

   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. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 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. 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. And the evening and the morning were the third day.

   Genesis 1:9-13

4. Day 4: Sun, moon and stars

   God made "two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night" and the stars also, for signs, seasons, days and years.

   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: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 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. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 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. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

   Genesis 1:14-19

5. Day 5: Sea creatures and birds

   The waters brought forth living creatures, including great whales, and every winged fowl. God blessed them and told them to be fruitful and multiply.

   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. 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. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

   Genesis 1:20-23

6. Day 6: Land animals and man

   God made cattle, creeping things and beasts of the earth, then made man in his own image, male and female, and gave them dominion and every herb and tree for food.

   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. 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. 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 of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 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. 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. 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.

   Genesis 1:24-31

7. Day 7: God rested

   The heavens and earth were finished. God ended his work, rested on the seventh day, and "blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it."

   Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

   Genesis 2:1-3

The pattern of the days

Many readers notice that the first three days make spaces and the next three fill them. Light on day one is matched by the sun, moon and stars on day four. The sky and waters of day two are filled with birds and sea creatures on day five. The dry land of day three is filled with animals and man on day six.

Each of the first six days ends with the same refrain: "And the evening and the morning were the" first day, second day, and so on. The seventh day has no such closing line.

Different readings

Christians hold differing views on how to read the days of Genesis 1, including whether they are ordinary days or describe something else. This page sets out what the text says day by day and leaves that question to the reader.

The seventh day elsewhere

The fourth commandment points back to this week: "For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day" (Exodus 20:11).

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Genesis 1:1 · KJV