Queerying Genesis 1:1-2:4a

For a virtual Easter Vigil project this year, I translated and shared Genesis 1:1-2:4a. I received a few requests for the translation I used, so here it is.

In beginning, when God created the heavens, the earth, and everything between and beyond ²the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

³Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness in all their goodnesses. ⁵God called the light Day, the darkness They called Night, plus Twilight, Dusk, and Dawn. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

⁶And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. ⁸God called the dome Sky, Atmosphere, Stratosphere, and Space. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

⁹And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together They called Seas, plus marshlands and beach. And God saw that it was good. ¹¹Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. ¹²The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. 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 dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, ¹⁵and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶God made the two great lights—the louder light to rule the day and the younger light to rule the night—and the stars: constellations, galaxies, and cosmos. ¹⁷God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, ¹⁸to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness, but not too much. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

²⁰And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” ²¹So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind and even the winged birds that swarm in the waters. And God saw that it was good. ²²God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in 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 of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. ²⁵God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind, and even the animals that creep on the ground and swarm in the water. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have responsibility over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” ²⁷So God created humankind in Their image, in the image of God They created them; male and female, between and beyond, They created them. ²⁸God blessed humanity, and God said to them, “Be fruity and multiply, and fill the earth and seduce it; and have responsibility over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

²⁹God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. ³⁰And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” God endorsed vegetarianism, and it was so.

³¹God saw everything that They had made, and indeed, it was all very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

2Thus the heavens and the earth and everything between and beyond were spent, and all their multitude. ²And on the seventh day God finished the work that They had done, and God rested on the seventh day from all the work that They had done. ³So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that They had done in creation.

⁴These are the generations of the heavens and the earth and everything between and beyond when they were created.