"This is about how God made the heavens and the earth in the beginning." This statement summarizes the rest of the chapter. Some languages translate it as "A very long time ago God created the heavens and the earth." Translate it in a way that shows this actually happened and is not just a folk story.
This refers to the start of the world and everything in it.
"the sky, the ground, and everything in them"
This refers here to the sky.
God had not yet put the world in order.
"the water" or "the deep water" or "the vast water"
"the surface of the water" or "the water"
This is a command. By commanding that light should exist, God made it exist.
"God considered the light and was pleased with it." "Good" here means "pleasing" or "suitable."
"separated the light and the darkness" or "made it light at one time and dark at another." This refers to God creating the daytime and the night time.
God did these things on the first day that the universe existed.
By commanding that the expanse should exist and that it divide the waters, God made it exist and divide the waters.
large empty space. The Jewish people thought of this space as being shaped like the inside of dome or the inside of a bowl that is turned upside down.
"In this way God made the expanse and divided the waters." When God spoke, it happened. This sentence explains what God did when he spoke.
"It happened like that" or "That is what happened." What God commanded happened just as he said it should.
This refers to the second day that the universe existed. See how you translated "the first day" in Genesis 1:5.
"Let the waters ... gather" or "Let the waters ... come together"
"let dry land become visible" or "let the dry land become clear" or "let the land be uncovered"
"the part that was dry 'earth,' and"
"Let vegetation sprout up on the earth" or "Let vegetation grow on the earth"
"vegetation, each plant that bears seed and each tree that bears fruit" or "vegetation. Let them be plants that produce seeds and fruit trees that produce fruit."
The seeds would produce plants and trees that would be like the ones they came from. In this way, the plants and trees would "reproduce themselves" .
This refers to the third day that the universe existed.
"things that shine in the sky" or "things that give light in the sky." This refers to the sun, moon, and stars.
"in the expanse of the sky" or "in the large space of the sky"
"to separate the day from the night." This means "to help us tell the difference between day and night." The sun means it is daytime, and the moon and stars mean it is nighttime.
"Let them serve as signs" or "let them show"
Here this means something that reveals or points to something.
times that are set aside for festivals and other things that people do
"to shine light on the earth" or "to brighten the earth." The earth does not self-shine but it is lit and so reflects light.
"the two large lights" or "the two bright lights." The two great lights are the sun and the moon.
"to direct the daytime as a ruler directs a group of people" or "to mark the times of the day"
This refers only to the daylight hours.
"the smaller light" or "the dimmer light"
"to separate the light from the darkness" or "to make it light at one time and dark at another."
This refers to the fourth day that the universe existed.
"Let the waters be full of many living things" or "Let many animals that swim live in the oceans"
By commanding that birds should fly, God made them fly.
"the open space of the sky" or "the sky"
"large animals that live in the sea"
"every flying thing that has wings." If the word for birds is used, it may be more natural in some languages to simply say "every bird," since all birds have wings.
"blessed the animals that he had made"
This is God's blessing. He told the sea animals to produce more sea animals like themselves, so that there would be many of them in the seas. The word "multiply" explains how they are to be "fruitful."
increase greatly in number
This refers to the fifth day that the universe existed.
This shows that God created all kinds of animals. If your language has another way of grouping all the animals, you can use that, or you can use these groups.
These are animals that people look after.
"small animals"
These are animals that live in the wild. People do not take care of them.
The word "us" here refers to God. God was saying what he intended to do. The pronoun "us" is plural. Possible reasons for the plural use are 1) the plural form suggests that God is discussing something with the angels that make up his heavenly court or 2) the plural form foreshadows the later New Testament implications that God exists in the form of the Holy Trinity. Some translate it as "Let me make" or "I will make." If you do this, consider adding a footnote to say that the word is plural.
human beings
"to truly be like us"
"rule over" or "have authority over"
These two sentences mean the same thing and emphasize that God created people in his own image.
The way that God created man was different from the way he created everything else. Do not specify that he created man by simply speaking, as in the preceding verses.
Fill the earth with people.
"all the birds that fly in the sky"
"that breathes." This phrase emphasizes that these animals had a different kind of life than the plants. Plants do not breathe, and were to be used as food for the animals. Here "life" means physical life.
"This is true and important: it"
Now when God looked at everything he had made, it was "very good.
This refers to the sixth day that the universe existed.