Genesis 1:20-23·~1 min
The Fifth Day
God commands the waters to teem with living creatures and the skies to hold birds in flight. He creates them according to their kinds, blesses them to multiply, and the fifth day closes with a world filling with life.
A20nd 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.
Section summaryGod fills the waters and skies with living creatures, from great sea creatures to every winged bird, each according to its kind. He blesses them with fruitfulness, so the ordered world begins to teem with moving life.
Role in the chapterThis section turns from forming the world to populating it with living creatures. It introduces blessing and multiplication as part of creation's ongoing abundance.