Genesis 1:20 (DRB)

Passage

God also said: let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven.

Nearby Context

Genesis 1:18 And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:19 And the evening and morning were the fourth day.

Genesis 1:20 God also said: let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven.

Genesis 1:21 And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature, which the waters brought forth, according to their kinds, and every winged fowl according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:22 And he blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea: and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "waters", "bring", "forth", "creeping", "creature", "having", and "life". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "waters", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "And the evening and morning were the..." into verse 21's "And God created the great whales and...", so "said" and "waters" belong inside that flow. In Genesis context, the local focus is creation, human rebellion, covenant promise, and God's providence.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "said" and "waters" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.