Genesis 1:20 (LSB)

Passage

Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the expanse of the heavens.”

Nearby Context

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

Genesis 1:19 And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

Genesis 1:20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the expanse of the heavens.”

Genesis 1:21 And God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:22 Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "waters", "swarm", "swarms", "living", "creatures", "birds", and "above". 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 there was evening and there was..." into verse 21's "And God created the great sea monsters...", 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.