God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Genesis 1:24 God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.
Genesis 1:25 God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Genesis 1:27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
The verse centers on "said", "make", "image", "after", "likeness", "dominion", "over", and "fish". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "make", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 25's "God made the animals of the earth..." into verse 27's "God created man in his own image...", so "said" and "make" 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 "make" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.