The Creation

 

Chapter 1

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and

darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters.

Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw how good the light was. God then separated

the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." Thus evening came,

and morning followed - the first day.

Then God said, "Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other."

And so it happened: God made the dome, and it separated the water above the dome from the water below it.

God called the dome "the sky." Evening came, and morning followed - the second day.

Then God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin, so that the dry land may appear."

And so it happened: the water under the sky was gathered into its basin, and the dry land appeared. God

called the dry land "the earth," and the basin of the water he called "the sea." God saw how good it was.

Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit

tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it." And so it happened: the earth brought forth every kind of plant

that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. God saw how good it

was. Evening came, and morning followed - the third day.

Then God said: "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky, to separate day from night. Let them mark the fixed

times, the days and the years, and serve as luminaries in the dome of the sky, to shed light upon the earth."

And so it happened: God made the two great lights, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to

govern the night; and he made the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky, to shed light upon the earth, to

govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw how good it was. Evening

came, and morning followed - the fourth day.

Then God said, "Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly

beneath the dome of the sky." And so it happened: God created the great sea monsters and all kinds of

swimming creatures with which the water teems, and all kinds of winged birds. God saw how good it was, and

God blessed them, saying, "Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the

earth." Evening came, and morning followed - the fifth day.

Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals

of all kinds." And so it happened: God made all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of cattle, and all kinds of

creeping things of the earth. God saw how good it was.

Then God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the

sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the

ground."

 

God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him;

male and female he created them.

 

God blessed them, saying: "Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of

the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth." God also said: "See, I give you

every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and

to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground, I give

all the green plants for food." And so it happened. God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very

good. Evening came, and morning followed - the sixth day.

 

Chapter 2

Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed. Since on the seventh day God was finished

with the work he had been doing, he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. So God

blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.

Such is the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation.

 

Paradise, and the test of free will

At the time when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens - while as yet there was no field shrub on earth

and no grass of the field had sprouted, for the Lord God had sent no rain upon the earth and there was no man

to till the soil, but a stream was welling up out of the earth and was watering all the surface of the ground - the

Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man

became a living being.

Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and he placed there the man whom he had formed.

Out of the ground the Lord God made various trees grow that were delightful to look at and good for food,

with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and bad.

A river rises in Eden to water the garden; beyond there it divides and becomes four branches. The name of the

first is the Pishon; it is the one that winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of

that land is excellent; bdellium and lapis lazuli are also there. The name of the second river is the Gihon; it is the

one that winds all through the land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it is the one that flows east

of Asshur. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it. The Lord

God gave man this order: "You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge

of good and bad. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die."

The Lord God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him." So the Lord

God formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air, and he brought them to the

man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each of them would be its name. The man gave

names to all the cattle, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be the suitable

partner for the man. So the Lord God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of

his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The Lord God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken

from the man. When he brought her to the man, the man said:

 

"This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall

be called 'woman,' for out of 'her man' this one has been taken."

 

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.

The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.

 

/ The Fall

 

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