The Creation

Genesis 1–2

"And it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, behold, I reveal unto you concerning this heaven and this earth; write the words which I speak. I am the Beginning and the End; the Almighty God. By mine Only Begotten I created these things. Yea, in the beginning I created the heaven, and the earth upon which thou standest. And the earth was without form, and void; and I caused darkness to come up upon the face of the deep. And my Spirit moved upon the face of the waters, for I am God.

"And I, God, said let there be light, and there was light. And I, God, saw the light, and that light was good. And I, God, divided the light from the darkness. And I, God, called the light day, and the darkness I called night. And this I did by the word of my power; and it was done as I spake. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

"And again, I, God, said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters; and it was so, even as I spake. And I said, let it divide the waters from the waters; and it was done. And I, God, made the firmament, and divided the waters; yea, the great waters under the firmament, from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so, even as I spake. And I, God, called the firmament heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

"And I, God, said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place; and it was so. And I, God, said, let there be dry land; and it was so. And I, God, called the dry land earth; and the gathering together of the waters called I the sea. And I, God, saw that all things which I had made were good. And I, God, said, let the earth bring forth grass; the herb yielding seed; the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind; and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed should be in itself, upon the earth; and it was so, even as I spake. And the earth brought forth grass; every herb yielding seed after his kind; and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed should be in itself, after his kind. And I, God, saw that all things which I had made were good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.

"And I, God, said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years, and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven, to give light upon the earth; and it was so. And I, God, made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; and the greater light was the sun, and the lesser light was the moon. And the stars also were made, even according to my word; and I, God, set them in the firmament of the heaven, to give light upon the earth; and the sun to rule over the day, and the moon to rule over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And I, God, saw that all things which I had made were good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

"And I, God, said, let the waters bring forth abundantly, the moving creature that hath life, and fowl which may fly above the earth, in the open firmament of heaven. And I, God, created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind; and every winged fowl, after his kind. And I, God, saw that all things which I had created were good; and I, God, blessed them, saying, be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the sea, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

"And I, God, said, let the earth bring forth the living creature, after his kind; cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, after their kind; and it was so. And I, God, made the beasts of the earth, after their kind; and cattle after their kind; and everything which creepeth upon the earth, after his kind. And I, God, saw that all these things were good.

"And I, God, said unto mine Only Begotten, which was with me from the beginning, let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and it was so. And I, God, said, let them have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And I, God, created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; male and female created I them.

"And I, God, blessed them and said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And I, God, said unto man, behold, I have given you every herb, bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth; and every tree in the which shall be the fruit of a tree, yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein I grant life, there shall be given every clean herb for meat; and it was so even as I spake.

"And I, God, saw everything that I had made, and behold, all things which I had made were very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

"Thus the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day, I, God, ended my work, and all things which I had made; and I rested on the seventh day from all my work; and all things which I had made were finished. And I, God, saw that they were good. And I, God, blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it I had rested from all my work, which I, God, had created and made.

"And now, behold, I say unto you, that these are the generations of the heaven, and of the earth, when they were created in the day that I the Lord God made the heaven and the earth, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew; for I, the Lord God, created all things of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth; for I, the Lord God, had not caused it to rain upon the face of the earth.

"And I, the Lord God, had created all the children of men, and not yet a man to till the ground, for in heaven created I them, and there was not yet flesh upon the earth, neither in the water, neither in the air; but I, the Lord God, spake, and there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. And I, the Lord God, formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul; the first flesh upon the earth, the first man also; nevertheless, all things were before created, but spiritually were they created and made, according to my word.

"And I, the Lord God, planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there I put the man whom I had formed. And out of the ground, made I, the Lord God, to grow every tree naturally, that is pleasant to the sight of man, and man could behold it, and it became also a living soul; for it was spiritual in the day that I created it; for it remaineth in the sphere in which I, God, created it; yea, even all things which I prepared for the use of man; and man saw that it was good for food. And I, the Lord God, planted the tree of life also, in the midst of the garden; and also the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

"And I, the Lord God, caused a river to go out of Eden, to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. And I, the Lord God, called the name of the first Pison, and it compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where I, the Lord, created much gold; and the gold of that land was good, and there was bdellium, and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river was called Gihon, the same that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river was Hiddekel, that which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river was Euphrates.

"And I, the Lord God, took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it, and to keep it. And I, the Lord God, commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but remember that I forbid it; for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

"And I, the Lord God, said unto mine Only Begotten, that it was not good that the man should be alone; wherefore, I will make an help meet for him. And out of the ground, I the Lord God, formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and commanded that they should come unto Adam, to see what he would call them. And they were also living souls; for I, God, breathed into them the breath of life, and commanded that whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that should be the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but as for Adam, there was not found an help meet for him.

"And I, the Lord God, caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept, and I took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in the stead thereof; and the rib, which I, the Lord God had taken from man, made I a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, this I know now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."