The Creation

ACCORDING TO P

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was chaos, and there was darkness over the abyss, and the spirit of God hovered upon the waters. And God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening, and there was morning: a first day.

And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, to separate waters from waters.” And it was so: God made the dome, and it separated the waters below it from the waters above it. And God saw that it was good. And God called the dome Sky. And there was evening, and there was morning: a second day.

And God said, “Let the waters below the sky gather into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathered waters he called Sea. And God saw that it was good. And God said, “Let the earth sprout with green things: plants that bear seeds, and every kind of tree that bears fruit with its seed in it.” And it was so: the earth became green with plants and with every kind of fruit tree. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning: a third day.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky, to separate the day from the night. And let them shine on the earth, and mark the set times, the days and the years.” And it was so: God made the two great lights — the greater one to rule the day, and the lesser one to rule the night — and also the stars. And God set them in the dome of the sky to shine on the earth, and to rule the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning: a fourth day.

And God said, “Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” And it was so: God created the great whales, and every kind of creature that the waters teem with, and every kind of bird. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning: a fifth day.

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living things of all kinds — animals and reptiles and every kind of creature.” And it was so: God made animals of all kinds, and every kind of reptile, and every kind of creature. And God saw that it was good. And God said, “Let us make humans, in our own image, similar to us; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and the animals and the reptiles and every creature on earth.” And God created humans in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. And God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and govern it, and rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and every creature on earth.” And God said, “Here: I give you every plant thatbears seeds and every tree that bears fruit; they will be your food. And to all the animals and to all the birds of the sky and to all creatures on earth, I give every green plant as their food.” And God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning: the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and everything in them. And on the seventh day God saw that his work was completed, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creation.