literal and intelligible, and probably nearer
to its original dress, than that in which we are most familiar with it
in our English Bibles:

THE ABORIGINAL SONG OF CREATION.

_Beginning._

In the Beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth,
And the Earth was formless and empty,
And darkness on the surface of the deep,
And the Breath of God moved on the Surface of the Waters.

_Day One._

_And God said_--"Let Light be,"
And Light was.
And God saw the Light that it was good.
And God called the Light Day,
And the darkness he called Night.
And Evening was and Morning was--Day one.

_Day Second._

_And God said_--"Let there be an Expanse
in the midst of the waters,
And let it divide the waters from the waters."
And God made the Expanse,
And divided the waters below the Expanse
from the waters above the Expanse.
And it was so.
And God called the Expanse Heavens.
And Evening was and Morning was, a Second Day.

_Day Third._

_And God said_--"Let the waters under the
Heavens be gathered into one place,
And let the Dry Land appear."
And it was so,
And God called the Dry Land Earth,
And the gathering of waters called he Seas.
And God saw that it was good.
_And God said_--"Let the earth shoot forth herbage,
The Herb yielding seed and the fruit-tree yielding fruit
containing seed after its kind, on the earth."
And it was so.
And the earth brought forth herbage,
The Herb yielding seed and the Tree yielding fruit whose
seed is in it after its kind,
And God saw that it was good.
And Evening was and Morning was, a Third Day.

_Day Fourth._

_And God said_--"Let there be Luminaries
in the Expanse of 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 Luminaries in the Expanse of Heaven
To give light on the earth."
And it was so.
And God made two great Luminaries,
The greater Luminary to rule the day,
The lesser Luminary to rule the night,
The Stars also.
And God placed them in the Expanse of Heaven
To give light upon the earth,
And to rule over the day and over the night,
And to divide the light from the darkness.
And God saw that it was good.
And Evening was and Morning