THE VOICE OUT OF THE STORM

SECTION

383. The Lord: Finite Man Cannot Grasp and There-

fore Justly Criticise the Infinite Plan of the Uni-

verse, 38, 402, 8-14

PAGE

604

384. Job: A Larger Vision of God Begets Humility and

Trust, 403-5, 422-6

607

STORIES AND HISTORIES

GENESIS

THE PRIMITIVE NARRATIVES

1. THE POEM OF CREATION

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,

And while the earth was still unformed and chaotic, With darkness on the surface of the deep,

And the Spirit of God brooding over the waters, God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. And God saw that the light was good.

Then he separated the light from the darkness,

And he called the light Day and the darkness Night. And there was an evening and a morning, making the first day.

Then God said, 'Let there be a vaulted expanse in the midst of the waters,

And let it separate the waters from the waters.'

So God made the heavens to separate the waters below From the waters which were above the vaulted ex

panse.

And it was done.

And God called the expanse the Heavens.

And there was an evening and a morning, making the second day.

Then God said, 'Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together,

And let the dry land appear.'

And it was done.

And God called the dry land Earth
And the gathering together of the waters Seas.
And God saw that it was good.

And God said, 'Let the earth put forth vegetation: Plants on the earth which yield their own kind of seed, And trees that bear fruits in which are their own seed.'

And it was done.

And the earth brought forth vegetation:

Plants which yield their own kind of seed,

And trees which bear fruit in which is their own seed. And God saw that it was good..

And there was an evening and a morning, making the third day.

Then God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens

To separate the night from the day.

Let them be signs to mark the seasons, the days, and

the years,

Let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to light the earth.'

And it was done.

So God made the two great lights:

The greater to rule the day and the lesser to rule the night.

God made the stars also and placed them in the expanse

of the heavens

To shed light upon the earth,

To rule over the day and over the night,

And to separate light from darkness.

And God saw that it was good.

And there was an evening and a morning, making the fourth day.

Then God said, 'Let the waters teem with living creatures,

And let birds fly over the earth in the open expanse

of the heavens.'

And God created the great sea monsters,

All kinds of living, moving creatures with which the waters teem,

And all kinds of winged birds.

And God saw that it was good.

And he blessed them, saying, 'Be fruitful,
Increase, and fill the waters in the seas,

And let the birds multiply on the earth.'

And there was an evening and a morning, making the fifth day.

Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures:

Cattle and reptiles and wild beasts.'

And it was done.

So God made all the different kinds of wild beasts, And the cattle, and everything that crawls upon the ground.

And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image,
And let him rule over the fish of the sea,

The birds of the heavens, the cattle, the wild beasts,
And all the reptiles that crawl upon the ground.'
So God created man like himself, like God he created
him.

He created them male and female.

Then God blessed them, and said to them, 'Bear children, Increase, people the earth, and conquer it;

Rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, And over every living thing that crawls upon the ground,'