Billeder på siden
PDF
ePub

And the earth brought forth, as God commanded her, all manner of vegetables, in very great variety, according to the several kinds; both of herbs that yield their own seed as the means of their future increase, and all trees that bear fruit, and whose fruit by his appointment containeth in it the seed of their own kind: and God allowed them as of necessary and excellent use, and established the benefits thereof to his future creatures.

I. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day. And thus was the third natural day, consisting of morning and evening, also finished.

I. 14 And 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 years:

And God further willed, that, in the highest part of the air, which we call heaven, there should be made the stars, which are so many glorious lights, in the firmament; partly, to make a perpetual and constant division betwixt day and night; and partly, to be certain and natural signs for man's direction, in his course of judgment and practice, for sowing, planting, sailing, and such other common affairs; and partly, to make a distinction of seasons: summer, winter, spring, harvest, autumn, years, months, weeks, days, hours:

I. 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

Lastly, which is their chiefest use, he willed that they should serve to give lively heat and light, from those high places wherein he set them, to his creatures here upon earth: and it was so done.

I. 16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

[ocr errors]

And now God made, amongst the rest, two great lights greater than the rest, not in body but in glory; the greater, to rule the day; to which purpose, he gathered into it all that light, which hitherto was diffused through the air: the lesser, together with the other smaller stars, to rule the night.

I. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

Thus God, I say, made these heavenly lights, and placed them in the highest part of the air, that they might the better give light to the earth;

I. 18 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 that they might interchangeably govern the day and night, and distinguish the light from the darkness, the dawning and twilight from the clear day: and God allowed them, as of excellent and necessary use for his other creatures.

I. 19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. So the fourth natural day, consisting of morning and evening, was fully finished.

I 20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly,

the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

Now, that God had thus made fit room and place for his creatures, he willed, that they should, in their several ranks and orders, be framed; and first, as the least perfect, he decreed, that the waters should abundantly bring forth all swimming and creeping things, proper to itself, that have life; and, that of the lighter and more airy part thereof, should be made all kind of fowls, that fly upon the earth and waters, in the open space of the air.

I. 21 And 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 God saw that it was good.

Then God, of the same element, made the mighty whales, whirlpools, and all other those huge and strange forms of creatures; and all kind of fishes, that live and move in the waters, he framed of the same matter, in great variety and abundance, according to their kinds; and every flying fowl, according to his kind: and God allowed them to be of excellent use.

I. 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas; and let fowl multiply in the earth.

Then God gave a real and sensible blessing unto them; willing and decreeing, by an everlasting Law, that these watery creatures should naturally multiply themselves by generation, in an especial manner and measure, so as they should plentifully store, both the sea and rivers; and that the fowls also, should, by a natural form of generation, multiply their numbers and successions upon earth. I. 23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. So the fifth natural day, consisting of morning and evening, was fully

finished.

I. 24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

Furthermore, God appointed, that, of the earth, by his Almighty power, should be made all other living things, according to their kinds: all cattle, that should be for more familiar use to man; all those creeping things, which live and move in and upon the earth; and those wild beasts of the forest, which live apart from the sight and service of man; each of them according to his nature and kind: and it was so done.

I. 25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

And God, accordingly, made the wild beast of the field, according to his kind; and all those creeping things, which move in and upon the earth, according to their several kind; and the tamer cattle, according to their kind: and God allowed their use, as commodious and necessary.

I. 26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our

likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish 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. Then God, when all helps and ornaments were thus prepared, decreed; and, after a Divine manner, consulted with himself, the Father with the Son and Holy Spirit, concerning the creation of his chief creature, Man; as it were to this effect: We have made our several creatures, in great variety; having given to them, being, life, sense, and motion: but now, let us make that creature, for whose sake the rest have been created; consisting, as of a material body, wherein he shall partake with other creatures, in being, life, sense, and motion; so also, of a spiritual nature and substance, wherein he shall be like to us; being indued, as with all the faculties of a reasonable soul, so also with perfect knowledge, holiness, righteousness: and let them have dominion over all the creatures, over the fishes of the sea, and over the fowls of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth.

I. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

So God, accordingly, created man, after his own image; both in respect of his spiritual soul, and of this integrity, and holiness, and righteousness, wherewith he was indued: he created them in both sexes, both male and female; forming the male of the matter of earth, and the female afterwards of the male.

I. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea.

And God gave a special blessing unto them; and said, Be ye, through that power of propagation which I give you, fruitful; and multiply, and replenish the earth with your seed; and be ye possessors and rulers of the earth, &c.

I. 29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree. And God said, Behold, as I have made you, and given you life, so am I careful to provide and grant you fit sustenance for the continuance of that life, which I have given you: take ye liberty, therefore, to eat of every plant, that groweth upon the earth, whether herb or tree, &c.

II. 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

Thus were the heavens, and the earth, and sea, and all the hosts of heaven, both the angelsand stars, and all the furniture of the earth and water, both plants and beasts and birds and fishes, finished, by the mighty power of God, in the space of six days.

II. 2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

And, on the seventh day, God, having finished the great work of his creation, ceased from any further act of this kind; rejoicing in the view of his glorious workmanship; and never since ceasing to preserve, order, and govern that world, which he then created..

II. 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

And, thereupon, God gave a special blessing to the seventh day; and honoured it with this privilege, that it should be a day set apart to rest and holiness; that so, by this means, men might be put in mind of the wonderful work of his creation, and might celebrate that rest of their Creator.

· II. 4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

This is the story, or just report, of the making of the heavens and the earth, in that beginning of time, wherein the Lord God, who hath eternal being in himself, gave a being to the earth and the heavens ;

II. 5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

[ocr errors]

And to every plant of the field, when as before it had no being in the earth; and to every herb, that had not as yet been, nor could have been, as by any natural means: for there had been, as yet, no rain, which is the ordinary means of fruitfulness, sent down from God upon the earth; neither was there any man, as yet, to till the ground, and, by his industry and art, to draw forth fruit therefrom.

any

II. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

Only, God caused a mist or vapour, to rise up from the earth, and to fall down again, upon the whole face of the ground; whereby the earth was watered, and the fruits thereof refreshed, till he thought good to send the ordinary and natural helps of her fruitfulness.

II. 7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

And the Lord God formed the body of man, of the mould of the ground; and inspired and animated him, with a living and rea- . sonable spirit, which is immortal, immaterial, separable from the body and so man, consisting of body and soul, became a perfect creature, indued with life and reason, and such qualities and motions as were fit to proceed from both.

. II. 8. And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

And the Lord God planted an orchard and garden of pleasure, in the eastern tract of that goodly and fruitful country of Eden; and there he put the man, whom he had formed.

II. 9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And the Lord God furnished and adorned that garden, with all variety of goodly and pleasant plants, that might be delectable either to the eye or to the taste, or wholesome for nourishment: and, amongst the rest, caused to grow there, that flourishing and sacramental Tree of Life; which, as it had virtue to preserve the natural life, so served to signify both that eternal life of glory and blessedness in heaven, and the only author of that eternal life, Jesus Christ; and therewith also, that fatal Tree of Knowledge, the eating whereof should cause man, who before knew only. good, to have a woeful knowledge and experience of evil.

II. 10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. And, for the commodity of the place, God had so seated it, as that a river came down out of Eden, to water the garden; and from thence it parted itself into four several streams.

II. 11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

The first is that channel of Euphrates which is called Pischon, which washeth upon the land which afterward took the name of Havilah, one of the grand-children of Eber, where there is gold:

II. 12 And the gold of that land is good; there is bdellium and the onyx stone.

And the gold of that land, as likewise of his brother Ophir's, is very pure and fine; and there is store of rich gums or pearls, and precious stones.

II. 13. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.

The name of the second stream or channel is Gihon, which floweth along by desert Arabia; the inheritance afterwards of Cush, the son of Cham.

II. 14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

The name of the third stream is Hiddekel, or Tigris, which floweth eastward to Assyria: and the fourth, retaining the appellation of the whole main river, is called Euphrates.

II. 15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Then, the Lord took man from the place where he was created, and placed him in this goodly paradise of Eden: not that he should be idle and there spend his time in vain pleasure, but that he might sow, plant, prune, keep and dress it; not in any

« ForrigeFortsæt »