And YHWH, god, took the man
and settled him in the garden of Eden
to work it and to guard it.

And YHWH, god, commanded the man
saying
from every tree of the garden you may surely eat
from the tree of knowledge, good and bad, you surely may not eat
because on the day that you eat from it you will surely die.

Eternal God and Fatther,
you create us by your power,
and redeem us by your love,
guide and strengthen us by your Spirit,
that we may give ourselves in love and service
to one another and to you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

A depiction of the Garden of Eden and “topography of the earthly paradise” by Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680), from 1675

And YHWH, god, planted a garden,
in Eden
in the east

And put there the man
whom he had formed

and YHWH, god, caused to spring up
from the ground
all the trees
pleasant to look at
and good to eat
and the tree of life
in the middle of the garden
and the tree of knowledge
of good-and-bad

And a river leaves Eden
to water the garden
and from there it will be divided
and it will become four ‘heads’
The name of one (is) Pishon
it surrounds all the land of Havilah
where there is gold.
And the gold of the land is good;
bdellium and stone of onyx
The name of the second river (is) Gihon
it surrounds all the land of Cush
The name of the third river Tigris
it goes east of Assyria
And the fourth river is Euphrates

The Bible Project

O Lord, in whom is our hope,
remove far from us, we pray thee,
empty hopes and presumptuous confidence.
Make our hearts so right with thy most holy and loving heart,
that hoping in thee we may do good;
until that day when faith and hope
shall be abolished by sight and possession,
and love shall be all in all.

Christina Rossetti (1830-94)

This is the ‘family history’ of the heavens and the earth
when they were created –
In the day
when YHWH, god, made the earths and the heavens:
And there was not yet
any bush of the plain/ field
on the land
and
was not yet grown
any ‘grass’ of the plain/ field
because YHWH, god,
had not caused rain upon the land
and there was no human
to serve the ground.

And a flood was rising from the land
and it would water all the face of the ground.

And YHWH, god, formed the human
– dust from the ground-
and he blew into his nostrils
a breath of life
and the human was a living being.

Keep us, O Lord, while we tarry on this earth,
in a serious seeking after thee,
and in an affectionate walking with thee,
every day of our lives;
that when thou comest,
we may be found not hiding our talent,
nor yet asleep with our lamp unfurnished,
but waiting and longing for our Lord,
our glorious King, for ever and ever.

Richard Baxter (1615-1691)

And the heavens
and the earth
and all their host
were finished.

And god finished
on the seventh day
the work
which he had done
and he stopped
on the seventh day
from all his work
that he had done

And god blessed
the seventh day
and he made it holy
because on it
he stopped
from all his work –
that is god created
(by making [it.])

Lord God,,
you feed us with the living bread from heaven;
you renew our faith,
increase our hope,
and strengthen our love.

Teach us to hunger
for Christ who is the true and living bread,
and to live by every word
that comes from your mouth,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

And god said:
‘Let us make humankind
in our image
according to our likeness
so that they will rule
the fish of the sea
the birds of the heavens
and the livestock
and all the earth
and all the creeping things that creep on the land’

And God created humankind
in his image
according to his image
God created them
male and female
he created them.

And god blessed them
that is god said to them:
‘Be fruitful
and multiply
and fill the earth
and subdue it
and rule.

And god said:
‘Look
I have given to you
all greenery
that produces seeds
upon the face of the earth
and all trees
that bear fruit with seed in it
they will be food for you…

and (I have given)
to all the wild animals / living things of the earth
and to all the birds of the heavens
and to all things that creep upon the earth
– in which is a living spirit-
every green plant to eat’
And it was so

And god saw
all that he had made
and look – it was very good
and it was evening
and it was morning
The sixth day.

Eternal Light, shine into our hearts;
Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil;
Eternal Power, be our support;
Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance:
That we may seek your face
with all our heart and mind and soul and strength. Amen.
Alcuin

And god said:
“Let the earth produce beings, living,
according to their kinds:
livestock and
creeping things and
living things of the earth
each according their kind”
And it was so.

And God made
the living things of the earth
each according their kind
and the livestock
according to their kind
and all the creeping things of the earth
according to their kind

And god saw that it was good

And god said:
‘Let us make humankind
in our image
according to our likeness
and they will rule
the fish of the sea
the birds of the heavens
and the livestock
and all the earth
and all the creeping things creeping on the land’

And God created
humankind
in his image
according to his likeness
God created them
male and female
he created them.

God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

And god said:
‘Let the waters swarm with a swarm of beings, living
and let flying things fly about
across the earth
across the face of the firmament of the heavens’

And god created
the great sea-monsters and
all living things that creep
with which the waters swarm
according to their kind
and all winged birds
according to their kind
and god saw that it was good.

And god blessed them
saying
‘Be fruitful
multiply
and fill the waters in the seas
and let the birds multiply
on the earth.’

And there was evening and
there was morning
Fifth day

Eternal Light, shine into our hearts,
Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil,
Eternal Power, be our support,
Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance,
Eternal Pity, have mercy upon us;
that with all our heart and mind
and soul and strength we may seek thy face
and be brought by thine infinite mercy
to thy holy presence;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Alcuin (735-804)

And god said
‘let there be lamps
on the firmament of the heavens
to make a separation
between the day
and between the night
and let them be signs
for seasons
and for days and years.
and let them
be as lights on the firmament of the heavens
to light the earth. ‘
And it was so
And God made two great lights
the greater one to rule the day
and the lesser one to rule the night
– and the stars

And god put them on the firmament of the heavens
to light the earth.
and to rule the day and the night
and to make a separation between the light and the darkness
And God saw that it was good

and it was evening and morning
Fourth day!

Lord, you have given me so much,
I ask for one more thing –
a grateful heart.

George Herbert

And god said
let the waters
under the heavens
gather to 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
‘seas’
and God saw that it was good

And god said
let the land grow ‘grass’:
seed yielding plants
trees bearing fruit, with seed in them
according to their kinds
And it was so.

The land produced ‘grass’
seed yielding plants
trees bearing fruit, with seed in it,
according to their kinds
and God saw that it was good

An there was evening and morning
Day Three!

Be thou a bright flame before me,
Be thou a guiding star above me
Be thou a smooth path below me
Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me
Today – tonight -forever
Amen.

St Columba

And god said
let there be a firmament
in the middle of the waters
and let it be a ‘separator’
between waters (for the waters.)
And god made the firmament
and it made a separation
between the waters which were under the firmament
and between the waters which were from above the firmament
and it was so
and god called the firmament – heavens (sky)
and it was evening
and it was morning
second day!

O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me.
O Love, who redeemed me,
fill up in me whatever part of your love
has fallen into neglect within me.
O Love, O God, who first loved me,
grant that with my whole heart,
and with my whole soul,
and with my whole strength,
I may love you.

Gertrude the Great