And the woman saw that the tree (was) good for food
and that it (was) a delight for the eyes
and desirable for gaining in wisdom
and she took from its fruit
and she ate.
And she also gave (it) to her man, with her,
and he ate.

Then the eyes of the two were opened
and they knew that they were naked
and they sewed ‘fig leafs’
and they made for themselves coverings.

Grant, Lord,
that we may hold to you without parting,
worship you without wearying,
serve you without failing;
faithfully seek you,
happily find you,
and forever possess you,
the only God,blessed now and for ever.
Amen

St Anselm

And YHWH, god, dropped sleep on the human,
and he slept
and he took one of/from his ribs
and he closed (the) flesh
underneath it.

And YHWH, god, built the rib
which he took from the human,
into a woman.
And he brought her to the human.

And the human said:
‘This one,
this time,
is a bone from my bones
and flesh from my flesh.
this one will be called “woman”
because from the man she was taken.’

Therefore
a man will leave his father and his mother
and stick with his woman /wife
and become one flesh
and the two – the man and the woman – were naked
and they were not ashamed.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy,
For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen

And YWHH, god, said
‘It is not good for the human to be alone;
I will make for him a helper – as opposite to him.’

And YHWH, god, made from the ground,
all the living things of the field
and all the birds of the heavens.

He brought (them) to the human
to see what he would called
and whatever the human called them
– a living thing –
that was it’s name.

And the human called their names
– for all the livestock
and for the birds of the heavens
and living things of the field
and for Adam
he did not find
a helper
– as opposite to him.

O Lord Jesus Christ,
stay beside me to defend me,
within me to guide me,
before me to lead me,
and above me to bless me,
that with you and in you,
I may live, and move and have my being,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

(unknown)

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.