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)