The Creation

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
But vegetation did not exist yet
and no plants had sprouted up,
because God hadn’t yet sent
any rain to water the earth,
and there were no people to tend it.
From below the surface of the earth,
a spring of water welled up.

God made a man out of the earth’s dust
and blew his breath of life into his nostrils.
God planted a garden for the man,
full of flowers, trees and fruit,
with a river that ran through it, pure and clear.
He told the man to tend the garden
and to make sure that everything grew as intended.

God said to the man:
“Enjoy and take delight in what I have made!
Eat from whatever tree you find in the garden,
except for the fruit of one tree-
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
If you eat from that one, you will die.”

As the days went by the man
delighted in the garden;
he ate and relaxed in the shade of the trees.
But he was all by himself in the world.
“You should not be alone,” said God,
“I’ll give you a helper who is like you.”

So God made all the animals of
the forest and the mountains,
and all the birds of the air that fly
and flap their wings,
and all the creatures that crawl
and scurry on the ground.
With a roaring and bleating
and grunting and squeaking they
all walked past the man,
and he gave them all names.

But still the man was alone
and was the only one of his kind.
“Sleep well,” said God, and the man slept.
God took a rib from his side and
formed a beautiful creature.
God woke the man and said
“Look, here is a woman, a companion for you.
Now you don’t need to be alone any longer.”

Then the man took her by the hand.
It was soft and it fit perfectly with his own.
They walked together deeper into the garden.