The Creation of the World

1 From the beginning, with wisdom, the Memra of the Lord created and perfected the heavens and the earth.⁠a 2 And the earth was desolate and empty, deserted by people and by animals, and bare of all growing plants and of trees, and darkness was spread over the face of the deep. And a spirit of mercy from before the Lord was blowing over the face of the waters. 3 And the Memra of the Lord said, “Let there be light,” and there was light, by the decree of his Memra. 4 And it was revealed before the Lord that the light was good, and the Memra of the Lord separated the light from the darkness. 5 And the Memra of the Lord called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And there was evening and there was morning: the order of the work of creation, the first day. 6 And the Memra of the Lord said, “Let there be a firmament in the middle of the waters, and let it separate the lower waters from the upper waters.” 7 And the Lord created the firmament, and separated the waters below the firmament from the waters above the firmament. And it was so, according to his Memra. 8 And the Memra of the Lord called the firmament heaven. And there was evening and there was morning: the order of the work of creation, the second day.⁠b 9 And the Memra of the Lord said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so, according to his Memra. 10 And the Memra of the Lord called the dry land earth, and the place where the waters gather he called seas. And it was revealed before the Lord that it was pleasing and fitting. 11 And the Memra of the Lord said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, plants that yield seed, and fruit trees that bear fruit after their kind, whose seed comes from them and is in them, on the earth.” And it was so, according to his Memra. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, plants that yield seed after their kinds, and fruit trees that bear fruit, whose seed comes from them and is in them, after their kind. And it was revealed before the Lord that it was pleasing and fitting. 13 And there was evening and there was morning: the order of the work of creation, the third day. 14 And the Lord said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs and for set times, and to sanctify by them the intercalation of moons and months. 15 And let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth.” And it was so, according to his Memra. 16 And the Memra of the Lord created the two great lights: the great light to rule by day and the small light to rule by night, and the orders of the stars. 17 And the Glory of the Lord set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule by day and by night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And it was revealed before the Lord that it was pleasing and fitting. 19 And there was evening and there was morning: the order of the work of creation, the fourth day. 20 And the Memra of the Lord said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth, across the face of the air of the firmament of the heavens.” 21 And the Lord created the two great monsters,⁠c and every living creature that creeps, with which the waters swarmed, after their kinds, and every winged bird after its kind. And it was revealed before the Lord that it was pleasing and fitting. 22 And the Memra of the Lord blessed them, saying, “Be strong and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning: the order of the work of creation, the fifth day. 24 And the Memra of the Lord said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle, creeping things and wild animals of the earth, after their kind.” And it was so, according to his Memra. 25 And the Memra of the Lord created the wild animals of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing of the earth after its kind. And it was revealed before the Lord that it was pleasing and fitting. 26 And the Lord said, “Let us create man in our likeness, resembling us, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 And the Memra of the Lord created man in his likeness; in a likeness from before the Lord he created him; male and his partner he created them. 28 And the Glory of the Lord blessed them, and the Memra of the Lord said to them, “Be strong and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, and over every wild animal that creeps on the earth.” 29 And the Glory of the Lord said, “Look, I have given you every plant that yields seed on the face of all the earth, and every tree that bears fruit yielding seed; I have given them to you for food. 30 And to every wild animal of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything with the breath of life in it, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so, according to his Memra. 31 And it was revealed before the Lord that everything he had made was indeed pleasing and very fitting. And there was evening and there was morning: the order of the work of creation, the sixth day.