Genesis 1
In the beginning when God was creating the heavens and all of the earth,
When the world was all wild and waste, and of light on the deep oceans there was a dearth,
And the wind of God hovering over the waters, God spoke and said, “Let there be light!”
And indeed, there was light. And God saw it, that light, and He saw that it was good and right.
After seeing his shining creation, God then separated the light from the dark.
So He called the light “Day” and the darkness as “Night” (and the difference between them was stark).
And then there was a setting and there was a dawning as earth’s creation had begun,
There was evening and then there was morning, and that was the first day, so ending day one.
God said, “Right in the midst of the waters, let there be a firmament, a solid dome
That will separate waters from waters.” (since waters above would need less salt and foam)
So God made that expanse of a dome that would separate waters which waved down below
From the waters that still stayed above the expanse He created. And thus it was so.
God had named the expansive dome “Heaven” or “Sky” (and the region it covered was vast).
There was evening and then there was morning, which meant that a second day now had gone past.
God said, “Let waters under the sky all be gathered together and into one place.
Let the waters go here, and then there, let the dry land appear so it may shows its face.”
It was so. The dry land, God called “Earth”, and the gathering of waters, God called it “Seas.”
And God saw this was good. (With the gathering waters, these seas He sees, He’s pleased He sees.)
God said, “Let the earth sprout forth with green sprouting growths, with grass and all sorts of vegetation,
Plants that seed forth their seeds, and fruit trees that bear fruit, both according to their variation.”
It was so. The earth brought forth the fruit trees, it brought forth the plants, and the herbs, and the grass,
And God saw it was good. There was evening and morning, and so a third day came to pass.
God said, “Let there be lights in the sky up above that will separate day from the night,
So they may serve as signs for the set times, the seasons, the days, and the years with their light.
They shall serve as the sky’s lights to shine on the earth.” It was so, and two great lights God made,
The light greater for daytime, the lesser for night (and some other stars to be displayed).
God placed all of them into the sky, to rule both day and night, and to shine evermore.
And God saw this was good. There was evening and then there was morning, completing day four.
God said, “Let all the waters bring forth swarms of living things, creatures and beasts from the seas,
And let birds fly above the earth to fill the heavens and sky with formations of Vs.
He created sea monsters and swarms from the waters, and all winged birds from the sky.
And God saw it was good. And God blessed them all, saying “Be fruitful and go multiply.
Fill the waters in all of the seas, and the birds shall increase on the earth as they thrive.”
And then there was an evening, and there was a morning, and that was the day numbered five.
God said, “Let the earth bring forth living beings, those of all kinds, from the greatest to least,
Herds of cattle, the ground’s creepy-crawlies, and various types of earth’s wildlife beasts.”
It was so. God created the cattle, and also created wild beasts of all kinds.
And God saw it was good. (And once God had seen this, then another idea sprang to mind:)
God said, “I shall make man in Our image, according to Our likeness this man shall be,
And I give him dominion and rule over cattle, the birds, and the beasts of the sea.”
God created man in His own image, both male and female did He create them.
Then God blessed them and said, “Be fertile and increase,” and God gave them the whole earth to sate them.
God said, “Fill up the earth and you shall master it, ruling all creatures that may live there,
From the fish of the sea, to the land’s creepy-crawlies, to birds that just fly through the air.”
God said, “Here, I give to you all seed-bearing plants, and all trees that have seed-bearing fruit.
They shall be yours for food. And all earth’s wildlife will use green plants in that same pursuit.
To all creatures on earth, birds or beasts, that possess life’s breath, I give the green plants for food.”
It was so. God saw all of the things He had made, and saw that it was good, very good.
There was evening and then there was morning, and that meant the sixth day was finally through.
So the heavens and earth were now finished, and God’s work that He had done was finished too.
OK – At Rachel’s word I have you on my reader! I have not translated the Psalms into verse – but I did translate them and continue to, being now part way through a second pass. I will look forward to the next year of your posts – and maybe I will even read the Hebrew of Genesis finally when I see how much fun you have with the words.
I do have fun with the words. I’m impressed how much fun you have with the numbers; I peeked at your blog and the frequency analysis on the psalms is impressive.
Seth,
Smooth, easy to read and understand. A more fun way to read the Pentatuch, as we Protestants call it. How did you manage to rhyme the “begats?”
Keep up the good work.
Sharon — glad you enjoyed it. As for the long begat sections, you can take a look at Genesis 5.
Seth,
You are a very talented man – thank you for sharing your genius with the world. I can not wait to buy my signed copy… or two!
Continued success!
[…] read the chapters from Genesis that I posted on this site (and if you haven’t, here’s Genesis 1), the book is a line-by-line translation drawing from four Torah sources, done in rhymed couplets […]