At the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

And the earth was waste and void, desolate without the sons of men, and empty of animals. And darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the spirit of mercies from before God blew upon the face of the waters.

And God said, ‘Let there be light to lighten the world’. And immediately there was light.

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

And God called the light Day, and he made it so that the dwellers on the earth might labour during it; and the darkness he called Night, and he made it so that the creatures might have rest during it. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

And God said, ‘Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters above from the waters below’.

And God made the firmament, its thickness being three fingers between the limits of the heavens and the waters of the ocean. And he divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above in the vault of the firmament: and it was so.

And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.