In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. FIRST STROPHE. And the earth was formless and empty; And darkness was upon the face of the abyss. And the Spirit of God brooded upon the face of the vapors.[191] And God said, Let there be light: And there was light. REFRAIN--_And God saw the light that it was good._ And God called the light Day: And the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning: one day. SECOND STROPHE. And God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, And let it be a division of waters from vapors. And God made the expanse, And divided the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse:[192] And it was so. And God called the expanse Heavens. And there was evening and there was morning: a second day. THIRD STROPHE. And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered into one place, And let the dry ground appear: And it was so. And God called the dry ground Land; And the gathering of the waters He called Seas. REFRAIN--_And God saw that it was good._ And God said, Let the land shoot forth shoots: Herbs yielding seed, fruit-trees yielding seed-inclosing fruit after their kind upon the land; And it was so. And the land brought forth shoots; Herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees yielding seed-inclosing fruit after their kind. REFRAIN--_And God saw that it was good._ And there was evening and there was morning: a third day. FOURTH STROPHE. And God said, Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to divide the day from the night; And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years; And let them be for light-bearers in the expanse of the heavens, to give light upon the earth: And it was so. And God made the two great luminaries; The greater luminary to rule the day; The lesser luminary to rule the night. He made the stars lights also; And God appointed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and night, And to divide the light from the darkness. REFRAIN--_And God saw that it was good._ And there was evening and there was morning: a fourth day. FIFTH STROPHE. And God said, Let the waters swarm forth swarming things, living souls;[193] And let birds fly upon the land upon the face of the expanse of the heavens. And God created great leviathans, And all living souls that creep, which the waters swarmed forth after their kind; And all birds of wing after their kind. REFRAIN--_And God saw that it was good._