The Bible, Douay-Rheims Part 1

The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Old and New Testaments, Complete.

THE BOOK OF GENESIS

This book is so called from its treating of the GENERATION, that is, of the creation and the beginning of the world. The Hebrews call it BERESITH, from the Word with which it begins. It contains not only the history of the Creation of the world; but also an account of its progress during the s.p.a.ce of 2369 years, that is, until the death of JOSEPH.

Genesis Chapter 1

G.o.d createth Heaven and Earth, and all things therein, in six days.

1:1. In the beginning G.o.d created heaven, and earth.

1:2. And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of G.o.d moved over the waters.

1:3. And G.o.d said: Be light made. And light was made.

1:4. And G.o.d saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light from the darkness.

1:5. And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night; and there was evening and morning one day.

1:6. And G.o.d said: Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters: and let it divide the waters from the waters.

A firmament... By this name is here understood the whole s.p.a.ce between the earth, and the highest stars. The lower part of which divideth the waters that are upon the earth, from those that are above in the clouds.

1:7. And G.o.d made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament, from those that were above the firmament, and it was so.

1:8. And G.o.d called the firmament, Heaven; and the evening and morning were the second day.

1:9. G.o.d also said; Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered together into one place: and let the dry land appear. And it was so done.

1:10. And G.o.d called the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, he called Seas. And G.o.d saw that it was good.

1:11. And he said: let the earth bring forth green herb, and such as may seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may have seed in itself upon the earth. And it was so done.

1:12. And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yieldeth seed according to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit, having seed each one according to its kind. And G.o.d saw that it was good.

1:13. And the evening and the morning were the third day.

1:14. And G.o.d said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years:

1:15. To s.h.i.+ne in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the earth, and it was so done.

1:16. And G.o.d made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day; and a lesser light to rule the night: and The stars.

Two great lights... G.o.d created on the first day, light, which being moved from east to west, by its rising and setting, made morning and evening. But on the fourth day he ordered and distributed this light, and made the sun, moon, and stars. The moon, though much less than the stars, is here called a great light, from its giving a far greater light to the earth than any of them.

1:17. And he set them in the firmament of heaven to s.h.i.+ne upon the earth.

1:18. And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the darkness. And G.o.d saw that it was good.

1:19. And the evening and morning were the fourth day.

1:20. G.o.d also said: let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven.

1:21. And G.o.d created the great whales, and every living and moving creature, which the waaters brought forth, according to their kinds, and every winged fowl according to its kind. And G.o.d saw that it was good.

1:22. And he blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea: and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.

1:23. And the evening and morning were the fifth day.

1:24. And G.o.d said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, according to their kinds. And it was so done.

1:25. And G.o.d made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle, and every thing that creepeth on the earth after its kind. And G.o.d saw that it was good.

1:26. And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.

Let us make man to our image... This image of G.o.d in man, is not in the body, but in the soul; which is a spiritual substance, endued with understanding and free will. G.o.d speaketh here in the plural number, to insinuate the plurality of persons in the Deity.

1:27. And G.o.d created man to his own image: to the image of G.o.d he created him: male and female he created them.

1:28. And G.o.d blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth.

Increase and multiply... This is not a precept, as some Protestant controvertists would have it, but a blessing, rendering them fruitful; for G.o.d had said the same words to the fishes, and birds, (ver. 22) who were incapable of receiving a precept.

1:29. And G.o.d said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed upon the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your meat:

1:30. And to all beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they may have to feed upon. And it was so done.

1:31. And G.o.d saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good. And the evening and morning were the sixth day.

Genesis Chapter 2

G.o.d resteth on the seventh day and blesseth it. The earthly paradise, in which G.o.d placeth man. He commandeth him not to eat of the tree of knowledge. And formeth a woman of his rib.

2:1. So the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the furniture of them.

2:2. And on the seventh day G.o.d ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.

He rested, etc... That is, he ceased to make or create any new kinds of things. Though, as our Lord tells us, John 5.17, "He still worketh", viz., by conserving and governing all things, and creating souls.

2:3. And he blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it he had rested from all his work which G.o.d created and made.

2:4. These are the generations of the heaven and the earth, when they were created, in the day that the Lord G.o.d made the heaven and the earth:

2:5. And every plant of the field before it sprung up in the earth, and every herb of the ground before it grew: for the Lord G.o.d had not rained upon the earth; and there was not a man to till the earth.

2:6. But a spring rose out of the earth, watering all the surface of the earth.