C. S. Lewis Bible: New Revised Standard Version

Chapter 43 (#ulink_c04606da-097c-59fa-abef-7c97ea5c8106)

Chapter 44 (#ulink_a503d665-9235-5a57-836c-9c66796670b9)

Chapter 45 (#ulink_21b45f14-790e-5b50-a3f9-5e29c250f1db)

Chapter 46 (#ulink_a79152b0-af16-5565-9b86-5aa8e0827e52)

Chapter 47 (#ulink_4060aa04-cf07-5ca1-bbf6-9bb9765ea0bb)

Chapter 48 (#ulink_3815e82c-3516-569e-8a51-5814cae170fb)

Chapter 49 (#ulink_237ab20b-07d8-5fc3-b543-5d9072c0fc2b)

Chapter 50 (#ulink_976886fb-18d6-54bb-9f30-434b0a6cbcb1)

1 In the beginning when God created[1 (#ulink_ea6b0066-c38a-531c-adf3-568d51c87846)] the heavens and the earth,

the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God[2 (#ulink_4e548c97-b2a0-5eb1-a85a-8ba998ef7a8d)] swept over the face of the waters.

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.

God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”

So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so.

God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

9 And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.

God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so.

The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good.

And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

For reflection: Genesis 1:1

No philosophical theory which I have yet come across is a radical improvement on the words of Genesis, that “In the beginning God made Heaven and Earth.”

—from Miracles

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years,

and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so.

God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.

God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth,

to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.”

So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so.

God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

CREATION’S SONG

In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing. It was very far away and Digory found it very hard to decide from what direction it was coming. Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once. Sometimes he almost thought it was coming out of the earth beneath them. Its lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of the earth herself. There were no words. There was hardly even a tune. But it was, beyond comparison, the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. It was so beautiful he could hardly bear it. . . .

Then two wonders happened at the same moment. One was that the voice was suddenly joined by other voices; more voices than you could possibly count. They were in harmony with it, but far higher up the scale: cold, tingling, silvery voices. The second wonder was that the blackness overhead, all at once, was blazing with stars. They didn’t come out gently one by one, as they do on a summer evening. One moment there had been nothing but darkness; next moment a thousand, thousand points of light leaped out—single stars, constellations, and planets, brighter and bigger than any in our world. There were no clouds. The new stars and the new voices began at exactly the same time. If you had seen and heard it . . . you would have felt quite certain that it was the stars themselves who were singing, and that it was the First Voice, the deep one, which had made them appear and made them sing. . . .

And as its beams shot across the land the travelers could see for the first time what sort of place they were in. It was a valley through which a broad, swift river wound its way, flowing eastward toward the sun. Southward there were mountains, northward there were lower hills. But it was a valley of mere earth, rock and water; there was not a tree, not a bush, not a blade of grass to be seen. The earth was of many colors; they were fresh, hot and vivid. They made you feel excited; until you saw the Singer himself, and then you forgot everything else.

—from The Magician’s Nephew

For reflection

Genesis 1:1–19

26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind[3 (#ulink_262b48b1-07c6-5e06-b86c-3ba2e6ac50b3)] in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth,[4 (#ulink_043beb41-ca4e-5782-a9e2-a74316c18bad)] and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

So God created humankind[3 (#ulink_262b48b1-07c6-5e06-b86c-3ba2e6ac50b3)] in his image,

in the image of God he created them;[5 (#ulink_d19a9db6-7564-5c12-8f5a-eaad582f0d3f)]

male and female he created them.

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.

And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.