Arcana Coelestia #6
6. Genesis 1
1. In the beginning God created heaven and earth.
2. And the earth was a void and an emptiness, and there was thick darkness over the face 1 of the deep; and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face 1 of the waters.
3. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.
4. And God saw that the light was good; and God made a distinction between the light and the darkness.
5. And 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 an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let there be a distinguishing of the waters from the waters.
7. And God made the expanse and He made a distinction between the waters that were under the expanse and the waters that were above the expanse; and it was so.
8. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening, and there was morning, a second day.
9. And God said, Let the waters under heaven be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so.
10. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas; and God saw that it was good.
11. And God said, Let the earth cause tender plants to spring up, seed-bearing plants, fruit trees bearing fruit, each according to its kind, in which is its seed, upon the earth; and it was so.
12. And the earth brought forth tender herbs, seed-bearing plants, each according to its kind, and trees bearing fruit, in which is their seed, each according to its kind; and God saw that it was good.
13. And there was evening, and there was morning, a third day.
14. And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens, to make a distinction between the day and the night; and they will be for signs, and for set times, and for days and years.
15. And they will be for lights in the expanse of the heavens, to give light upon the earth; and it was so.
16. And God made the two great lights, the greater light to have dominion over the day, and the lesser light to have dominion over the night; and the stars.
17. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth;
18. And to have dominion over the day and the night, and to make a distinction between the light and the darkness; and God saw that it was good.
19. And there was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.
20. And God said, Let the waters bring forth creeping things, living creatures; and let birds fly above the earth, upon the face 1 of the expanse of the heavens.
21. And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that creeps, which the waters produced abundantly according to their kinds; and all winged birds according to their kinds; and God saw that it was good.
22. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas; and let birds be multiplied upon the earth.
23. And there was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.
24. And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds, beasts and creeping things and wild animals of the earth according to their kinds; and it was so.
25. And God made wild animals of the earth according to their kinds, and beasts according to their kinds, and everything that creeps along the ground according to its kind; and God saw that it was good.
26. And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and they will have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, 2 and over the beasts, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
27. And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28. And 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, 2 and over every living thing that creeps on the earth.
29. And God said, Behold, I give you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face 1 of the whole earth, and every tree in which there is fruit, the tree producing seed will be for you for food.
30. And to every wild animal of the earth and to every bird of the air, 2 and to everything creeping over the earth in which there is a living soul, [I give] every green plant for food; and it was so.
31. And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day.
CONTENTS
The six days or periods of time, which are so many consecutive states in man's regeneration, are in general as follows:
Footnotes:
Exodus 5
1
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.
2
And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.
3
And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.
4
And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.
5
And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.
6
And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,
7
Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
8
And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
9
Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.
10
And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.
11
Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished.
12
So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.
13
And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.
14
And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore?
15
Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?
16
There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.
17
But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.
18
Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.
19
And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task.
20
And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:
21
And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.
22
And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?
23
For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.
