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The evening and the morning had come, a fourth day, when God said, "Let the waters swarm with living creatures, and let the birds fly above the earth, through the wide expanse:" and it was so. The morning and the evening of a fifth day came, when God said, “ Let the earth produce animals, cattle, wild beasts, and reptiles, in various kinds; and let them all multiply according to their kinds:" and it was so. And God said, “ Let us make man after our own likeness, in reason and understanding, to have dominion over other animals."

And God created man, male and female, and blessed them, saying, “Increase and multiply, and have dominion over all other living things.' The evening had come, and the morning had come, the sixth day, when God completed his mighty work; and on the seventh day he ceased from doing any of his works. God, therefore, blessed the seventh day, and ordained it to be holy. Such was the origin of the heavens, and of the earth, at the time that the Lord God created them.

The name of the first man was Adam, because, out of the earth had the Lord God formed him; and the name of the first woman was Eve, or life-giver, because she was to be the mother of the human race.

And the Lord placed them in the garden of Eden, in which he had caused to grow every sort of tree that is pleasant to behold, or fit for food; which was watered by a beautiful river, that, flowing through it, divided into four branches; and in the midst of which, stood the

tree of life, whose fruit was salutary, and another called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, from the fatal effects which the eating of its fruits would produce. As a trial of his faith and obedience, God commanded Adam to abstain from the latter, assuring him, that in the day that he should eat thereof, he should become liable to death. But, when the woman saw that the tree was apparently fit for food, and its fruit pleasing to the eye; and, moreover, desirable, as giving knowledge, she yielded to temptation; she ate of the fruit, and gave of it also to her husband. And when they had eaten, the eyes of both were opened; and they perceived that they had done evil, and exposed themselves to the punishment which the Lord God had denounced. And the Lord God pronounced sentence upon the woman, that she should have pain and sorrow; and upon the man, that by the sweat of his brow, by hard labour, should he eat his bread, until he should return unto the ground out of which he was taken, "for dust thou art," said the Lord, "and unto dust shalt thou return." But, to console the woman and the man, God gave them the promise of a Saviour. And the Lord God expelled Adam from the garden of Eden, to till the ground. And God taught the man and the woman to make unto themselves garments of the skins of beasts.

QUESTIONS.

How many years ago is it generally supposed, that the creation of the world took place? Why is the first book

of the Bible called Genesis; and what appear to be its chief ends? Who formed this earth and all its productions? What was the work of the first, of the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth day? In whose likeness did God make man? In what situation was he placed, and what command was given him? Did Adam and Eve keep the command What was the result of their disobedience ?

of their God?

What is the meaning of the names, Adam and Eve?

CHAP. II.

THUS were the first parents of mankind driven out of the garden of Eden, the paradise, the abode of delight; and thus, sin and death entered into the world.

Unto Adam and Eve were born two sons. The elder, named Cain, or acquisition, was a tiller of the ground; and the younger, named Abel, was a keeper of flocks. In process of time, it came to pass, that Cain presented unto the Lord, an offering of the fruits of the ground; while Abel also presented one of the firstlings of his flock. God accepted favourably Abel and his offering, for Abel was good and upright; but the offering of Cain was rejected of the Lord, for Cain was wicked and unrighteous before him. Cain, therefore, was greatly displeased, and his countenance was dejected. And finding his brother in the fields, he slew him. And the Lord God said unto Cain, "What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground, which hath drunk the blood of thy brother, shed by thy hand. The very ground abhorreth thee; a restless fugitive shalt thou be on the face of

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the earth." And Cain exclaimed, " my punishment is greater than I can bear; thou banishest me from this place; and when secluded from thy presence, whosoever may meet me, may kill me.' But God gave a token of security to Cain, that he should not be slain. And Cain departed into a distant country, and there he built a city, which he called Enoch, after the name of his son. But his posterity was unrighteous before the Lord.

And unto Adam was born another son, whom he called Seth, or the substitute; and his descendants were righteous in the sight of God. The children of men multiplied upon the face of the earth, and built towns, and invented many arts; but they became wicked, and generally corrupt. Yet, among them, some were pious, and feared God; for Enoch, the fourth in descent from Seth, was so eminently devout, that it is recorded concerning him, that he walked with God, and appeared no more, for God took him. Noah, also, was so upright in the midst of a perverse generation, that God warned him of the deluge which he was about to bring upon the earth; and showed unto him the way by which he and his family might be saved. He was divinely instructed to prepare an ark, or large vessel, five hundred and fifty feet long, ninety-one feet broad, and fifty-five feet in height. For nearly one hundred years, while he was engaged in constructing the ark, Noah preached repentance in vain to the men of his generation. They persevered in their course of iniquity, until the earth was filled with oppression. In the

year of the world 1656, God commanded Noah to enter into the ark, with his family; and pairs of all animals.

And in the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, all the fountains of the great deep were broken up; the sea forsook its proper bed, and overflowed the land; the flood-gates of heaven were opened, and incessant heavy rains descended upon the earth during forty days and forty nights. So exceedingly did the mighty waters prevail upon the earth, that they covered the loftiest mountains, and all that lived upon the earth perished, but the ark floated on the surface of the deep. The waters had now remained on the earth one hundred and fifty days, when God caused a strong wind to blow, and the deluge began to be diminished, so that the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat, and, on the first day of the tenth month, the summits of the mountains were uncovered. And when the earth was fully dry, at the command of the Lord, Noah went forth from the ark, with his family, and all the animals that were saved, after he had been enclosed therein one year and eleven days. And he offered sacrifice unto the Lord God. And God blessed Noah and his sons, and appointed the rainbow as a token that he would never again destroy all flesh by a deluge. The names of the sons of Noah who came with him out of the ark, were Shem, Ham, and Japhet, from whom the whole earth was repeopled.

This is the first period, from the creation, to the deluge, 1656 years.

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