THE STORIES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

1. God Makes the World

Before there was heaven and earth, there was only darkness. God said, "Let there be light!" And light appeared and filled the sky. Then God began to work on creating the earth. He commanded the rivers to lie in their banks and the oceans to roll back from the land. He made plants and trees to grow on the land and to bear fruit.

Above the land, God made the sun to give light by day and the moon and stars to twinkle by night. When everything was ready, God created living creatures to make the earth their home.

First God made the fish that swim in the water and the birds that fly in the air. On the next day, God made all the animals, big and small, to walk on the earth.

God was very pleased with the world he had made. He looked down upon it and said, "It is good!"

God wanted one more creature to make the world complete. This creature would be very special to God. God took clay from the earth and molded it into the shape of a man. When God breathed into the man, he came to life.

Then God named the man Adam, and took him to a beautiful place called the Garden of Eden. He put Adam to work naming all the animals, insects, birds, and fish.

There were many fruit trees in the garden. God told Adam that he could pick any of the fruit except the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. "If you eat the fruit from that tree you will die," God said.

Although the garden was very lovely and Adam had much to do, he was still lonely. God knew this so he lay Adam down to sleep and took a rib from his side. From the rib God created a woman, Eve, to be with Adam. Together they walked in the garden, talking with God and doing his work. They were very happy living in the perfect world God had made.

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