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النشر الإلكتروني

BEAUTIES OF THE BIBL

Part I.

A SELECTION FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT.

CHAPTER Í.

HISTORY OF THE CREATION.

A. C. or before Chrift, 4004 Years.

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i.....

N the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darknels was upon the face of the deep; and the fpirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and God faid, Let there be light, and there was light. And God faw the light that it was good and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night and the evening and the morning were the first day."

2....And God faid, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament and divi ded the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was fo. And God called the firmament heaven; and the evening and the morning were the fecond day.

3....And God faid, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was fo. And God called the dry

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Tand earth, and the gathering together of the waters called He feas and God faw that it was good.

4....And God faid, Let the earth bring forth grafs, the herb yielding feed and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind, whole feed is in itfelt upon the earth: and it was fo. And the earth brought forth grafs, and the herb yielding feed after his kind, and the tree yield. ing fruit, whofe feed was in itself after his kind: and God faw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.

5....And God faid, Let there be lights in the firma. ment of heaven, to divide the day from the night and let them be for figns and for feafons and for days and for years and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth and it was fo. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the leffer light to rule the night: He made the stars. allo.

6....And God fet them in the firmament of heaven, to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God faw that it was good and the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

7...And God faid, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind; and God faw that it was good.

8....And God bleffed them, faying, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the feas, and let fowl multiply on the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping 9And God faid, let the earth bring forth the thing, and beaft of the earth after his kind and it was fo. And God made the beafts of the earth after his kind, and cattle atter their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind and God faw that it was good.

10....And God faid, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the fea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle and over all the earth.So God created man in his own image, male and female created he them. And God bleffed them.-And God faw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the fixth day.

11.... Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the hoft of them. And on the feventh day God ended his work which he had made. And he refied on the feventh day from all his work which he had made, and God bleffed the seventh day and fan&tified it because that in it he had refted from all his works which God created and made.

REMARKS.

Events the most aftonishing as well as most interesting are here related with great brevity, and with a fimple grandeur. The origin of the heavens and all their hofts and of the earth with all its furniture paffes, as it were, in review before us. The original inftitution of the Sabbath, fo neceffary to keep alive a fenfe of religion, is diftin&tly marked. "We fee human nature itfelf traced up to its fource. We are made acquainted with the venerable father of all men; of whole nature we all partake; by whose conduct we are all affected,

and in the confequences of whose actions we are all to this day, deeply involved." What an ialuable treaSure of knowledge is here contained in a few lines !

CHAPTER II.

THE FALL OF MAN, OR INNOCENCE AND GUILT CONTRASTED.

1....

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HE Lord God formed man of the duft of the ground, and breathed into his noftrils the breath of life and man became a living foul. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleafant to the fight and good for food: the tree of life alfo in the midft of the garden, and the tree of knowl. edge of good and evil.

2....And a river went out of Eden to water the garden. And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden to drels it, and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, faying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayeft freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou fhalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eateft thereof thou shalt furely die.

3....And the Lord God faid, It is not good that man fhould be alone; I will make an help meet for him. And the Lord God made a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam faid, This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because fhe was the mother of all living.

4....Now the ferpent was more fubtle than any beaft of the field which the Lord God had made; and he faid unto the woman, Yea, hath God faid, ye fhall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman faid to the ferpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath faid, Ye fhall not eat of it, neither fhall ye touch it, left ye die.

5....And the ferpent faid unto the woman, Ye fhall not furely die for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes fhall be opened and ye fhall be as Gods knowing good and evil-And when the woman faw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be defired to make one wife, fhe took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave alfo to her husband with her, and he did

eat.

6....And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden, in the cool of the day and Adam and his wife hid themfelves from the prefence of the Lord God among the the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and faid unto him, Where art thou? And he faid, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, and I hid my felf.

7....And he said, Haft thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou fhouldeft not eat? And the man faid, The woman-fhe gave me of the tree and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman What is this that thou hast done? And the woman faid, The ferpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

8....And the Lord faid unto the ferpent, Becaufe thou haft done this, thou art curfed above every beaft of the field upon thy belly fhalt thou go, and duft fhalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity be

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