The Brick Bible: A New Spin on the Old Testament

GENESIS

AND GOD SAID, ‘LET THERE BE LIGHT.’ AND THERE WAS LIGHT. AND GOD SAW THAT THE LIGHT WAS GOOD.

GOD SEPARATED THE LIGHT FROM THE DARKNESS. GOD CALLED THE LIGHT ‘DAY’ AND CALLED THE DARKNESS ‘NIGHT.’ AND THERE WAS EVENING, AND THERE WAS MORNING:—THE FIRST DAY.

THEN GOD SAID, ‘LET THERE BE A VAULT TO SEPARATE THE WATERS UNDER THE VAULT FROM THE WATERS ABOVE THE VAULT.’ AND GOD MADE THE VAULT AND CALLED IT ‘SKY.’ AND THERE WAS EVENING, AND THERE WAS MORNING:—THE SECOND DAY.

THEN GOD SAID, ‘LET THE WATERS UNDER THE SKY BE GATHERED TO ONE PLACE, AND LET THE DRY GROUND APPEAR.’ GOD CALLED THE DRY GROUND ‘LAND’ AND THE WATERS ‘SEAS.’ AND GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD.

GOD SAID, ‘LET THE LAND PRODUCE PLANTS AND TREES OF EVERY KIND.’ AND THE LAND PRODUCED PLANTS AND TREES OF EVERY KIND. AND GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD. AND THERE WAS EVENING, AND THERE WAS MORNING:–THE THIRD DAY.

THEN GOD SAID, ‘LET THERE BE LIGHTS IN THE VAULT OF THE SKY TO SEPARATE THE DAY FROM THE NIGHT. AND LET THEM BE SIGNS TO MARK SEASONS, DAYS, AND YEARS.’ AND IT WAS SO: GOD MADE THE GREATER LIGHT TO RULE OVER THE DAY.

AND GOD MADE THE LESSER LIGHT TO RULE THE NIGHT AND THE STARS. AND GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD. AND THERE WAS EVENING, AND THERE WAS MORNING:–THE FOURTH DAY.

THEN GOD SAID, ‘LET THE WATERS SWARM WITH SWARMS OF LIVING CREATURES, AND LET BIRDS FLY ABOVE THE EARTH ACROSS THE VAULT OF THE SKY.’

AND IT WAS SO:–GOD CREATED THE GREAT SEA MONSTERS AND CREATURES OF EVERY KIND WITH WHICH THE WATERS SWARM AND WINGED BIRDS OF EVERY KIND. AND GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD.

GOD BLESSED THEM, SAYING, ‘BREED AND MULTIPLY. FILL THE SEAS. AND LET BIRDS MULTIPLY ON THE EARTH.’ AND THERE WAS EVENING AND THERE WAS MORNING:–THE FIFTH DAY.

THEN GOD SAID, ‘LET THE LAND PRODUCE LIVING CREATURES:–LIVESTOCK, CREEPING THINGS, AND WILD ANIMALS OF EVERY KIND.’ AND IT WAS SO:–GOD MADE WILD ANIMALS, LIVESTOCK, AND CREATURES THAT CREEP ALONG THE GROUND OF EVERY KIND. AND GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD.

THEN GOD SAID, ‘LET US MAKE HUMANS IN OUR IMAGE,–IN OUR LIKENESS. AND LET THEM RULE OVER THE FISH OF THE SEA, THE BIRDS OF THE AIR, THE LIVESTOCK, AND ALL THE CREATURES THAT CREEP ALONG THE GROUND.’

AND GOD CREATED HUMANS IN HIS IMAGE. IN THE IMAGE OF GOD, HE CREATED THEM. MALE AND FEMALE, HE CREATED THEM.

GOD BLESSED THEM, SAYING, ‘BREED AND MULTIPLY. FILL THE EARTH AND SUBDUE IT. RULE OVER THE FISH OF THE SEA, THE BIRDS OF THE AIR, AND EVERY CREATURE THAT MOVES ON THE GROUND.’

AND GOD SAW ALL THAT HE HAD MADE, AND IT WAS VERY GOOD. AND THERE WAS EVENING, AND THERE WAS MORNING:–THE SIXTH DAY.

THUS THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH WERE FINISHED. AND ON THE SEVENTH DAY, GOD RESTED FROM ALL THE WORK THAT HE HAD DONE.

ON THE DAY YAHWEH GOD MADE THE EARTH AND THE HEAVENS, NO PLANT OR SHRUB HAD YET SPRUNG UP BECAUSE YAHWEH GOD HAD NOT CAUSED IT TO RAIN, AND THERE WAS NO MAN TO WORK THE GROUND.

AND YAHWEH GOD FORMED MAN FROM THE DIRT OF THE GROUND.

AND HE BREATHED INTO HIS NOSTRILS THE BREATH OF LIFE.

AND MAN BECAME A LIVING BEING.

YAHWEH GOD PLANTED A GARDEN IN EDEN WITH THE TREE OF LIFE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GARDEN AND THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL.

YAHWEH GOD TOOK THE MAN AND PUT HIM IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN TO LOOK AFTER AND MAINTAIN IT.

YAHWEH GOD COMMANDED THE MAN, ‘FROM EVERY TREE OF THE GARDEN YOU MAY FREELY EAT, BUT FROM THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, YOU MAY NOT EAT. FOR THE DAY THAT YOU EAT FROM IT, YOU WILL SURELY DIE.’

THEN YAHWEH GOD SAID, ‘IT IS NOT GOOD FOR THE MAN TO BE ALONE. I WILL MAKE HIM A HELPER,–HIS COUNTERPART.’

SO FROM THE DIRT YAHWEH GOD FORMED EVERY ANIMAL OF THE FIELD AND EVERY BIRD OF THE SKY.

HE BROUGHT THEM TO THE MAN TO SEE WHAT HE WOULD CALL THEM. WHATEVER THE MAN CALLED THEM, THAT WAS ITS NAME. BUT NO SUITABLE HELPER WAS FOUND FOR THE MAN.

THEN YAHWEH GOD CAUSED A DEEP SLEEP TO FALL ON THE MAN. AND WHILE HE SLEPT, HE TOOK ONE OF HIS RIBS AND CLOSED UP THE FLESH IN ITS PLACE.

AND FROM THE RIB YAHWEH GOD HAD TAKEN FROM THE MAN, HE MADE A WOMAN.

HE BROUGHT HER TO THE MAN, AND THE MAN SAID, ‘THIS, AT LAST, IS BONE OF MY BONES AND FLESH OF MY FLESH! SHE WILL BE CALLED WOMAN BECAUSE SHE WAS TAKEN OUT OF MAN.’

THIS IS WHY A MAN LEAVES HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND CLINGS TO HIS WIFE, AND THEY BECOME ONE FLESH.

AND THE MAN AND HIS WIFE WERE BOTH NAKED AND WERE NOT ASHAMED.

NOW OF ALL THE ANIMALS OF THE FIELD THAT YAHWEH GOD HAD MADE, THE SNAKE WAS THE MOST CLEVER. HE SAID TO THE WOMAN, ‘HAS GOD REALLY SAID, YOU SHALL NOT EAT FROM ANY TREE OF THE GARDEN?’

THE WOMAN SAID TO THE SNAKE, ‘WE MAY EAT FROM THE TREES OF THE GARDEN, BUT OF THE FRUIT FROM THE TREE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GARDEN, GOD SAID, DO NOT EAT FROM IT, AND DO NOT EVEN TOUCH IT, OR ELSE YOU WILL DIE.’

THE SNAKE SAID TO THE WOMAN, ‘SURELY YOU WILL NOT DIE! FOR GOD KNOWS THAT ON THE DAY YOU EAT FROM IT, YOUR EYES WILL BE OPENED, AND YOU WILL BE LIKE GODS, KNOWING GOOD AND EVIL.’

THE WOMAN SAW THAT THE TREE WAS GOOD FOR FOOD, PLEASING TO THE EYES, AND DESIRABLE FOR THE KNOWLEDGE IT COULD GIVE.

AND SHE TOOK FRUIT FROM IT AND ATE IT.

SHE GAVE SOME TO HER HUSBAND WHO WAS WITH HER, AND HE ATE IT.

THEN THE EYES OF BOTH WERE OPENED, AND THEY KNEW THAT THEY WERE NAKED.

THEN THEY HEARD THE SOUND OF YAHWEH GOD WALKING ABOUT IN THE GARDEN IN THE BREEZE OF THE DAY. THE MAN AND HIS WIFE HID THEM-SELVES, AND YAHWEH GOD CALLED TO THE MAN, ‘WHERE ARE YOU?’

THE MAN SAID, ‘I HEARD YOUR VOICE IN THE GARDEN, AND I WAS AFRAID BECAUSE I WAS NAKED, SO I HID MYSELF.’

GOD SAID, ‘WHO TOLD YOU THAT YOU WERE NAKED? HAVE YOU EATEN FROM THE TREE THAT I COMMANDED YOU NOT TO EAT FROM?’

THE MAN SAID, ‘THE WOMAN YOU GAVE ME, SHE GAVE ME FRUIT OF THE TREE, AND I ATE IT.’

AND YAHWEH GOD SAID TO THE WOMAN, ‘WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?’

THE WOMAN SAID, ‘THE SNAKE CONVINCED ME, AND I ATE.’

YAHWEH GOD SAID TO THE SNAKE, ‘BECAUSE YOU HAVE DONE THIS, YOU ARE CURSED! ON YOUR BELLY YOU SHALL GO AND EAT DIRT ALL THE DAYS OF YOUR LIFE. I WILL PUT HOSTILITY BETWEEN YOU AND THE WOMAN. HER OFFSPRING WILL STRIKE AT YOUR HEAD, AND YOU WILL STRIKE AT HER OFFSPRING'S HEEL.’

TO THE WOMAN HE SAID, ‘I WILL GREATLY INCREASE YOUR SUFFERING DURING CHILDBIRTH. IN ANGUISH WILL YOU BRING FORTH CHILDREN. YOU WILL DESIRE YOUR HUSBAND, AND HE WILL DOMINATE YOU.’

TO THE MAN HE SAID, ‘CURSED IS THE GROUND BECAUSE OF YOU! IT WILL YIELD YOU THORNS AND THISTLES. IN PAINFUL TOIL WILL YOU EAT FROM IT ALL THE DAYS OF YOUR LIFE UNTIL YOU RETURN TO THE GROUND FROM WHICH YOU WERE TAKEN. FOR YOU ARE DIRT, AND TO DIRT YOU WILL RETURN.’

YAHWEH GOD MADE LEATHER GARMENTS FOR THE MAN AND HIS WIFE AND CLOTHED THEM.

THEN YAHWEH GOD SAID, ‘THE MAN HAS BECOME LIKE ONE OF US, KNOWING GOOD AND EVIL. HE MUST BE PREVENTED FROM REACHING OUT HIS HAND TO TAKE FROM THE TREE OF LIFE, LEST HE EAT FROM IT AND ALSO LIVE FOREVER!’

SO HE DROVE THE MAN AWAY AND STATIONED CHERUBS AT THE EAST OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN AND A WHIRLING FLAMING SWORD TO GUARD THE WAY TO THE TREE OF LIFE.

YAHWEH GOD SENT HIM AWAY FROM THE GARDEN OF EDEN TO TILL THE GROUND FROM WHICH HE WAS TAKEN.

THE MAN LAID WITH HIS WIFE, EVE, AND SHE BECAME PREGNANT AND GAVE BIRTH TO CAIN. SHE GAVE BIRTH AGAIN TO CAIN'S BROTHER ABEL.

ABEL WAS A SHEPHERD OF THE FLOCKS.

CAIN WAS A WORKER OF THE SOIL.

AFTER SOME TIME, CAIN BROUGHT SOME OF THE PRODUCE OF THE SOIL AS AN OFFERING TO YAHWEH.

AND ABEL, HE ALSO BROUGHT SOME OF THE FIRSTBORN OF HIS FLOCK, THE FAT ONES.

YAHWEH LOOKED WITH FAVOR ON ABEL AND HIS OFFERING.

BUT YAHWEH DID NOT LOOK WITH FAVOR ON CAIN AND HIS OFFERING. THIS WAS UPSETTING TO CAIN, AND HIS FACE WAS FALLEN.

YAHWEH SAID TO CAIN, ‘WHY ARE YOU UPSET, AND WHY IS YOUR FACE FALLEN? IF YOU DO GOOD, ISN'T IT LIFTED? IF YOU DO NOT DO GOOD, ERROR, SHE IS CROUCHING AT THE OPENING. HIS DESIRE IS TO YOU, AND YOU WILL DOMINATE HIM.’

CAIN SAID TO HIS BROTHER ABEL, ‘LET'S GO INTO THE FIELD.’

AND THEY WERE OUT IN THE FIELD. AND CAIN ATTACKED HIS BROTHER ABEL AND KILLED HIM.

‘WHERE IS YOUR BROTHER ABEL?’ YAHWEH SAID TO CAIN. ‘I DON'T KNOW,’ REPLIED CAIN. ‘AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER?’

YAHWEH SAID, ‘THE VOICE OF YOUR BROTHER'S BLOOD CRIES OUT TO ME FROM THE GROUND! NOW YOU ARE CURSED FROM THE GROUND WHICH HAS OPENED ITS MOUTH TO RECEIVE YOUR BROTHER'S BLOOD. WHEN YOU TILL THE GROUND, IT WILL NOT YIELD ITS STRENGTH