In principio creavit Deus cælum et terram.

In the beginning God created heaven, and earth.

God, at the beginning of time, created heaven and earth.

Terra autem erat inanis et vacua, et tenebræ erant super faciem abyssi: et spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas.

And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters.

Earth was still an empty waste, and darkness hung over the deep; but already, over its waters, stirred the breath of God.

Dixitque Deus: Fiat lux. Et facta est lux.

And God said: Be light made. And light was made.

Then God said, Let there be light; and the light began.

Et vidit Deus lucem quod esset bona: et divisit lucem a tenebris.

And God saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light from the darkness.

God saw the light, and found it good, and he divided the spheres of light and darkness;

Appellavitque lucem Diem, et tenebras Noctem: factumque est vespere et mane, dies unus.

And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night; and there was evening and morning one day.

the light he called Day, and the darkness Night. So evening came, and morning, and one day passed.

Dixit quoque Deus: Fiat firmamentum in medio aquarum: et dividat aquas ab aquis.

And God said: Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters: and let it divide the waters from the waters.

God said, too, Let a solid vault arise amid the waters, to keep these waters apart from those;

Et fecit Deus firmamentum, divisitque aquas, quæ erant sub firmamento, ab his, quæ erant super firmamentum. Et factum est ita.

And God made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament, from those that were above the firmament, and it was so.

a vault by which God would separate the waters which were beneath it from the waters above it; and so it was done.

Vocavitque Deus firmamentum, Cælum: et factum est vespere et mane, dies secundus.

And God called the firmament, Heaven; and the evening and morning were the second day.

This vault God called the Sky. So evening came, and morning, and a second day passed.

Dixit vero Deus: Congregentur aquæ, quæ sub cælo sunt, in locum unum: et appareat arida. Et factum est ita.

God also said: Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered together into one place: and let the dry land appear. And it was so done.

And now God said, Let the waters below the vault collect in one place to make dry land appear. And so it was done;

Et vocavit Deus aridam Terram, congregationesque aquarum appellavit Maria. Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum.

And God called the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

the dry land God called Earth, and the water, where it had collected, he called the Sea. All this God saw, and found it good.

Et ait: Germinet terra herbam virentem, et facientem semen, et lignum pomiferum faciens fructum juxta genus suum, cujus semen in semetipso sit super terram. Et factum est ita.

And he said: Let the earth bring forth the green herb, and such as may seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may have seed in itself upon the earth. And it was so done.

Let the earth, he said, yield grasses that grow and seed; fruit-trees too, each giving fruit of its own kind, and so propagating itself on earth. And so it was done;

Et protulit terra herbam virentem, et facientem semen juxta genus suum, lignumque faciens fructum, et habens unumquodque sementem secundum speciem suam. Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum.

And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yieldeth seed according to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit, having seed each one according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

the earth yielded grasses that grew and seeded, each according to its kind, and trees that bore fruit, each with the power to propagate its own kind. And God saw it, and found it good.

Et factum est vespere et mane, dies tertius.

And the evening and the morning were the third day.

So evening came, and morning, and a third day passed.

Dixit autem Deus: Fiant luminaria in firmamento cæli, et dividant diem ac noctem, et sint in signa et tempora, et dies et annos:

And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years:

Next, God said, Let there be luminaries in the vault of the sky, to divide the spheres of day and night; let them give portents, and be the measures of time, to mark out the day and the year;

ut luceant in firmamento cæli, et illuminent terram. Et factum est ita.

To shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the earth. And it was so done.

let them shine in the sky’s vault, and shed light on the earth. And so it was done.

Fecitque Deus duo luminaria magna: luminare majus, ut præesset diei: et luminare minus, ut præesset nocti: et stellas.

And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day; and a lesser light to rule the night: and the stars.

God made the two great luminaries, the greater of them to command the day, and the lesser to command the night; then he made the stars.

Et posuit eas in firmamento cæli, ut lucerent super terram,

And he set them in the firmament of heaven to shine upon the earth.

All these he put in the vault of the sky, to shed their light on the earth,

et præessent diei ac nocti, et dividerent lucem ac tenebras. Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum.

And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

to control day and night, and divide the spheres of light and darkness. And God saw it, and found it good.

Et factum est vespere et mane, dies quartus.

And the evening and morning were the fourth day.

So evening came, and morning, and a fourth day passed.

Dixit etiam Deus: Producant aquæ reptile animæ viventis, et volatile super terram sub firmamento cæli.

God also said: Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven.

After this, God said, Let the waters produce moving things that have life in them, and winged things that fly above the earth under the sky’s vault.

Creavitque Deus cete grandia, et omnem animam viventem atque motabilem, quam produxerant aquæ in species suas, et omne volatile secundum genus suum. Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum.

And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature, which the waters brought forth, according to their kinds, and every winged fowl according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Thus God created the huge sea-beasts, and all the different kinds of life and movement that spring from the waters, and all the different kinds of flying things; and God saw it, and found it good.

Benedixitque eis, dicens: Crescite, et multiplicamini, et replete aquas maris: avesque multiplicentur super terram.

And he blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea: and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.

He pronounced his blessing on them, Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea; and let there be abundance of flying things on earth.

Et factum est vespere et mane, dies quintus.

And the evening and morning were the fifth day.

So evening came, and morning, and a fifth day passed.

Dixit quoque Deus: Producat terra animam viventem in genere suo, jumenta, et reptilia, et bestias terræ secundum species suas. Factumque est ita.

And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, according to their kinds. And it was so done.

God said, too, Let the land yield all different kinds of living things, cattle and creeping things and wild beasts of every sort; and so it was done.

Et fecit Deus bestias terræ juxta species suas, et jumenta, et omne reptile terræ in genere suo. Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum,

And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle, and every thing that creepeth on the earth after its kind. And God saw that it was good.

God made every sort of wild beast, and all the different kinds of cattle and of creeping things; and God saw it, and found it good.

et ait: Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram: et præsit piscibus maris, et volatilibus cæli, et bestiis, universæque terræ, omnique reptili, quod movetur in terra.

And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.

And God said, Let us make man, wearing our own image and likeness; let us put him in command of the fishes in the sea, and all that flies through the air, and the cattle, and the whole earth, and all the creeping things that move on earth.

Et creavit Deus hominem ad imaginem suam: ad imaginem Dei creavit illum, masculum et feminam creavit eos.

And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.

So God made man in his own image, made him in the image of God. Man and woman both, he created them.

Benedixitque illis Deus, et ait: Crescite et multiplicamini, et replete terram, et subjicite eam, et dominamini piscibus maris, et volatilibus cæli, et universis animantibus, quæ moventur super terram.

And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth.

And God pronounced his blessing on them, Increase and multiply and fill the earth, and make it yours; take command of the fishes in the sea, and all that flies through the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.

Dixitque Deus: Ecce dedi vobis omnem herbam afferentem semen super terram, et universa ligna quæ habent in semetipsis sementem generis sui, ut sint vobis in escam:

And God said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed upon the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your meat:

Here are all the herbs, God told them, that seed on earth, and all the trees, that carry in them the seeds of their own life, to be your food;

et cunctis animantibus terræ, omnique volucri cæli, et universis quæ moventur in terra, et in quibus est anima vivens, ut habeant ad vescendum. Et factum est ita.

And to all beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they may have to feed upon. And it was so done.

food for all the beasts on the earth, all that flies in the air, all that creeps along the ground; here all that lives shall find its nourishment. And so it was done.

Viditque Deus cuncta quæ fecerat, et erant valde bona. Et factum est vespere et mane, dies sextus.

And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good. And the evening and morning were the sixth day.

And God saw all that he had made, and found it very good. So evening came, and morning, and a sixth day passed.