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light." Then "God divided the light from the darkness." "b That was the first night and the first day.

The next thing which God created was the firmament of the heaven which surrounds the earth. "God divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And God called the firmament heaven." c That was the second day.

On the third day, God separated the land from the waters on the face of the earth; and he caused grass, and herbs, and trees yielding fruit, to grow out of the earth.

On the fourth day, God made the lights in the firmament of the heaven, which were to be to the earth for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years namely, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; also the stars.d

On the fifth day, God created great whales, and every living creature that moves in the waters, and all kinds of birds, and pronounced upon them this blessing, "Be fruitful, and multiply." e

On the sixth day, God created all the beasts of the earth, and the cattle, and all creeping things to come forth after their kinds. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." So God created man in his own image. man and one woman, and he

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He created one blessed them, and

Gen. i. 6-8.
f Gen. i. 26, 27.

THE FALL.

said unto them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it." g That was the sixth day. "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." h

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And now observe, my dear young readers, what God did on the seventh day. He appointed the sabbath, and made it a day of rest for us. For on the seventh day God rested from all his work which he had made; and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." i

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THERE was a beautiful garden which God had planted, and in which he placed the man. In this garden there were trees of all kinds, that

8 Gen. i. 26-28. h Gen. i. 31. i Gen. ii. 2, 3.

were pleasant to the sight and good for food. In the midst of the garden there stood two trees of peculiar importance: the Tree of life, and the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Of the latter of these God had commanded the man not to eat, saying, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” a

Now the serpent was very subtle, and he said unto the woman, "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" And the woman said unto the serpent, "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 said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened; and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

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 themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

a Gen. ii. 16, 17.

THE FALL.

And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, "Where art thou?" And he said, "I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." And God said, "Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?" And the man said, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she 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 said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat."

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And the Lord God said unto the serpent, cause thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field: upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

By this promised Seed was meant the Lord Jesus Christ, who was to come into the world, and take on him the nature of man, that he might save sinners. Satan probably triumphed greatly in the fall of man, as though he had defeated God's designs; but in these words God gives a plain intimation that he should not finally triumph, but that a complete victory should be gained over him by the Seed of the woman.

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Unto the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow, and thy conception in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be subject to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee."

And unto the man he said, "Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life: thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field: in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." b

Then was the man driven out of Paradise, and cherubims with flaming swords were placed to keep the way to the Tree of life.

3. THE BROTHER'S MURDER.

Of the sons of Adam, one was named Cain and the other Abel. Cain was a tiller of the land, and Abel a keeper of sheep. Upon one occasion the two brothers brought each of them an offering b Gen. iii. 1-19.

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